As the
Arts Council began to move away from organising art activities in the 1950s, regional offices in England were restructured as
regional art associations (RAAs). The new RAAs were intermediate organisations acting as a link between the Arts Council and the regions set up by local authorities or consortiums of local arts associations. The new Boards received the majority of their funding directly from the Arts Council rather than local sources. The Boards closed in April 2002 and smaller regional offices were maintained in the regions, except the South East Board which became part of southern region, to bring them into line with the then
regional development agency areas. ==Regional Arts Associations (from 1956-1990)==