Substation townhall: Calls for board to step aside and suggestions for future

The National Arts Council had said The Substation can return as a tenant under the Framework for Arts Spaces scheme. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

SINGAPORE - The arts community on Saturday (March 6) voted to try to save The Substation during a virtual townhall meeting organised by the arts centre's board.

Nearly 300 members of the arts community attended the session, along with The Substation's board members including Tan Tarn How, Paul Khoo, Annabelle Yip and chairman Chew Kheng Chuan.

The board organised the townhall to answer the arts community's questions and listen to feedback after it announced that the Substation will close permanently in July.

The reason for the closure was that The Substation would not be able to return in its entirety to 45 Armenian Street after renovations to the building are completed.

During the two-hour meeting, members of the community asked the board about the factors behind its decision, its duties and also discussed possible measures the community could take to save the troubled arts venue. While there were obviously strong feelings, the tone during the meeting was generally polite and civil.

The National Arts Council (NAC) had said The Substation can return to the venue as a tenant under the Framework for Arts Spaces scheme but that the space will be shared with other arts groups.

The NAC had offered interim premises to The Substation and agreed to an additional $100,000 per year above the Major Company grant.

During the townhall, the board said had The Substation accepted the NAC's funding offer, it would have had to slash manpower from 11 to three-and-a-half staff, and it would not be possible to continue The Substation's mission of supporting young artists.

While the board members spoke at length about their decision to close, the attendees challenged the decision and there were calls for the current board to step aside to allow other people to take over leadership at The Substation.

One person suggested adding seven more board members to the current 10.

There were also suggestions to reorganise The Substation so that the arts community could have more say in its affairs and volunteers took on the task of organising further discussion groups to decide on lines of action.

The board pointed out that despite the financial constraints over the years, The Substation had built up a surplus of $600,000 before the Covid-19 pandemic and had won a Charity Transparency Award in 2019.

While the arts community acknowledged the board's contributions, there was a consensus that more could be done to save The Substation in the short-term.

The decision was made to continue discussions on The Substation Venue (future) Facebook page.

Correction note: The National Arts Council has clarified that the Substation received the Charity Transparency Award, not an award for excellence in corporate governance, at the Charity Transparency and Governance Awards in 2019.

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