Arts & Culture Copywriting

Fascinating subjects don’t always make fascinating reading

A painting can stop somebody in their tracks. A historic building can hold centuries of extraordinary stories. A library can contain just about everything worth knowing, along with a few things nobody particularly needed to know.

But having something interesting to share and knowing how to communicate it are two different things.

Museums, galleries, theatres, heritage organisations and cultural institutions have no shortage of stories. The challenge is making people want to discover them.

Sometimes that means attracting visitors or selling tickets. Sometimes it means explaining a collection, encouraging participation, engaging supporters or demonstrating the value of an organisation’s work.

I’ve been writing professionally for 30 years, beginning in national journalism before moving into government speechwriting, public relations and commercial copywriting. I help organisations find what’s interesting, explain what matters and give people a reason to pay attention.

Without insisting that everything is iconic, immersive or an unmissable cultural experience.

Culture shouldn’t require a translation

Some of the most interesting subjects have an unfortunate tendency to arrive wrapped in unnecessarily complicated language.

Exhibition descriptions can become academic. Cultural organisations can disappear into funding terminology. And perfectly fascinating historical material can be presented in a way that makes the reader feel they should have done some homework first.

Good arts and culture copywriting makes subjects accessible without treating the audience as though they need everything explained in words of one syllable. It respects the knowledge behind the material while recognising that not everybody arrives with the same knowledge or interests.

An art historian, a curious visitor and a family looking for somewhere to spend a rainy afternoon are unlikely to want exactly the same information.

The trick is making the subject approachable without making it simplistic.

Museums and galleries have stories worth finding

Every collection contains stories.

Some are obvious. Others are hidden in the provenance of an object, the circumstances of its creation, the people who owned it or the world in which it existed.

A painting is more than its title, date and medium. A historical artefact is more than something discovered in a field. Even an apparently ordinary household object can tell us something extraordinary about the people who used it.

I’ll research the material, work with curators and subject specialists, and look for the details that help visitors make sense of what they’re seeing. That might involve exhibition text, gallery introductions, collection descriptions, interpretive panels or supporting publications.

The information must remain accurate and appropriately qualified. But the writing should also leave room for curiosity.

Sometimes the most interesting question is the one the visitor hadn’t thought to ask.

Heritage deserves more than a history lesson

Castles, historic houses, industrial sites, archives and heritage attractions are full of stories about how people lived, worked, struggled and occasionally behaved rather badly.

Dates and architectural details have their place. But knowing that a building dates from 1742 doesn’t necessarily tell somebody why they should care about it.

What happened there? Who lived there? What changed? Why has it survived? And what does it tell us about the world beyond its walls?

Good heritage writing connects historical evidence with human experience. That can mean producing visitor guides, interpretation panels, heritage websites, exhibition materials or articles that explore a site’s particular character.

It also means knowing when the evidence is incomplete.

History contains enough genuine mysteries without inventing a few more.

Libraries and cultural organisations matter beyond their collections

A library isn’t simply a building full of books.

It may be somewhere to study, learn new skills, research family history, meet other people or find help that isn’t readily available elsewhere. Archives, community arts organisations and cultural centres often play similarly varied roles.

Their communications need to speak to users, volunteers, supporters, funders, local authorities and the wider community. And those audiences don’t necessarily measure success in the same way.

A visitor wants to know what’s available. A prospective volunteer may want to understand how they can contribute. A funder needs credible evidence of what an organisation achieves.

Good writing helps each audience find what matters to them. Without making the organisation sound like a grant application.

Give people a reason to come

A performance, exhibition, festival or cultural event may be wonderful. But somebody who hasn’t experienced it yet needs a reason to take an interest.

What is it? What’s distinctive about it? Will I enjoy it? Do I need any specialist knowledge? Is it suitable for children?

And, just as important, where do I park?

Good promotional copy creates curiosity while answering practical questions. It establishes the character of an event, explains what visitors can expect and gives them enough information to make a decision.

Not every exhibition is groundbreaking. Not every production is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Sometimes the truth is considerably more interesting than the superlatives.

Arts and culture copywriting services

I provide copywriting and editorial support for museums, galleries, theatres, libraries, archives, heritage attractions, cultural venues, festivals and arts organisations. Projects can include:

Arts, culture and heritage website copy
Museum and gallery exhibition text
Heritage interpretation panels and visitor guides
Theatre, concert and festival brochures
Exhibition catalogues and cultural publications
Library, archive and community programme content
Advertising and event promotional campaigns
Artist, performer and organisation biographies
Articles, interviews and editorial features
Membership, fundraising and supporter communications
Cultural project case studies and impact reports
Annual reports and corporate communications

I can work directly with your organisation or alongside curators, historians, designers, marketing teams and other specialists.

The interesting part isn’t always the obvious part

Journalism taught me to ask questions, research unfamiliar subjects and find the detail that makes a story worth telling. Government speechwriting taught me to communicate complicated ideas to different audiences. And 30 years of commercial writing have taught me that what an organisation finds fascinating isn’t always what will interest somebody encountering it for the first time.

That’s particularly relevant to arts and culture.

The people closest to a collection, production or historic site often know more about it than anybody else. I bring an outsider’s curiosity, the experience to ask useful questions and the editorial judgement to recognise which answers deserve a wider audience.

A good story doesn’t need manufacturing.

It usually needs finding.

Something interesting to share?

Perhaps you’re opening an exhibition, refreshing a heritage website, promoting a performance or trying to explain why your organisation matters to the people it serves.

Tell me what you’re working on and what you’d like the words to achieve. I’ll help you work out what’s worth saying, and how best to say it.