Abstract

Across the UK there are currently a series of government led initiatives to measure and document the value of culture in relation to social, economic, and health infrastructures. These challenges might be regarded as fundamental to much of the cultural sector both within and outside of academia, relevant not only in relation to the current funding climate, but constituting a more deep-seated profundity; being fundamental to our understanding of how arts and culture "work" in the UK. This article explores these ideas in relation to the notion of the "civic university," touching upon the ROTOR partnership exhibitions programme between the University of Huddersfield and Huddersfield Art Gallery, as an example of a possible model for working within—and actively addressing—some of these challenges.