Despite the fact that our fragmenting and ailing societies need it more than ever, Outdoor Arts currently faces unique challenges in an uncertain landscape. This raises many questions, both practical and existential in respect of how we navigate this new territory and continue to make and support the creation of artistic work.

The artform is no longer entirely on the margins but despite this we still have to fight for support. Having built an ecosystem we face the challenge of maintaining it in the face of a harsh climate whilst thinking anew about what the future holds. We need to resist institutionalisation and instrumentalisation whilst protecting our fragile sector ecology and making the case for our work. Outdoor arts must also remain exciting, relevant and viable for new generations of artists and for future audiences - reimagining new possibilities that can sustain ambition, innovation and connection.

Artists feel intense pressure as rising living costs make experimentation and risk-taking harder. Creative cities have become unaffordable for the very artists who regenerated them, and the costs of space, production and simply surviving have risen sharply. Public space is increasingly controlled and sanitised, with fears of terrorism adding new costs and regulations.

We see the impact in the diminishing scale of projects. Festivals disappear or shrink, touring circuits contract, and funding systems are under strain. The cashless economy impacts busking, and in the UK, Brexit has damaged international touring and reduced opportunities for collaboration.

Work must also survive increasingly unpredictable climatic conditions, and sustainable practices can add time and cost. Slow‑touring concepts clash with a short season and even fewer shows. Concept touring offers possibilities but cannot replace the skills of seasoned performers meeting a public.

In a world where culture is consumed digitally and individualistically, live experience competes with on‑demand content and high‑end media production values. Impact in outdoor arts comes from artists embracing the opportunities and challenges of the street — working with space and interaction while still reaching broad audiences. Dance companies have often if not always translated successfully outdoors, but theatre in the text‑biased UK has struggled to grasp the possibilities of public space. Immersive indoor theatre forms, though popular, rely on intensive site control rarely compatible with the public realm. Aesthetically, outdoor arts is caught between naturalistic theatre trends that undervalue spectacle and surrealism and on the other hand the fantastical CGI‑shaped expectations of audiences. A bricolage aesthetic has less currency in a world of retro “shabby‑chic” lifestyle accessories. Social media offers reach for disruptive work but also habituates audiences to novelty.

The world feels unstable and threatening. Culture wars, combined with artists’ and presenters’ genuine desires not to cause offence, mean street theatre’s historic use of provocation now requires new sensitivity. Artists — especially those from under‑represented communities or making political work — can feel vulnerable and exposed. Free culture in the street is an easy target for populists attacking the “wasteful” or “woke”. Despite or because of this, issue‑based work has renewed urgency — yet so does street performance’s capacity to create joy and wonder and a sense of collectivity and community.

Funders’ priorities around place‑based activity and community engagement should play to outdoor arts’ strengths, but the role of artists is often under‑recognised and instrumentalised. The need for mobility, creative exchange, and touring economies sit uneasily with increasingly hyper‑local agendas.

Our creative talent pool must be renewed as artists retire or leave due to financial pressures. We lose valuable people to better‑paid sectors, creative subjects are under threat in education and those that exist fail to recognise our world. As a sector we lack sufficient opportunities to support younger artists to develop and learn from others or to take the risks they need in order to develop their practice.

There are many challenges yet outdoor arts’ unique abilities to invigorate spaces and create connection feel more valuable than ever in our world. Artists can imagine the unexpected and the marvellous and through creating a sense of wonder enable people to think differently about themselves, their communities and the world around them. Above all, artists remain inventive and resourceful, rising and responding to the challenges of the political, economic and cultural climate. We must shout for the centrality of their vision whilst protecting the space to create and take risk.

Long before our civilisation, humans sought art, creativity and collective interaction. The relationship between art, people and place has always been fundamental. In our increasingly digital world whatever the algorithms hold, street artists will remain uniquely placed to create work that speaks to us all.

Photo: Autin Dance in rehearsal at 101 Outdoor Arts - National Centre for Arts in Public Space (UK)

Simon Chatterton

Programmer, producer and creative strategist, specialising in outdoor and site-specific work Simon is founder and Strategic Lead for 101 Outdoor Arts – National Centre for Arts in Public Space, a 2000sqm creation space and major UK centre for artist development and innovation in outdoor arts since 2014.

101 Outdoor Arts - National Centre for Arts in Public Space has worked with OAUK and Without Walls to commission the recent Outdoor Arts Strategy for England.