Arts Council of Great Britain

UK government body for the promotion of the arts. Created in 1946, The Arts Council of Great Britain was later divided to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England, see below), the Scottish Arts Council, the Arts Council of Wales, and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 1994. At the same time the National Lottery was established, and all four bodies became distribution bodies. This increased responsibility saw the Arts Council of England grow back in size, to the point where it was larger than before the 1987 restructure. In 2001 Chairman Gerrard Jude "Gerry" Robinson announced a further restructuring, in which the Arts Council of England would be merged with the ten regional arts boards to form a single organisation: Arts Council England.