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Arts Council England Annual Report and Accounts 2020-2021

The Arts Council England Annual Report and Accounts 2020 to 2021

Applies to England

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-2578-4, CCS0521505204, HC 288

PDF , 10.7 MB , 184 pages

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This document provides the Arts Council England Annual Report and Accounts 2020 to 2021.

This paper was laid before Parliament on 9 December 2021 in response to legislative requirement.

Accessible version of annual report published.

First published.

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Arts Council England aims to foster culture in every 'village, town and city'

Chief executive wants to bring art ‘to people’s doorsteps’, but critics say strategy is vague

England’s arts chiefs have said they want to create a nation that has better access to culture in every “village, town and city” by 2030, where creativity in each individual is valued and “given the chance to flourish”.

Arts Council England (ACE) will publish a 10-year strategy on Monday called Let’s Create, produced after 18 months’ work including numerous workshops, consultations and public conversations involving more than 6,000 people.

The strategy, which focuses more on broad-brush aspirations rather than specific statements about levels of funding or support for different art forms, is a new version of one published in 2010, Great Art and Culture for Everyone .

The key differences in the new strategy include more emphasis on supporting people individually and at every stage of their life, championing a wider range of culture, and increasing spending and support for libraries.

It also aspires to give communities in every “village, town and city” more opportunity to design and develop the culture on offer there.

The strategy lists four principles guiding whether ACE will invest public money: “ambition and quality”, “inclusivity and relevance”, “dynamism”, and “environmental responsibility”.

The ACE chief executive, Darren Henley, said he wanted to move away from having centres of excellence in a small number of places and instead bring “world-class art and culture to people’s doorsteps”.

He added: “This is setting out our intentions, how we want to see arts and culture in England over a 10-year period. It is not a flick of a switch, it is a journey we are going to go on with audiences, with people who work in arts organisations, libraries, museums and individual artists.”

Henley said it had not been developed “by a bunch of bureaucrats sitting in a room on their own” but after a long period of consultation with professionals, audiences and potential audiences.

In the report, the ACE chair, Sir Nicholas Serota, uses the example of a 2016 nationwide arts project by Jeremy Deller and Rufus Norris, which he says encapsulates the aims of the 10-year strategy.

The project, to mark the centenary of the first world war, involved hundreds of volunteers standing in uniforms, in silence, in places across the UK, representing soldiers who died on the first day of the battle of the Somme.

Serota said it embodied boldness, collective creativity, partnerships “and perhaps most important of all, the dissolving of barriers between artists and the audiences with whom they interact”.

The report lists a number of important issues requiring action. They include:

Persistent and widespread lack of diversity across the creative industries and in publicly funded cultural organisations.

Difference in understanding of the terms “arts” and “culture” across the country, with many seeing the “arts” as only the high arts.

Big differences in cultural engagement, geographically and socioeconomically.

Unequal opportunities for children outside school across the country.

The often fragile business models of publicly funded cultural organisations.

A retreat from innovation, risk-taking and sustained talent development.

The report does not identify which areas or arts are likely to get funding changes, although Serota told the Guardian earlier this month that the east of England was likely to benefit more.

A delivery plan for the strategy is expected in April.

Most people working in England’s arts sector will get their first sight of the strategy on Monday, although five arts policy experts last week pre-empted the report, which they said would contain “vague generalisations” and “arcane art-speak”.

Instead, Shelagh Wright, John Holden, John Kieffer, John Newbigin and Robert Hewison published, on the Arts Professional website, an alternative cultural strategy for England which calls on ACE to recover key values such as justice, trust, accountability and risk, “rather than rely on bland outcomes that are so obvious that no one could disagree with them”.

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Arts Council publishes Business Plan 2022-23

1st June, 2022

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland today, 1st June 2022, published its Business Plan for 2022-23, setting out the organisation’s strategic objectives and corresponding actions for the current financial year.

The Business Plan reflects the delivery of the fourth year of the Arts Council’s five-year Strategic Framework for developing the arts, 2019-2024, entitled ‘Inspire, Connect, Lead’. It considers the specific strategic context for the arts in 2022-23, including the impact of COVID-19, wider Governmental priorities, the implications of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, responding to environmental challenges, and reflecting the increasing diversity of Northern Ireland society in the audiences, leaders, producers and creators of a progressive and dynamic arts sector.

Under the Framework’s headings of ‘Inspire’, ‘Connect’ and ‘Lead’, the Business Plan outlines the key actions to be undertaken by the Arts Council this year in regards to: Resilience and Sustainability; Investing in the Future; Accessibility and Participation; Engagement; National and International Representation; Demonstrating Impact; Partnership Working, and; COVID Recovery.

Headline actions include, for example: launching a rural needs programme; commissioning a scoping study to identify skills development needs in the creative industries; implementing a resilience programme with Derry City and Strabane District Council, and; ensuring key outcomes of the new minority ethnic and rural deliberative forums are incorporated into future strategies and policies.

The Business Plan 2022-23 also takes the opportunity to look back at some of the achievements of the previous year, providing an overview of the Arts Council’s Funding and Research programmes, as well as a sample of the arts sector’s successes, including Northern Ireland Opera garnering numerous national and international awards and accolades for their cinematic production ‘Old Friends and Other Days’, and Array Collective becoming the first artists from Northern Ireland to win the prestigious Turner Prize.

Read the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Business Plan, 2022-23 here : http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/images/uploads/publications-documents/ACNI-Business-Plan-2022.pdf

Read the Arts Council of Northern Ireland 5-Year Strategic Framework for Developing the Arts, 2019-2024 here : http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/images/uploads/publications-documents/ACNI-5-year-Strategic-Framework-for-Developing-the-Arts-2019-2024.pdf

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Business planning guidance for arts and cultural organisations

The purpose of this guidance is simple – to help you write the best business plan you can. It is based on preparing a business plan that:

• collates and clarifies your business model(s)
• is clear, coherent and realistic
• has an appropriate level of ambition
• is attractive to stakeholders, funders and investors

What has shaped this guidance?

In developing this guidance we have drawn on three main sources of inspiration and evidence: • our own experience of working with clients in the sector developing and implementing business plans • the wide range of available popular and academic literature on business planning for both the non-profit sector and organisations more generally – some key examples are listed in Appendix A • feedback from Arts Council England and other funders on their experiences of assessing business plans for potential funding

The world in which arts and cultural organisations operate is changing rapidly and in uncertain ways. Reductions in public funding, new models of funding such as commissioning, shifting policy priorities, localism and now Brexit are all transforming the funding landscape. The adoption of new technologies is remaking old industries and creating new ones.

We cannot control or predict the future but in trying to understand and plan for it organisations can help to shape that future and ensure that they remain relevant and therefore successful.

Who is this guidance for?

This guidance is for anyone who is involved in developing a business plan for a non-profit arts or cultural organisation, which includes micro organisations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large scale organisations. It is therefore designed to cover a wide range of organisations with a breathtaking diversity of purposes and activity. The underlying principles of business planning remain the same whatever the focus of your organisation but you may have to adapt elements to your particular needs.

he guidance has not been written as an application ‘template’ that current or potential Arts Council-funded organisations should follow slavishly. It draws on good practice and you are encouraged to apply it appropriately. While the most common constitutional form will be that of registered charity and Company Limited by Guarantee, it is not assumed that this is the only model. The guidance therefore uses the terms ‘organisation’ and ‘business’, ‘board’ and ‘governing body’ interchangeably.

Who has produced this guidance?

The guidance has been produced by Dawn Langley (Alchemy Research & Consultancy) and Susan Royce who are both consultants in the creative and cultural sector. The guidance was commissioned by Arts Council England and is designed to provide independent advice and support.

Commissioned by Arts Council England

Download Business Planning Guidance in full (PDF)

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Grants for the Arts 101 A practical, beginners’ guide to applying for Arts Council funding for the first time

I’m frequently approached by artists and emerging companies seeking help with their first Arts Council England ‘Grants for the Arts’ application and, although I’m happy to help, I often find myself asking the same questions and receiving the same answers. I can understand the confusion, it’s daunting applying for funding for the first time and fundraising is always the element of a creative project about which artists are the most scared, and often the least informed.

The first, and most obvious, thing I say to them is, “read the form. Then read it again”. The great thing about Grants for the Arts applications is that they are very clear about what they want to know and what they expect you to do. Take a look at the website, there is a How to Apply guide which is clearly written and informative; I still refer to it now, after years of writing ACE applications for my own theatre company as well as many others. There are really useful information sheets about each section of the application that will answer most of your basic questions. If that fails, there is also a helpline, but do bear in mind that the helpline is there to help you with questions of eligibility and things that are not explained in the information sheets. They are not there to help you write your application, or give you feedback on applications prior to submission.

In addition to the information sheets, you can also find information on the website about key areas in which the Arts Council are keen to engage audiences. It is well worth taking a look at the audience segmentation and research on areas of least engagement. This research can inform and strengthen your application, especially if you are working in an area where there is little arts activity available. For example, there is a lot of arts activity in central London, so a project based in Southwark may find it more difficult to access public funding than a project based in rural Norfolk as there are more projects and therefore, more demands on the available funding in Southwark than in rural Norfolk.

Once you’ve done your research, had a good look at the form and figured out what you might need to say in each section, have a critical look at your project. Are there any elements you need to develop further to more fully meet the criteria? I’d be very surprised if there aren’t! Even companies that are well established and have been making ACE applications for years generally need to develop their projects to give them the best chance of success.

There are some key areas where there is usually room for improvement:

The most common misconception I come across is that the Arts Council exists to fund artists; the Arts Council exists to create  great art and culture for everyone . For the most part, the people I speak to have the first part of that sentence covered – they know what the art they want to make is – it’s the second part we usually have a problem with. The centre of a successful application is excellent art, but you have to create a fully developed project around this nucleus. Understandably, artists tend to focus very heavily on the creative elements of their project, and not think carefully enough the audiences. One of the first things I ask people who approach me is, ‘who is it for?’ The answer is often, disappointingly, “whoever wants to come and see it”. I encourage prospective applicants to think about who their ideal audience member is (other than their mum or their best friend!) and why they are ideal, and then think about what they can do to reach that person. This is an area where you can really be creative; a leaflet and a poster isn’t necessarily the best, or most cost-effective, way to reach that person. Perhaps a social media campaign would be better, or face-to-face interactions such as visiting community groups to get them engaged.

It can also be useful to think about how participation can help you to engage new or unusual audiences. Often getting people involved, and therefore invested, in your project can give them ownership of the work and make it seem more appropriate or accessible to them. Inviting a group of people who don’t usually get involved in artistic projects to participate in your work can also have interesting and unusual effects on your creative projects that can help you develop your work.

If you are considering applying for funds for an R&D (research and development) project, please be aware that is it highly unlikely that you will be successful with an application for more than £5,000; and you will need to demonstrate significant audience engagement in the process with a substantial engagement programme. This highlights how import audiences are to the Arts Council, as engaging audiences and participants in an R&D process is, by the nature of the work, difficult.

Another common misconception I come across is that a successful Arts Council application will mean your project will be fully funded. They specify in all of their literature that you have to find at least 10% of your funding from other sources; in reality I usually recommend that applicants find at least 25% from other sources, the more support you have from other funders, the more likely you are to be successful with your application. It is also worth noting that it is usually advisable, for organisations of any size, to apply for a small grant (under £15,000) as a starting point, and apply for larger amounts for subsequent projects if you are successful with an initial application. Understandably, the Arts Council want to feel confident that you can stick to your budget and will behave in a responsible fashion when granted public funds.

The first thing I usually suggest when looking for sources of match funding is talking to your Local Authority arts service, even if they don’t have funding available they can often point you in the direction of local organisations that can support you in a variety of ways. This support is not always financial, but can be of equal or greater value. Forming partnerships with local organisations can be hugely beneficial both in terms of reducing your financial outlay, but also in embedding your work in your community. When approaching these organisations, however, please remember that you need to have something to offer in return for the goods/services you are hoping to secure.

You can also fundraise independently. There may be private trusts or foundations that you could apply to, though many of these will require you to be a registered charity it is worth taking a look at what is available to you (your local authority should be able to help you find out who these organisations are, failing that a Google search will help start you off); or you could hold events or start a crowdfunding campaign. One word of warning about crowdfunding – please use it sparingly, you can’t ask the same small group of people for funds for the same (or similar) projects on a regular basis.

When putting together your budget, please bear in mind that the Arts Council has a policy to ensure artists get paid fairly for their work, and that includes you. Make sure you adhere to industry standards (such as Equity rates for actors, etc.) for all artists, and don’t forget to include costs for things like insurance, postage, photocopying and other admin costs. It’s also usual to include a contingency fund of around 5-10% of the total project cost.

We touched briefly on partnerships earlier, but this deserves a second mention. Working in partnership with other organisations can enhance your project in many ways. Grassroots local organisations, such as smaller theatres and galleries, community organisations and schools are often looking for ways to enhance their offer and will usually be willing to meet with you and discuss your project and how you might be able to help each other if you approach them in a professional and courteous manner. As I said earlier, make sure you have some ideas for how you could reciprocate, but be prepared to be flexible and listen to what they might want and how your skills could be useful to them. Make sure you’ve given yourself enough time to set these partnerships up as they can take some time to cultivate; and make sure you maintain these relationships once you have them.

Once you’ve filled in the application form, go back and read it. Then read it again. Be critical with yourself, make sure all the elements of your project are clearly explained and that you’ve represented yourself in the best possible light; edit every section to make it as concise as possible. Then get someone else to read it, preferably someone who is not directly involved in the project, as you want them to tell you if there are areas you can clarify further. Check that your budget balances and that you haven’t left out any important income or expenditure.

Make sure you have ticked all of the right boxes and filled in all of the sections. Then take a deep breath and hit submit.

The big point is, once you break it down into it’s component parts, it’s not so scary after all. It’s an important part of getting your work seen, but it’s not impossible and you can succeed if you give yourself enough time to create a rounded project and write a considered application. Good luck!

Cerian Eiles  |  May 2015

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Arts Council England announces funding plans for 2023-26

Arts Council England has revealed which organisations have gained or lost a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status as part of their new funding announcement.

NPOs are companies which receive a share of ACE’s funding allocation between April 2023 and March 2026.

This year’s funding announcement comes against the backdrop of the government-led policy of “Levelling Up” areas outside of the capital, with a “transfer programme”, where ACE will “provide funding to organisations for two years to deliver activity and to consider their options for relocation” also being offered.

990 organisations (with 276 new companies) received a share of £446 million this year, with “Levelling Up” locations also seeing a significant increase in spend. Of this, 48 new companies are from theatre disciplines. The majority of venues saw funding frozen or small increases.

In total, 24 organisations plan to relocate from London from October 2024, including 18 NPOs. These include Headlong, the famed theatre company responsible for major touring and West End shows.

Donmar Warehouse is no longer listed as an NPO, nor is the Hampstead Theatre, the Watermill Theatre, the Gate Theatre or the English National Opera, the latter of which makes its home at the London Coliseum. We have covered this news here .

New NPOs include the freshly opened Shakespeare North Playhouse, which began productions earlier this year, as well as Hall for Cornwall.

The National Theatre has seen its funding reduced for the period from £16,700,000 to £16,156,916, while the Royal Court has seen its funding for the period reduced from £2,311,234 to £2,2236,073.

The National Theatre’s executive team said in a statement: “Government investment in the UK’s world-class creative sector is instrumental in its success. We support the Arts Council’s decision to increase overall support for the sector; the whole of the country needs a vibrant and sustainable cultural life that supports world-leading creativity, community building and economic impact. The National Theatre is a charity that plays a unique role in that ecosystem and works in partnership with organisations nationwide. We’re grateful for the funding support for the National Theatre from Arts Council England announced today, especially given the difficult times that many people are facing.

“While a reduction to our ACE funding will present challenges, we remain committed to creating and sharing outstanding live and digital theatre with audiences nationally and globally. We know that some colleagues across the industry have received difficult news today. As it has always done, the National Theatre will continue to work to support the sector and those colleagues who face an uncertain future.

“In the 5 years pre-pandemic half of our UK audience was from outside London, and as a national organisation, we are uniquely placed to support arts education for young people in every region and provide world class training and skills development for the UK’s unrivalled creative workforce.

“The funding received by the NT is the bedrock which enables us to multiply UK Government investment through self-generated income, including through significant fundraising and box office. We are grateful for all those who continue to believe in the value of the creative sector’s contribution to society, now and in the future”

The Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre said: “For many theatre organisations, today’s offer of Arts Council England funding will be greatly welcomed: it will offer creative opportunity and business security within an incredibly challenging economic environment.

“However, for many, today’s unwelcome news that they will not be offered funding, or offered less funding than hoped, will be incredibly challenging. Those organisations will be faced with some very tough decisions in the coming months. As theatres face a gruelling winter and crippling energy bills, even those who do receive funding won’t be able to achieve what they have in the past – creatively and as civic centres within their communities.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Many of our world-leading cultural organisations will be left devastated by this announcement of over £50 million worth of Government cuts to London’s arts funding.

“These cuts could not have come at a worse time as arts organisations already face a triple whammy of spiralling operating costs, soaring energy bills, and the impact of both the pandemic and the cost of living crisis on audience figures.

“London’s cultural organisations contribute billions and power our capital’s economic comeback as well as the wider UK economy every year which is why they need continued investment. A strong London equals a strong UK that’s why I am urging the Government to think again and reconsider the consequences of these detrimental cuts.”

Elsewhere, it was positive news for companies like the RSC, as well as the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, which saw a lift of almost 30 per cent in annual funding. Chief executive Laura Elliot and creative director Corey Campbell said: “We are absolutely delighted, and hugely grateful to Arts Council England, for awarding us this funding. It’s a huge credit to the team here at the Belgrade, along with Coventry City Council and our other funders, who offer such valued support.

“Over next three years, this investment will be pivotal in enabling an evolutionary step change for the Belgrade, as we continue to develop our vision. We will lead a ‘people first’ approach; prioritising co-creation and cultural democracy; aiming to be a leading example of an inclusive, learning theatre that sits at the very heart of its community.

“The additional funding will enable us to expand our work into key levelling up areas; build a cultural offer that is developed with and for the people of Coventry and wider region, and proudly share it with the world.”

We will update this article as we crunch the numbers.

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Investment Principles

To achieve the Strategy’s three Outcomes, both Arts Council England and the organisations and people we invest in will need to change. Our four Investment Principles will help steer that change. We believe that organisations that are committed to applying them will be better able to deliver the Outcomes, and to provide greater benefit to the public

Over the next 10 years we want to create an environment in which cultural organisations can more readily change and develop, as well as come and go. By 2030 we will be investing in organisations and people that differ, in many cases, from those that we support today. Some will be members of our current National Portfolio that have evolved to meet the future needs of communities and artists. Others will be new to us. Their work will be valued by their communities, creative practitioners and partners. Collectively, they will reflect the diversity of this country.

We will expect organisations seeking investment from us to tell us what plans they have to apply each of the four Principles, and how they will work on improving their performance against them. It will be the Arts Council’s responsibility to ensure that each organisation’s plan is appropriate and ambitious, and it will be the responsibility of the organisation’s board to monitor and report on the progress they are making. We will encourage organisations to learn from what works best around the world, and support them to change where needed.

We will also apply these Principles to our own organisation, setting out how we intend to develop and improve, and we will report on our progress.

Ambition & Quality

The public deserve the best in return for their investment, so the Arts Council is committed to the pursuit of the highest quality in everything we do. We believe in the value of training and skills, and we will use our investment to support organisations to develop talent and improve quality – across all their creative work and processes, and in the way in which they run their organisations.

We do not believe that certain types or scales of creative activity are inherently better or of greater value than others: excellence can be found in village halls and concert halls, and in both the process of participation and the work that is produced. We are committed to backing organisations and creative practitioners of all ages who have the potential to excel at what they do, as well as supporting those who are already at the top of their game.

Judgments about quality are inevitably complex and open to debate. We will therefore continue to work with the cultural sector to establish a shared language around it, which we will draw on as we consider and explain our investment decisions. But in the end it will be the Arts Council’s responsibility to use our experience and expertise to make the judgments that determine those decisions.

We want to invest in organisations that are bold, and are determined to improve the quality of their work. We will expect applicants to set out their ambitions when they apply to us for investment, and to talk about how they plan to make their work better. We will expect them to gather the views of the public and their peers on the quality of what they do, and use that feedback in discussion with their staff and boards to shape future decisions about their work. We expect them to be aware of the best work in their field – wherever it happens in the world – and to tell us how they will apply that knowledge to their own development.

As we move through the next decade, we expect to see changes in the tastes and habits of the public, alongside new technological opportunities, and ongoing pressure on public funding. To navigate these opportunities and risks successfully, cultural organisations will need to become more dynamic. This may involve organisations changing both their missions and their business models.

We will expect cultural organisations, especially those in our National Portfolio, to invest in their workforces in order to develop the skills required to respond as quickly and effectively as possible to a rapidly changing external environment. Good governance and leadership will be critical in inspiring positive change and growing teams that are happy, inclusive and able to draw on the widest possible range of ideas and experiences in order to build successful businesses over the next decade. Cultural organisations will need to become more entrepreneurial and develop business models that help them maximise income, reduce costs and become more financially resilient. We will expect them to look for opportunities to share services and explore mergers with other organisations.

We want to see the development of a more informed and effective data culture within the organisations that we fund, and the adoption of appropriate new technologies across all aspects of their businesses. We know that the cultural sector has yet to fully utilise the power of data to understand its audiences and the impact of its work. We will build partnerships with the technology sector and with further and higher education to help drive improvement in this area.

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Environmental Responsibility

The climate crisis and environmental degradation will be the most significant challenge facing all of us over the next decade and beyond. The cultural sector has already taken major steps to reduce its carbon footprint, partly as a result of a range of initiatives supported by the Arts Council. Alongside this, more and more artists and organisations are engaging with the subjects of climate, biodiversity, waste and energy in the work they create, programme and support. Research using natural history collections, meanwhile, helps people better understand these issues and suggests ways in which policy and behaviour might be adapted to address them. This creative and scientific dialogue is shaping a cultural response to the climate crisis that provides new insights and reflects the demands of audiences.

Over the next 10 years, we will expect the cultural organisations we support to redouble their commitment to environmental responsibility. We will ask them to make plans to reduce their impact, and to measure, understand and report on their progress in doing so. We want cultural organisations to act as leaders within their communities in terms of taking an environmentally responsible approach to running businesses and buildings: by lowering carbon emissions, increasing levels of recycling, cutting their use of plastic and reducing water consumption. We also expect them to promote the need for environmental responsibility in the communities in which they work, through their partnerships and with their audiences. They should be aware of the cultural sector’s role in helping to lead change, and they should aim to be innovative and responsive in the choices they make.

Inclusivity & Relevance

In 2011 Arts Council England launched the Creative Case for Diversity. In the years since, it has helped focus attention on the decisions that cultural organisations make about the work that they produce, present and collect. It has led to a wider recognition that choices about which artists to commission, what repertoires to stage, which exhibitions to mount and which performers to employ play an important part in representing the diversity of this country and ensuring that public money is invested to the benefit of all communities.

The Creative Case for Diversity has deepened the quality of cultural provision in this country, giving voice to talented creative practitioners who have too often been overlooked. It is now time to build on this work and address the persistent and widespread lack of diversity and inclusivity in cultural organisations’ leadership, governance, workforce and audience. This will promote equality and fairness, as well as ensuring that cultural organisations are more effective businesses.

The 2010 Equality Act requires Arts Council England to exercise its Public Sector Equality Duty to consider and advance equality in our investment and policy making. In future, we will ask organisations who receive regular investment from us to agree targets for how their governance, leadership, employees, participants, audiences and the work they make will reflect the communities in which they work. These targets will cover both protected characteristics (including disability, sex, and race) and socio-economic background.

We also expect the organisations we support to change in other ways. We want them to build closer connections with their communities, particularly those that they are currently underserving. We want them to mean more, to more people: to strengthen their relevance to the communities, partners and practitioners with whom they work. We will therefore ask them to demonstrate how they are listening to the voices of the public, including children and young people, artists, and creative practitioners, as well as the partners they will need to work with to deliver our three Outcomes. We will also ask them to tell us how they are reflecting what they hear in the planning of their work.

In future, we will judge organisations for the way in which they reflect and build a relationship with their communities, as well as for the quality and ambition of their work.

Applying the Investment Principles

Find out more about our Investment Principles, watch the animation exploring them in more detail, and download resources to support you in adopting them.

• 1 Punchdrunk’s The Lost Lending Library. Photo © Paul Cochrane
• 2 ILUVLIVE Photo © Abigail Shii