€400k investment from Bank of America Merrill Lynch to deliver income-generation skills to the Arts

Stuart McLaughlin, Business to Arts; Minister Martin Cullen & Allen Blevins, Bank of America Merrill Lynch at the Abbey Theatre, Peacock Stage to announce ‘New Stream’

Some 80 people from the business and arts sectors gathered in the Abbey Theatre bar on 8 October 2009 to hear the details of ‘New Stream’ a landmark project to be run by Business to Arts over 3 years, supported by an investment of c.€400,000 from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Designed to support organisations of all sizes, Business to Arts and its partners will provide access for the arts and cultural sector to specialist training and consultancy, information, peer support networks and professional advice. With participants’ feedback, New Stream will continue to develop and will be evaluated in association with the University College Dublin MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Management. This will ensure that it achieves the high standards required and identifies opportunities for further innovation.

Earlier in the day at a media briefing, Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism, Martin Cullen said “the ‘New Stream’ Programme is significant on a number of levels. Firstly, it demonstrates a faith in the ability of Business to Arts to consolidate its past successes and to deliver robust training to the arts community. In addition, it signals a confidence, not only in the arts in Ireland, but also in business in Ireland, into the future. I think it will also act as a catalyst to our business and arts community to strive for even higher achievements.”

Reacting to a question as to why Bank of America Merrill Lynch would invest in the sustainability of the arts in Ireland, Allen Blevins, Art & Heritage Programmes Director for the bank who travelled from the US for the launch, said “the Bank has long observed that cultural organisations are the anchor of communities. We know that as a bank we thrive when the communities in which we do business thrive.”