Mark Walmsley and the Arts and Culture Network
Your journey to founding the Arts and Culture Network is quite unique. Could you tell us about your background?
I trained as an orchestral percussionist at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London in the early 1980s. While at college, I became the Social Secretary of the Student Union, organising parties and events. That’s where I caught the business bug. After reading Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer [the former UK MP], I realised that unless I became Elton John, I probably wouldn’t make a fortune from music alone.
So, I started a business while still at college, which grew into a successful music agency and entertainment company called Music Plus. I juggled teaching drums and organising live music for Harrods. Then in 1993, I sent my first email and waited a full week for a reply! A year later, I saw the web in colour for the first time and knew it would be huge, though very few people agreed with me back then.
From there, I taught myself web design and approached the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where I was a percussionist. I asked their Marketing Manager if they would like a website. He said, “A what?” So, I explained it was like a brochure on the telephone, mentioning that the London Symphony Orchestra was planning one. That was like waving a red flag—they wanted to beat them to it! A few hundred pounds and a steep learning curve later, we launched the website, which received more stars in Net User magazine than Lloyds Bank’s
first website.
What led to creating the Arts and Culture Network?
In 2010, I started the Arts and Culture Network (ACN) as a group on LinkedIn. It grew organically, and I honestly forgot about it until lockdown approached. That’s when I realised we had 18,000 members who had never met or done business together. I’ve learned that over 80% of new opportunities in the arts and culture sector start with a referral, so I started hosting networking events on Zoom for people worldwide during lockdown, and that was really the start of it all.
The network has grown impressively. What’s your current reach?
We now have approximately 150,000 members globally, with about 200 people asking to join our LinkedIn group every day. The geographic spread is balanced between North America, the UK and Europe, and the rest of the world, representing 73 countries. It’s quite UK-heavy because that’s where my live contacts are, but we’ve grown in line with LinkedIn’s own expansion to 1.1 billion members.
How does the membership work?
We have three levels of involvement. First, there are eight LinkedIn groups, which are free to join and use. Then, we have eight networking events per month that are also free for everyone. The full membership option is just £10 a month, which is how we’re funded. We’re decidedly independent—no sponsors, advertisers, grant-making bodies or shareholders influencing our direction. However, should an organisation that shares our values—and respects our independence—wish to be associated with us, there is a corporate membership option.
What are the advantages of becoming a full member?
For £10 a month, about the price of two large Starbucks coffees, members get four main benefits. First, there’s an informal, fun interview that’s recorded in both audio and video on Zoom, embedded in a profile we write for the website, and shared across multiple platforms including YouTube, SoundCloud and Spotify. Second, we offer a matchmaking service where we identify potential connections based on their specific criteria. Third, I can nominate members for discounted Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts. Finally, I provide brand and marketing advice as needed to our full members.
Can you share a success story from the Arts and Culture Network?
A very recent success was with full member Ella Schwarz, a Nottingham-based creative coach. Ella and I met on Zoom and pulled up the 150,000 members across our LinkedIn groups. Using her search criteria, we filtered that down to 70, and I shared the details in a Word file.
Ella was then able to send LinkedIn connection requests to those fellow members with two things already in common: me, and our community. Fifty accepted her request, ten agreed to meet her and two are now clients. There are several more success stories like this and many more that I don’t get to
hear about.
You’ve recently launched ACN Talent. How did that come about?
Yes, we now have a management division and one client, conductor and ACN full member Steven Lloyd-Gonzalez. In January he was invited by the charity Channel Aid, the FABS Foundation and The Lufthansa Orchestra to create arrangements and conduct the orchestra for a concert by British singer James Arthur. It sold out in 15 minutes and was a great success. Three of Steven’s orchestrated songs were included in the digital deluxe version of James Arthur’s Bitter Sweet Love album, which subsequently reached number one in the UK album charts.
Following the success of these concerts, Steven and I, together with others involved in the concerts, are planning further similar events. We coined the phrase “The Symphonic Edition” for this.
What’s your vision for the future of The Arts and Culture Network?
My vision is to create an arts and culture support foundation to donate membership revenue to worthy causes recommended by our members—I’m calling it “democratic collective philanthropy”. We already support various initiatives, like helping a member access cancer treatment when she fell between insurance coverage during an international move. We also supported two young homeless orphans who were part of a street dance group in Uganda.
We currently have around 300 full members, predicted to rise to 2,000 by the end of this decade. At that point, the membership revenue will be quite significant, and we want to give much of it away. Think of it as being like the Arts Council, but without the daunting application process—if our members think it’s a good idea, we can help make it happen.
What other initiatives are you developing?
We’re looking to create a store environment where our members can sell their services—artists could sell their work or prints and consultants could offer their services. We’re also piloting a WhatsApp communication platform that could revolutionise how we connect with our community with reduced dependence on email. I predicted 20 years ago that messaging inside private networks would supersede email, and we’re seeing that happen now.
Next year, we’re launching a mentoring platform so established professionals can support those trying to break into the industry. At one of our meetings, we had three women at different stages of transitioning from corporate careers to becoming visual artists: one considering the leap, one two years in, and one sixteen years into her journey. These kinds of connections are invaluable.
What makes the Arts and Culture Network special?
I consider myself very fortunate—they say if you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. My superpower seems to be connecting people, and my passion is this sector. I call it my “super passion”—the cross between a superpower and a passion.
We’re borderless and inclusive, actively celebrating cultural differences. As I often say to people, if the UK hadn’t welcomed Freddie Mercury’s family as refugees, we wouldn’t have Bohemian Rhapsody today. Our motto is: “Choose people who will say your name in a room full of opportunities.”
IAM was in conversation with Mark Walmsley FRSA FCIM, Founder and Chief Culture Connector of the Arts and Culture Network. To discover more about the organisation, visit
