POLYMATHIC awarded £10,000 in partnership with Bath Arts Collective

Thanks to £10,000 Innovation Funding from The Studio in Bath, POLYMATHIC and Bath Arts Collective are now beginning the development of Culture Key: a fully subsidised prototype web app designed with and for Bath’s cultural organisations.

Culture Key builds on POLYMATHIC’s unique blend of creative technology and deep technical capability. Alongside our immersive services, the project draws directly from Founder Nigel Fryatt’s seven-year career as a freelance full-stack web developer, where he delivered complex digital products across multiple sectors regionally, nationally and internationally. Although POLYMATHIC now focuses primarily on cutting-edge audience experiences, we continue to apply software engineering expertise once a year to deliver high-impact, socially valuable digital projects for cultural innovation.

From Vision to Prototype

Our initial concept imagines an interactive 3D map of Bath’s cultural activity, a creative way to make the city’s cultural ecosystem visible and explorable.

However, initial insights from Bath Arts Collective’s BACE network suggest that cultural organisations also need practical, reliable analytics to inform decision-making and advocacy. As the project unfolds, our co-design workshops will explore these needs in depth, shaping the prototype through direct feedback from the organisations it aims to serve.

The resulting prototype may include:

• Secure data upload from participating organisations
• Clear, useful organisational dashboards
• Aggregated insights that reveal sector-wide patterns
• A foundation for later creative data visualisation, including the 3D map concept

These features will be defined collaboratively during the R&D process.

Roadmap

The project runs from January to July 2025, following an agile, community-driven development approach:

Stage 1: Network engagement & workshops (Jan–Feb)

Introducing the concept to the sector, exploring what organisations need, and inviting participation.

Stage 2: Scoping the platform (Feb)

POLYMATHIC and Bath Arts Collective synthesise workshop insights into a clear prototype specification.

Stage 3: Prototype build (March)

Development begins using technologies such as Next.js, React, Supabase and Three.js.

Stage 4: Sector-led testing (April–May)

A 4–6 week testing period aligned with Bath’s busy spring season.

Stage 5: Analysis & reporting (June)

Findings will be distilled into a report to support advocacy, programming, and strategic planning.

Stage 6: Showcase event (July)

A public sharing event to demonstrate the prototype, gather sector feedback, and outline next steps.

Why This Matters

Bath’s cultural sector faces rising financial pressures, limited public funding, and growing demands for evidence-based reporting.

Culture Key aims to:

• Make cultural impact visible through reliable, shared data
• Level the playing field by giving smaller organisations access to powerful tools
• Strengthen advocacy with evidence that supports funding bids and policy engagement
• Foster cohesion across the cultural landscape through shared insights
• Lay the foundation for long-term creative innovation

At its heart, Culture Key is about giving Bath’s cultural community the tools, evidence and visibility it deserves.

Acknowledgement

This project was supported by Bath Spa University through the 2025 Studio Innovation Fund, celebrating B&NES-based creative technology projects that address social issues.