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Cultural mediation • New kid on the block A new direction • Creative Partnerships reborn in London Bright ideas • Learning disabled young people take control Cross your heart • Engaging young audiences in rural Cheshire

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Arts & Business

Governance for the Arts Conference Essential legal updates for every arts organisation with topical sessions reflecting the current climate. Aimed at board members, Chief Executives and directors 1 APRIL 2009 – CENTRAL LONDON

10% Discount for Arts & Business members

To book online, go to:

www.dsc.org.uk/artsconference Jointly organised by:

DIRECTORY OF SOCIAL CHANGE INFORMATION AND TRAINING FOR THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

March/April/May 2009

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SUBSCRIPTIONS One year (four issues including p&p) individuals £20 voluntary & not-for-profit £27 public sector/commercial organisations £38 discounts for multiples Cheques payable to MAiLOUT ADVERTISING RATES Vol/not-for profit organisations: full page £230, 1/2 page £150, 1/4 page £90 Commercial/corporate/statutory: full page: £350, 1/2 page £230, 1/4 page £150 10% discount on series of three inserts Web advertising by arrangement

news views ideas events people Contents REGULARS Letter from the editor Your mailout Surfs Up Art man Ear to the ground Courses conferences & events Funding Calipso

FEATURES 3 4 4 5 6

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COLUMNS Talking through the arts Norman Warwick on the plight of the small man getting work Clipout Working with International Artists

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Booking deadline 11 April 2009 MAILOUT IS: Published by MAiLOUT Trust Limited Editors: Rob Howell & Sue Robinson Funding editor: Julian Dunn

Prevent The prevention of violent extremism Where I come from Michelle Green on creative writing with refugees Cultural Mediation Ted Little on French Canadian perspectives on culture and participation How is the recession hitting the arts?

Arts Council research A New Direction The new delivery organisation for Creative Partnerships in London Bright Ideas in the East Lizzie Meadows at Creative Arts East discusses a Mediabox project Cross Your Heart A rural arts case study Networking in Rural East Midlands Rebecca Lee completes the Set Aside series IVOC International Village of Culture

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e-MAiLOUT editor: Jules Cadie Development manager: Cathy Hinde Administration: Ruth Coe Designer: Richard Honey, dg3 Printer: Creative Copy ‘n’ Colour COVER: Main photo – Homelands Project, Cartwheel Arts Thumbnail – MAILOUT is the national magazine for people developing participation in the arts. The MAiLOUT Trust aims to promote and advance the practice, understanding and profile of high-quality participatory arts in the UK. ISSN 0959 0013 The MAiLOUT Trust Ltd is a Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No. 5252801 Mill Barn, Clowne Road, Barlborough S43 4EN

Letter from the editors Why do organisations need new logos?

Branding is really important. A name, a logo and a visual identity are important assets to any organisation and are to be tampered with cautiously.

of upheaval, change the Creative Partnerships ‘hummm’ logo? It is well recognised, it is still contemporary, it works well with other logos – if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Brand updating is commonplace. Look at how the Shell logo has un-perceptively changed over the last seventy years.

We may have found the ulteria motive. Creative Partnerships is all about partnerships – it says so in the title. Its work is largely about match making between teachers and creative practitioners.

Perhaps this is the reason that their new logo is almost identical to that of Parship.co.uk – the international dating agency.

Size is important here. BT has enormous brand recognition whatever its logo is but most people working in the arts can only dream of that scale of public awareness.

Creative Partnerships is about to de-merge from Arts Council England becoming its biggest RFO. The name Creative Partnerships will remain and be delivered through a new trust called Creativity, Culture & Education, (CCE).

The new trust clearly needs a new brand and identity – that is common sense. But why, at a time

Is this coincidence or the pre-curser to a major sponsorship deal or takeover to be announced?a Check out the two logos on line www.creative-partnerships.org and www.parship.co.uk

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YOUR MAILOUT

Mailout and you Subscribe online

This is your magazine and it is here to reflect what is happening in the participatory arts sector; to inspire its readers with new ideas, put people in touch with others and to save you reinventing the wheel every time you’re about to develop a new project. We look at policy and strategy as well as the nuts and bolts of developing arts work with people.

Did you know you can now subscribe to MAiLOUT magazine on-line?

Just visit our website at www.e-mailout.org and follow the links on the home page What do you think of the new Arts and you can start Council restructuring plans? We your subscription found an old article in Mailout dating instantly. back to 1991 about restructuring from Regional Arts Associations to Regional Arts Boards.

Back then a commentator said: “The purpose of the restructuring, is to ensure a more effective way of delivering funds and policies. We’ll stand or fall by whether or not we can show that we have done this, in two or three years time” Seventeen years and three more restructures later, we wait and see.

Tell us your thoughts!

How do you feel about possible cuts in Local Government budgets? Are you optimistic for the future? Do we need circuses as well as bread? Will

the participatory sector thrive on other’s misery? What role can the sector play in campaigning for the arts and ensuring a future for itself beyond 2011?

In the early 1980s Mailout was a campaigning magazine in times of limited arts funding and social unrest. How will culture respond to this recession? Will music and theatre become more angry and visceral? Or are we focussed on mortgages and pensions?

We can only reflect what we see; we can only help inspire others if you help us shout about your ground breaking initiative: we can only put people in touch with you if you raise your head above the page.

We need to know what you’re working on; what is inspiring you; what is getting under your skin and making you want to shout and scream?

We’re always on the look out for new voices, new projects and new opinions. We don’t just publish articles, we have room for pictures and cartoons, ideas and news. We are a place to tell others about your

training event or conference and a place for you to have a rant.

We’re here to reflect, but to help inspire you here’s a round up of some of the areas we’re keen to cover in coming issues: > Weathering the storm: ideas on keeping projects and creative businesses going when the funding gets tough. Who’s been there before, how did it work for you, and what would you recommend. Should we collaborate or compete? Survival of the fittest or share the love?

How to contribute > Write a letter > Comment on a past issue > Send us a news item > Write us an article > Suggest a topic for clipout > Draw us a cartoon > Write an article > Suggest an interviewee Our contributor guidelines are available on the e-mailout website.

We look forward to hearing from you.a editor@e-mailout.org

Surf’s up We’ve collected together all the web addresses published in this issue of mailout.

Why not have a random surf – you never know what you’ll find. From MI5 to forkbeard fantasy.

A few clicks could open up a whole new world for you.

All these sites are also on the e-mailout web site: www.e-mailout.org

www.anewdirection.org.uk www.anightlessordinary.org.uk. www.artandcommunity.com/ www.artscampaign.org.uk www.artscampaign.org.uk/ campaigns/nationalpolicy/Visas%20 2005%20Overview.html www.artswales.org.uk www.artswork.org.uk/artsplan www.artswork.org.uk/artsplan www.awardsforal.org.uk www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecont ent/documents/ managingourborders/pbsdocs/ www.biennial.com www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ thirdsector/realhelpfor communities.aspx www.cartwheelarts.org.uk www.citybridgetrust.org.uk

www.coalfields-regen.org.uk www.colemanlemieux.com/ www.creativeartseast.co.uk www.CreativeCooperative.co.uk www.culturepourtous.ca/forum www.dcsf.gov.uk/publications www.dsc.org.uk/Conferences/ @33683 www.equitablecharitabletrust.org.uk www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk www.fairsharetrust.org/index.php/ find agent/ www.firstlightmovies.com/funding/ www.forkbeardfantasy.co.uk www.graphicmail.co.uk www.harbourfrontcentre.com www.humber-music4u.com www.kelmangroup.com www.lancashire.police.uk/index.php ?id=5270 www.mediationculturelle.net

www.mi5.gov.uk www.myspace.com/humbermusic4u www.northofthewall.co.uk/ competitions www.nrtf.org.uk www.nrtf.org.uk/ivoc www.padshopandgallery.com www.phf.org.uk www.properjob.org.uk www.sightlines-initiative.com www.sitatrust.org.uk/apply/ community www.soundlincs.org www.teesriduniyatheatre.com/ alttheatre.html www.tharctic.com www.thefsa.net www.tourismculture.com/pop_up/forthcoming_ conferences.html?PAGE=2

Who will monitor the new monitors?

Even though showing only recorded offences and not any recently committed, it is, of course, only right that practitioners working in schools should produce a Criminal Record Bureau certificate, assisting schools in determining the artist is safe to work with children. It also makes sense that artists avail themselves of courses, where available, on best practice, child protection and pupil rights etc.

Artists’ end-users, (students, community and pension group members, private students, whatever) have every right to know the artist they are working with is not a danger to society and funding organisations are entitled to know the artist is competent in delivering to contemporary requirements.

bridges between arts practitioners and educationalists. These bodies monitor our creative development and ensure we remain able to meet educational and community requirements. Nowadays, though, we are constantly informed of similar bodies compiling a database of artists to offer to schools. These “middle-men” invite artists to post information to their web site databases, but each asks for variations on a theme of the information they require from us. I am led to believe there is even a new ISA development to be introduced in October, though this at least is promising to do away with the problem of “out of date” CRB forms.

“It will ask more than the work of twenty licensers to examine all the lutes, the violins and the guitars in every house.”

Milton – “Apologetica” 1644

service or commodity. Small trading companies like Just Poets and even revenue-funded groups under threat from imminent changes to commissioning methods fully recognise that those holding the purse strings need to seek quantifiable outcomes and that our anecdotes no longer suffice of young lives changed for the better by dance, poetry or drama introducing them to the arts. I have learned a great deal from my recent involvement on the management board of SpiralDance (www.spiraldance.co.uk), a successful revenue-funded group in Rochdale, about the importance of performance indicators and how to measure impact.

For a small company like Just Poets our most vital marketing asset is our reputation, and 65% of the customers we deal with come back for repeat business, New customers often approach us following a word of mouth reference or positive reviews in publications such as The Times Educational Supplement.

Of course, schools will sometimes have to accept the easy option of “buying in” their artists from regulatory bodies, but they should be aware that experienced artists with proven track records might be being overlooked because of the agenda of a particular regulating body. Similarly, dynamic and challenging emerging artists might be being overlooked by those regulatory bodies not capable of identifying new talent.

Surely, though, Arts Council England should step in to offer a central regulating board ensuring that all their artists conform in how they collate their data, and therefore have to jump through only one hoop at a time to prove themselves competent for their client base. Otherwise, Milton’s observation of more than 350 years ago will see us with more counters than beans in a cultural wasteland.a

We have also long been registered with the well-established Artists in Schools and Creative Partnerships, who do great work in building

All this confusion has led to artists in some authorities identifying common threads, forming synergies and re-branding as an identifiable

Norman Warwick, Just Poets www.justpoets2.com 01706 670829.

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TALKING THROUGH THE ARTS

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EAR TO THE GROUND

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MARKETING Are you always looking for new ways of communicating with your database? We are constantly flooded with emails that look just like the rest and don’t get the attention they deserve.

scribes and delivery. Clear and concise graphs of your sending metrics will reveal how well your campaigns are achieving your email marketing goals.

www.graphicmail.co.uk is a site that allows you to create professional newsletters and announcements in minutes. Just select a template from the extensive library, add text and images, import your lists and hit send. You can target your clients and prospects by segmenting them in lists and personalise every email to each recipient.

If you’re a registered not-for-profit organisation, a club, membership organisation, charity, or cultural group, then you can get all this for free. You will get the full GraphicMail application, but they add a small header to your emails inviting other nonprofits to use GraphicMail for free.a W: www.graphicmail.co.uk/site/ editions_nonprofit.aspx

Music 4 U << Music4U, the Humber Region Youth Music Action Zone which is co-ordinated by the National Centre for Early Music, has recently received a major three year funding award from the DCMS for Youth Music Mentors following a highly successful pilot year in 2008.

Music4U: Children from Epworth School found out more about how instruments were made from the folk group Pierrot.

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ear to the ground>>

Each and every email sent is tracked in real-time for opens, clicks, forwards, subscribe / un-sub-

The Youth Music Mentoring scheme provides professional adult music mentors support for twenty 11–25 year olds in Hull each year. Two groups meet fortnightly at Kingston Youth Centre, Beverley Road, Hull, and work with two fully trained Music4U Community Musicians. Alistair Wilson supports the DJ MC group and Donna Smith works with the singer songwriter group, by helping them to identify and achieve their goals and further their musical and personal development. In addition, the young people regularly get the chance to record their own tracks at professional music studio Nova Studios supported by Professional Musician Alan Jones.

Kyola, aged 17, has been involved with the DJ MC group, HWA (Hardcore with Attitude) and says of her experience over the last 8 months:

“I started with my own set of decks when I was nine so I already had some skills and experience to bring to the group. What’s been great about the mentoring scheme is the confidence it has given me around other people. It gives us the chance to practice, and then get really good feedback from Alistair on everything from the way you present yourself when you are performing, right down to the best way to set up your equipment, what to look out for and try to upgrade to on the technical side and how to meet all the health and safety aspects involved in DJ-ing.

Working with HWA has really made it clear to me that I want to go on and not just build up my own performing career but I also want to share what I’ve learned with other young people and help them improve. I’ve also met loads of new friends through the gigs we go to and it’s really good to share stuff with the other bands we meet.” a To find out more about the Youth Music Mentors visit or myspace at www.myspace.com/humbermusic4u or email the team at info@humbermusic4u.com

500,000 free theatre tickets Are free theatre tickets for young people going to make a difference?

Certainly the subsidy will make a difference to the theatres and promoters who are offering them but will it help young people get into the habit?

England. They are trumpeting the backing of leading actors including Spooks star Rupert Penry-Jones for the campaign though we notice he got killed off in the first episode of the last series.

The free theatre ticket scheme offering more than half-a-million seats to under-26s went live in February.

It’s all branded under the title “A night Less Ordinary” and they’re offering free seats to a wide variety of shows at hundreds of theatres across the country.

Metro are sponsoring the initiative in partnership with Arts Council

To get started, enter your postcode at www.anightlessordinary.org.uk.

The National Rural Touring Forum put in a successful bid for tickets on the rural touring which is great for them but sceptics believe that most attendances will be from young people who would have gone anyway and paid.a

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>> NORTH OF THE

North Liverpool Programme In Liverpool’s Year of Environment, Liverpool Biennial is collaborating with local and regional agencies to commission artworks with residents neighbouring on a four-mile stretch of the Leeds-Liverpool canal, from Seaforth, through Bootle, to where it currently terminates in Stanley Dock.

Water, in the shape of a major spring, the Irish Sea and the River Mersey was historically the lifeblood of the area, all connected by the canal. Following half a century of post-industrial decline the area has turned its back on the canal and wildlife has flourished. A series of projects throughout 2009 will put it back in the spotlight to examine how the canal may resume its role at the centre of the community and fulfil its potential as a vital green and blue lung for the city.

Spring 2009 will see one of the most exciting developments in British canal history when the canal is opened up to join to the newly built extension across Pier Head, terminating in the Albert Dock, This link will offer a unique experience of the World Heritage Site, the new Museum of Liverpool and provide narrow boat moorings in the heart of the city.

Regenerating and reanimating the northern approaches of the canal and its environs offers unprecedented opportunities to augment the quality of life in adjacent neighbourhoods, many of which are part of the government’s Housing Market Renewal Initiative (HMRI).

Over five days in September, Urbanism 2009 will present the outcome of over six months of environmental interventions, projects and imaginative approaches by artists, architects, urbanists and residents to unlock the potential of the canal in the renewal of the area. The programme will include a symposium, artist and architect residencies and commissions, workshops and local happenings, enabling the widest possible range of people to become involved in the event, culminating in a carnival along the length of this grand canal.

The event aims to engage residents and businesses in the neighbourhoods that border this stretch of the canal; decision makers, stakeholders and service providers active in the area along with policymakers, urbanists, architects and artists There are currently two artists in residence as part of the North Liverpool Programme, doing research and producing new work.

Dutch artist David Bade spent February in the Biennial ‘Ideas Shop’ in Seaforth.

There he invited local residents to have their portrait painted, in order to create a dialogue with the local community.

British artist Kerry Morrison is spending 12 months mapping the canal, its activity and wildlife. She aims to get students and the local community involved, and is working towards 3 project installations – one of which will include growing food on vacant sites.a www.biennial.com

>> Doing the right thing

WALL ANNUAL ART PRIZE This new prize is aimed at stimulating the creative arts in general, as well as promoting the work of disabled artists.

There is prize money of £6,000, including £3,000 for the overall winner, three runners up prizes of £500 and £1,500 for the winner of the disabled artist category.

It is open to living artists over the age of 16 on 1st October 2008. Artists may submit up to three original works, in any format, however all works must be available for exhibition/sale until the end of September 2009.

Initial entry forms, along with images of the art work(s) being submitted, must be received by 30th April 2009, and all artists will be advised whether or not their work has been accepted for exhibition by the end of May 2009.

The judges will select up to 75 works for exhibition and their decision on winning and runner up entries will be final and binding.

The Prize Exhibition will be held in July/August 2009 in the North East of England, with details of the specific location and opening times to be announced during May 2009.

Entry forms are available on-line at www.northofthewall.co.uk/competitions, and this is the preferred method of submission to minimise administration costs and maximise accessibility, however, postal entry forms can also be obtained by sending a stamped, addressed envelope to: ‘North of the Wall’ 2009 Prize, 48 Percy Gardens, Tynemouth NE30 4HH.a

As early years educators, we all want to ‘do the right thing’.

their learning about the world and themselves.

We recognise the need for a creative and reflective approach to teaching children. But what does this mean in practice?

This film documents research undertaken by Walkergate Early Years Centre and Sightlines Initiative into the best way to support young children’s learning.

A new film explores an action-research project by early years educators into the creative responses of children within natural outdoor environments, and the effects this has had on thinking and practice.

The aim was to support the children in exploring and enquiring, and to foster

It could prove invaluable to all educators, lecturers, advisors, and policy development officers who are focussed on the development of reflective early years work, and with children’s relationships with the great outdoors. a www.sightlines-initiative.com

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EAR TO THE GROUND

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EAR TO THE GROUND

TH’ARCTIC << Th’Arctic (Lancashire for the Arctic), is a live art project that explores personal identity in relation to situation and environment.

You can share her Arctic experiences by subscribing to her blog updates; and there is also a blog message board where you can ask questions and send her messages!

During April and May Th’Arctic blog ‘stations’ and photographic updates from Rebecca’s journey will be exhibited at Cornerhouse, as part of Cornerhouse Projects, BBC Radio Lancashire and on the BBC Big Screen in Manchester’s Exchange Square.

There will also be a number of Th’Arctic events taking place, including a special Cornerhouse event with Rebecca live from the arctic, in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University.

Rebecca has also been working with two-hundred Year 7 pupils from Collegiate High School in Blackpool since January. The project, initiated by Creative Partnerships Lancashire has enabled her to work with other creative practitioners to devise workshops inspired by the project. The workshops have focused on developing the pupils’ confidence, team-work, communication and presentation

She has also been working with a group of creative MA students from Manchester Metropolitan University.

The students have worked with Rebecca to develop ideas for their own artworks inspired by Th’Arctic and to plan and deliver an artist event at Cornerhouse which will communicate with Rebecca on expedition.

“I’m really excited, but I’m also very nervous. I’ve been training and working towards this for nearly two-years, so if I’m not ready now, then I never will be! It’s always been one of my life’s ambitions to walk through the Arctic wilderness since I was quite young and this is my chance to live in it for up to thirty days! I hope I can do it and I thank everyone who has helped make this a reality. In particular my sponsors, funders and partners and of course my family who have supported me even though they think I’m mad!”

You can share Rebecca’s Arctic experiences by subscribing to her updates; and you can also track Rebecca live via her blog map, text her satellite phone for free and email her questions and messages via Th’Arctic blog!

Visit Rebecca’s Arctic blog at www.tharctic.com for more information and to subscribe to expedition updates!a

Rebecca McKnight

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This April Rebecca McKnight will attempt to become one of the first British people to ski over 350 miles pulling a pulk (sledge) from Resolute Bay to Grise Fiord, the most northerly Inuit community in the world, which is located further north than the Magnetic North Pole.

skills and also creating artwork gifts for her to take to the two schools in Resolute and Grise Fiord. The Collegiate pupils will be following her journey and her residency at the school will continue until July.

CreativeCooperative: new creative support network The CreativeCooperative is a supportive network for people with talents in the creative realm. This new idea provides a chance for those with no experience to get involved and meet other creative people through the network. Most people have talents that give them pleasure, they long to exit the rat race for a more productive career but don’t have the right qualifications or live in the right area or are just plain scared!

The website contains posted opportunities, events and meetings in and around the Midlands. Members get sent a newsletter which they are also invited to contribute to, detailing the latest art’s and culture news. The newsletter is also used as a platform to promote small creative businesses, promote local shows and exhibitions and list volunteering opportunities.

This is a network for creative people to help one another and exchange ideas. A helping hand to those who want use their talent and a ready made pool of support.

For example, if your were an amateur artist you loved painting and longed to exhibit your art but didn’t know how to go about it and were afraid no one would turn up. This is where creative cooperative would help by having members sharing information and supporting each other in different ways one of these would be just to turn up!

There will be organised meetings for members to group together to discuss projects or philosophise over coffee or a few drinks. It’s about connecting with people who have similar passions from complete beginners to more established types.

The intention is for the group to grow organically, to buildgroups of people in different artistic and creative areas to organise meetings, events, help charities and who knows?

Are you willing to spend a little time helping to get the word out to the creative types. The creativeCooperative is not looking for any big commitment, only some gentle promotion amongst friends.a www.CreativeCooperative.co.uk Matt@creativecooperative.co.uk

Arctic training

PREVENT A few weeks ago your editor was invited to a meeting called a ‘Prevent Visioning Event’. Why do they want to prevent visioning? What’s wrong with visioning?

It turns out I was wrong. Prevent is a government initiative, managed by the police. It is about finding ways to prevent violent extremism.

The police, MI5, MI6 and other government agencies have thousands and thousands of people running around trying to stop terrorism. For lots of reasons, far too many to discuss here, the UK is considered to be at high risk of terrorist activity. Al Qaida influenced activity is considered to pose the greatest threat but other forms of extremism, passionate beliefs, grievances and prejudice are also amongst us. Recent events in Northern Ireland, the growth of the far right and animal liberation activists are also on the radar. They’re tracking suspects, seizing stashes of money and explosives, raiding terraced houses and stopping vans on motorways. It’s a testosterone fed world more akin to Spooks than participatory arts Within the police service there is a very small number of people engaged in preventing it getting that far. It’s hard for them to hold their own in the macho world of seizures and police cells. Preventing doesn’t make the News at Ten. It’s hard to quantify success and considered soft.

Lancashire Police are one of just a handful of police forces to take this seriously and have invested resources into the Prevent agenda. They have been at the forefront of developing initiatives around the sensitive issue of preventing violent extremism for the past few years. A new partnership between the police and Creative Partnerships Lancashire is about to undertake some pilot activity in half a dozen secondary schools developing a creative

approach to tackling these issues.

Mailout will report on progress after July.

It’s not just about community engagement. It is sometimes about difficult discussions, sensitive subject matters and finding ways of communicating more effectively.

Much of the work is being undertaken with schools in partnership with the education authorities. In a UK Youth parliament survey published in August 2008 94 per cent of young people think that schools are the best environment in which to discuss preventing terrorism and violent extremism.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has published a toolkit to help schools contribute to the prevention of violent extremism. It identifies five strands or priorities: 1. understand how an extremist narrative which can lead to harm can be challenged by staff in schools; and model to pupils how diverse views can be heard, analysed and challenged in a way which values freedom of speech and freedom from harm 2. understand how to prevent harm to pupils by individuals, groups or others who promote violent extremism, and manage risks within the school 3. understand how to support individuals who are vulnerable through strategies to support, challenge and protect 4. increase the resilience of pupils and of school communities through helping pupils acquire skills and knowledge to challenge extremist views, and promoting an ethos and values that promotes respect for others 5. use teaching styles and curriculum opportunities which allow grievances to be aired, explored and demonstrate the role of conflict resolution and active citizenship a

“In a UK Youth parliament survey published in August 2008 94 per cent of young people think that schools are the best environment in which to discuss preventing terrorism and violent extremism.”

FACTFILE The DCSF’s 48 page toolkit to helps schools contribute to the prevention of violent extremism, ‘Learning together to be safe@ can be downloaded as a PDF from: www. dcsf.gov.uk/publications.

Alternatively you can call 0845 60 222 60 to order a copy.

Since 4th July 2007 the UK threat Level from international terrorism has been deemed by the government to be ‘Severe’.

For more information about what this means and information on the radicalisation process and extremist groups, including Al Qaida go to www.mi5.gov.uk ACT NOW is a Lancashire police project aimed at creating a safe space for dialogue on extremism and terrorism with all groups aged 15 years and above. It uses a 2 hour experiential learning session to allow participants to experience being a Counter Terrorism Officer. It utilises a DVD film, workbooks and trained community facilitators with police support. It supports curriculum development and the DCSF PREVENT toolkit and is now accompanied by supporting teacher resource pack and lesson plans. The ACT NOW products are available free of charge to schools in Lancashire. The project was awarded a Lancashire Criminal Justice Award for community engagement in 2008/9 and is being rolled out by the National Community Tensions Team as best practice.

For more information on Act Now go to: www.lancashire.police.uk/index. php?id=5270

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FEATURE

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FEATURE

Where I come from : 1

by Michelle Green

creative writing with refugees

He was one of the quietest members of the group.

All were refugees, some with voices like thunderclaps and others, like Josephii, quiet as the softest rain.

We were making a book. A book of stories, memories and new writing, about African experiences and new lives in Britainiii. Through weeks of storytelling, writing and words, Joseph spoke seldom, though he was always there, listening, and contributing when he felt moved to. He chose his words carefully and few, and finally on the last day of our creative sessions he took me aside to say more all at once than I’d heard him speak so far.

“Every culture and every land has some kind of storytelling tradition. Every person has things to say – and so my part was to create situations where those stories could come out, and those things could be said.”

I started doing creative work with refugees about six years ago when the members of a writing group I was assisting began to trace their journeys across a map of the world. I listened, following the maps and the stories that sprang from them, and soon began to encounter more and more of these kinds of experiences in different groups.

Over the years I’ve worked with people from Zimbabwe, South Africa, DR Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Angola, as well as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and places that have no

“The best thing about this group was having the opportunity to make conversation with English people.

Talking with you.” He gestured towards me and the one other Brit in the room – Kim, the Homelands project manager. He smiled wide. After almost a year living on a crowded estate in Rochdale, my colleague and I were the first English people he’d ever spoken with – just chatting, in conversation.

He’d talked to other English people, of course – at the housing office, immigration centres, and a variety of legal and medical services – but these had been interactions of a very practical nature: efficient, structured, and based around a collection of dates and numbers. Surrounded by British neighbours, he’d never yet had the chance to just chat, and be heard.

permanent home marked on most world maps: Kurdistan, and Palestine.

Most of the time these groups were mixed in terms of heritage and language, with a vast range of skills and experiences. Pro-footballers, teachers, writers and rappers. House wives and shopkeepers and businesswomen. Young and old.

English was sometimes the common language, but for many people, it was something that was being learnt along the way. I sometimes worked with translators (when budget allowed), and other times without, instead relying on the help of other

group members, gestures, pictures, and a few common words in English, French and Arabic to get by.

With adult refugees, unaccompanied young people, and mixed groups of people with every conceivable immigration status, I did what I knew: teasing words from both eager and reluctant mouths. Every culture and every land has some kind of storytelling tradition. Every person has things to say – and so my part was to create situations where those stories could come out, and those things could be said.

‘Think of the first job you remember doing. It might be a paid job. It might be unpaid. It might be outside the home, or inside the home...iv’ As groups we’d use multi-lingual writing, audio recording devices, one person reading the writing of another, and one person writing as another dictated their words – all kinds of ways to navigate language and literacy barriers, and get the group working and communicating together as well as writing it all down. We drew pictures and made maps, collected postcards, listened to music, read poetry and ate top quality home-cooked food. Creativity is a broad hungry thing, and it needs feeding in all kinds of ways.

The times when it really worked well were those when there was support for the group – funding for a crèche, transportation to bring people to the sessions, someone who could phone each person each week and encourage them to come to the group, and another person I could work with and bounce ideas with in between sessions. The times it felt hard were those that were left to chance. It never ‘just happened’. And it was never just down to me.

As a community artist I bring armloads of blank paper, pens, writing exercises that start with things like ‘think of a time when you…’ and ‘today is…’, and an optimistic (naive?) belief in the power of creativity and words.

I’m not a counsellor. Or a lawyer. Or an immigration specialist, medical practitioner, housing officer, social worker – I’m not any of that. My training and skills are in helping people to find words. So what good am I to people with such complex

needs, like refugees? Do my ways with language put food in people’s mouths, find them a solicitor, or make them feel safe in this cold land? Next to the nuts and bolts of legal representation and basic needs for food, clothing and shelter, it sometimes seems that arts work could quite easily blow away as a piece of fluff in the wind... …if human lives really are just as simple as the nutrients we ingest and the physical shelter we seek.

“For you Yemma I hold a pen For you, I revel in a language You never spoke” from ‘Yemma’ by Samia Dahnaanv, Algeria.v Writing and storytelling can be used to heal. I’ve heard it speak out loud awful secrets, seen it reach out in comfort. I’ve seen it cause people to scream laughter, nod their heads remembering an over-packed Kinshasa train, and raise eyebrows in surprise at the passion behind the eyes of the quietest one in the room.

I’ve known writing that eulogised, catching memories by the handful, recording things that were, things that are and things that might yet be.

I’ve known writing that builds bonds…mostly because, in a group, it’s never just writing: it’s also listening, and witnessing.

When a mixed group I work with in Salford published a book of their work and then launched it at the local library, our funder came along to take part in the launch. He told me later he was blown away by the quality of the work that was on display, by the confidence of everyone who’d read their pieces in

front of a packed room, and even more so, by how we’d managed to get so many people together right after the Christmas break and stage such a successful launch. More than the words in the book and the collective poems on the walls, what he witnessed in that room was community.

Community: that magical word that means as many things as there are people who use it. That word that gets cited and referenced and sprinkled across strategic documents like human seasoning. That word – community – can feel so abstract and cold when written in 12-point type.

But come into a room full of people who’ve dedicated the next two hours for the next ten weeks to sharing stories and exchanging words and see that ‘community’ start to take its own shape. Subtle shifts can take place when people share space and some time with a willingness to write or to speak. Records are made, hopes and lives mapped out. No right or wrong answers, no tick-boxes, no versions 1, 2 and 3 of a form, no queue, no correct procedures, no legal precedents, and no reference numbers. None of the bureaucracy that bears down on the lives of everyone with refugee status. None of the rigidity of process, the uncertainty and stress that too often comes to define the days of so many refugees. None of these waiting rooms without windows.

The informal nature of creative writing and storytelling – unaccredited learning through exploration and sharing – means that it can open a space that’s otherwise closed: a space for expression, remembrance, and creation, and, most importantly, a space for togetherness. Community happens between people, and between words. a www.cartwheelarts.org.uk i

From the poem ‘I Know’ by Christine, published in the booklet Things a lot of people don’t know by Broughton Wordsmiths Writing Lives, 2009 ii Not his real name. iii The Homelands project (2007), part of Tell Us Another One at Cartwheel Arts. iv the beginnings of a writing/storytelling exercise I’ve used with various groups. v Published in the anthology Crossing the Border: voices of refugee and exiled women, ed. Jennifer Langer, Five Leaves Publications, 2002

“Every culture and every land has some kind of storytelling tradition. Every person has things to say – and so my part was to create situations where those stories could come out, and those things could be said.”

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FEATURE

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FEATURE There’s a new kid in town and his name is Cultural Mediation. He was born in France in the 1990s. Word has it that his father was the then French Minister of Social Affairs who gained a reputation for dalliance with animateurs culturelles – the affair carries a hint of scandal.

Edward Little

Cultural Mediation Culture, Communications, and the Status of Women. The purpose of the party was to establish Cultural Mediation as a professional field in the hope that substantial government funding and resources would follow.

Cultural Mediation arrived in Montreal just over two years ago, and he has made some well-placed friends since then. On December 4th and 5th, he was feted at an International Forum organized by Culture pour tous – an independent, non-profit organization with a mission to renew the relationship between art, artists, and their fellow citizens and thus “contribute to the democratization of culture in Quebec.”i The guest list numbered 334, and included artists; representatives from local, regional, and national arts councils; libraries, museums, and galleries; academics, including several sociologists; and municipal and provincial government officials with a substantial contingent from Quebec’s Ministry of

In attempting to confer professional standing, the Forum also charged itself with defining Cultural Mediation – charting the activities, role, and “best practices” encompassed by the field. In less than three years, Cultural Mediation appears to have acquired an almost God-like aura in Montreal’s francophone sector—risking a reputation of becoming “all things to all people.” Some want the Messiah to address supply and demand problems – to generate new and more appreciative audiences for an excess of “cultural products.” Several provided testimony to the miracle of participation in culture as a means of countering “social exclusion”– proselytizing “access” to existing arts institutions and “cultural artifacts” for those who are disenfranchised through poverty or language barriers.

Others emphasized the gospel of education and cultural literacy as a means of facilitating the integration of new immigrants into the dominant francophone culture. A believer from the floor demanded to know why the Ministry of Education was not present at the forum. Most from the English-language sector had not previously heard of Cultural Mediation; however, they thought they knew of his work by other names – participatory and community-engaged arts, for example, in Quebec, Ontario, the US,

the UK, and Australia. Those with a more bureaucratic orientation pressed for recognition of a formal typology of practice. The Lyon-based Association for Cultural Mediation advocated for the adoption of their Charter formalizing ethical practices in the field.ii The Forum generally agreed that Cultural Mediation, however it is to be defined, involves partnership and exchange between artists and citizens– gathered in his name. There was general consensus that “culture” refers to the complex of language, custom, values, belief systems, and artistic expression; however, there was less clarity about the politics of mediation – about how responsibility, authority, and power might be shared in artist/citizen/institutional relationships. In speaking about the “challenges” presented by cultural diversity, Paul Langois, Head of Cultural Action and Partnerships for the City of Montreal, claimed culture as “a fundamental right for all citizens” but noted that many “still don’t feel invited.” Not surprisingly, those who internalize culture as a kind of “sacred trust,” tend to privilege “cultural literacy” – the internalization of a dominant culture – at the expense of “cultural competency” – the ability to recognize and interact with people whose point of view has been influenced by other cultural traditions. Sociologist Louis Jacob characterized Cultural Mediation as an effective bridge between cultural democracy (a grass-roots up artist/community partnership approach to the creation of new artistic works) and the

democratization of culture (promoting greater access to existing “cultural products”).

From artists who were present, we heard about a substantial amount of good work done in “his” name. Some of the highlights relevant to alt.theatre included the work of choreographer Bill Coleman of Lemieux and Company, the work of William Cleveland at the Seattlebased Centre for the Study of Art and Community, and the community cultural development initiatives of Melanie Fernandez at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre.

Coleman and his wife have created environmentally staged dance performances in collaboration with local communities in National Parks (Grasslands Saskatchewan 2004, Gros Morne Newfoundland 2006).

Their 2007 work, Point Shows and Pow Wow, was created through collaborative residencies with First Nations communities and performed in the Manitoba Legislature. The company is current working on a multi-year project with youth and immigrant residents of Toronto’s troubled Regent’s Park Housing Development.iii Cleveland’s Centre for the Study of Art and Community is “an association of creative leaders from business, government and the arts who have succeeded in building bridges between the arts and a wide range of community, public and private sector interests.”iv Cleveland’s latest book, Art and Upheaval: Artists on the World’s Frontlines, looks at projects in Australia, Cambodia, Northern Ireland, Serbia, South Africa, and the US in which artists have “dared to speak truth to power.”

Fernandez spent six years as Community Arts Officer at the Ontario Arts Council. Since her arrival at Harbourfront, the Centre has launched program initiatives including Planet IndigenUs (an international exploration of contemporary aboriginal arts), Culture Shock: Voices of an Emerging Generation Youth Arts Festival, and in 2007 an event commemorating the Rwandan Genocide.v Fernandez was the only person of colour invited to speak on a panel, and in an audience of some three hundred, members of visible minorities could be counted on one

hand. Yet a search for the genealogy of “cultural mediation among the branches of the English-language family tree” reveals roots deeply intertwined with notions of mediation across ethnic and culturally diverse lines. The relative absence of culturally diverse communities at the forum – the elephant in the room emitting a whiff of scandal – hints at Cultural Mediation’s genetic links to politics of exclusion. Jean Caune of the Université of Stendahl, Genoble implicitly addressed the elephant when he spoke of the ongoing crisis surrounding cultural diversity in France. Caune traces the problems to France’s failure to adequately address it’s colonialist past, and the country’s insistence on remaining tied to the “rhythm of history” as it refuses to adapt to the “rhythm of life.” He spoke of historical resistance to the word “community” – that in France’s conception of a “civil society,” the word carries no meaning. Orthodoxy dictates that there be only be only one collective—the state. Immigrants are expected to forget their past, to leave behind the clothes of their home countries and “dress in French colours.” Caune sees in Cultural Mediation a promise of how we might live together with different values and sensibilities.

While the forum was conducted in English and French with simultaneous translation, there are clearly more than two solitudes to reconcile in effecting mediation between the ideologies and values inherent in language. The language of the marketplace abets exclusion when overly concerned with creating a corrective “demand” for the existing artistic “supply” – the types of artistic works, venues, and dissemination networks created in the wake of Quebec government policy beginning in the 1960s.

Orthodox curators speak of promoting “encounters between people and cultural artifacts” while the more radical of their colleagues call for cultural objects to be seen as merely an excuse for encounters between people. To those who will accept only quantitative proof of efficacy, sociologists and progressive bureaucrats speak an incomprehensible language of qualitative analysis. Artists speak of creative inspiration, art making as meaning making, visceral experience and awakened passions, transcendence and a return to the

sacred through re-examination of fundamental values. For many, this language is either incomprehensibly esoteric or impossibly presumptuous.

The citizen feels isolated by the language of culture – “They are drinking wine, but they serve us pop.”

“The rich get shows, the poor get workshops.” Artists are concerned about being cast in the roles and responsibilities inherent in the language of social workers.

“Cleveland believes that to reintegrate arts into society, we must first re-integrate organizations and institutions. He believes that for society to achieve maximum social health, every Government Ministry needs a cultural policy, every organisation needs an artist in residence – here must be artists or cultural mediators everywhere.”

The central challenge facing Cultural Mediation will be to effect meaningful inter-cultural, intersectoral, and diverse socio-economic participation and partnerships. This invites consideration of some truly radical actions. François Matarasso, a regional member of the British Arts Council, would see every community given its own cultural budget. Bill Cleveland advocates art’s role in connecting people to their “Godgiven right” to express imagination and to connect to the imaginations of others. Cleveland believes that to re-integrate arts into society, we must first re-integrate organizations and institutions. He believes that for society to achieve maximum social health, every Government Ministry needs a cultural policy, every organization needs an artist in residence – here must be artists or cultural mediators everywhere.

Clearly there is a banquet of opportunity promised by cultural mediation. The question remains, who will be invited to the table?a i

The program for the International Forum on Cultural Mediation is available in English and French at www.culturepourtous.ca/forum ii www.mediationculturelle.net iii www.colemanlemieux.com/ iv www.artandcommunity.com/ v www.harbourfrontcentre.com/

This article was originally published in alt.theatre: cultural diversity and the stage Vol 6.2 www.teesriduniyatheatre.com/ alttheatre.html Edward Little Editor-in-Chief, alt.theatre: cultural diversity and the stage E: info@teesriduniya.com Professor, Department of Theatre, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada E: elittle@alcor.concordia.ca

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FEATURE

How is the

recession

hitting the

arts?

The classic saying is that a week is a long time in politics. In our twenty four hour news culture it seems that a day is a long time in relation to the recession. Is this a natural readjustment? How deep will it Cut? What happened to the money Madof made off with? Are former bankers a new client group for participatory arts?

The truth is we just don’t know what will happen. In the words of Stanford economics professor Ezra Solomon: “The only purpose of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.”

“George Walden, writing in the Times Literary Supplement bemoaned the “…sad truth about the so-called renaissance of the arts in Britain”arguing that the asertion that “….the arts in Britain are in blooming health.

We know because arts bodies say so, ministers echo them, and most critics bring up the chorus” is built on thin ice.”

Last July the Sunday Times was reporting that the arts and culture were going to do well out of the ‘credit crunch’. Cinemas were full to bursting with Mama Mia filling multiple screens. They went on to talk about Jazz flourished in the Great Depression in the 1930s along with the birth of the movie musical.

By November the Guardian was all doom and gloom triggered by a Francis Bacon self portrait failing to reach its reserve of $40 million at auction.

At the same time George Walden, writing in the Times Literary Supplement bemoaned the “…sad truth about the so-called renaissance of the arts in Britain”arguing that the asertion that “….the arts in Britain are in blooming health. We know because arts bodies say so, ministers echo them, and most critics bring up the chorus” is built on thin ice.

Only last week Sir Nicholas Kenyon, Director of the Barbican was touring the studios and filling the broadsheets with tales of unprecedented ticket sales for its new season and how people wanted and needed the arts in times of trouble – even in the city.

In reference to participatory arts, Steve Rumbelow, Chief Executive of Burnley Borough Council said last week “rich people look at art; poor people do it.” Does a recession offer a perverse boost to the world of participatory arts?

Back In January Arts Council England published some research on the impact of the economic downturn on a range of arts organisations. A lot has changed since January but this is what they found:

1 Overall findings and consistent themes > Too early to tell – Most of those consulted expressed a belief that it was too early to tell whether they were feeling the impact of the economic downturn, although most were more specific and said it was too early to tell how bad the downturn was going to be, particularly because it is hard to untangle economic downturn effects from other factors in the short term. The period between February and March, when the Christmas season has ended, has been flagged as a time when the situation will become clearer. > Different to previous recessions – Those who have experienced

previous economic downturns said that the nature of the current climate was noticeably different to previous ones. The focus on the service and financial sectors was impacting on the cultural sector in a different way. > Reviewing programmes – the majority of organisations have some idea how the downturn might affect their programme.

Although this doesn’t always mean producing ‘safer’ or more commercial product, it does in most cases. > Other funding – Funding from most sources is under pressure or harder to come by across the board, with trusts and foundations ‘turning off like a tap’ according to many different people.

2 Content of programmes > Most organisations have thought about the content of their programme in the light of the downturn, even if they have concluded no changes should be made. > Many people also expressed a fear of diluting their artistic identity or simply going for a ‘safe’ product, since it is never clear what will be successful in advance and it is crucial to hold onto core audience. > Venues appear to be looking at less ‘risky’ options, some due to pressure from local authorities or their board. Many others, including threatres, orchestras and galleries, are indicating they may have to review their product over the next year if circumstances do not improve.

Photo: Thanks to StudioArtDirect

> What is less ‘risky’ varies, and it does not always mean more commercial programming. There is evidence of people seeking more innovative co-productions,with a focus on smaller, more developmental work, and of companies looking for new opportunities to expand their reach or remit. > There is also evidence of organisations producing a programme of the same quality or content, but doing less of it. For example, there could be two handers instead of 10, or exhibitions with fewer items on show, etc.

>

>

>

3 Income > It is too early for most organisations to feel the full impact on the box office, and very hard to strip the economic effects from other factors. For example, the bad weather over the summer has affected organisations that work outside. Several other organisations gave a candid explanation that their programme had not been as strong as in previous years and this had contributed to falling sales. > Speaking to a large number of people suggests that the downturn has had an impact, albeit not everywhere or consistently. > Advanced bookings have fallen in a number of places, both for ticket sales and additional items like conference bookings. Late bookings have increased, however, which has offset the fall. > Numerous respondents stated that funding from trusts and foundations ‘turned off like a tap’ in autumn. There is uncertainty around their financial status due to a fall in value of multiple income streams (property, cash deposits, stocks). Decisions have been

>

delayed until the next financial year. They are experiencing more applications for a smaller amounts of money and some have stopped offering feedback.

Local authorities involved in negotiations are indicating that there will be substantial pressure on 2009/10 budgets.

Commercial sponsorship has become harder to obtain, although the general picture is reasonable at present, especially where sponsorship is not from a directly affected sector, such as a bank or property developer.

Individual giving has, in the main, held up. Some organisations are finding it hard to recruit new donors and have seen regular donors downgrade their commitments.

Catering and retail sales have broadly mirrored falls in box office, or have fallen while the box office has remained static, although again there are exceptions. Where organisations rent café space to others, they have found it very hard to find tenants.

4 Expenditure > Utilities have risen for all organisations that had not fixed prices, and some who have fixed prices since the rise have regretted this due to the more recent fall. > International work has been affected both ways by exchange rates, making it cheaper to bring international work in, and more expensive to send work internationally. > Several organisations have not seen large rises in expenditure to date, but have already cut back expenditure or reviewed their models in the last year due to other pressures. This makes them concerned about their ability to deal with worsening economic conditions.

5 Liquidity > There is very little change in relationships with banks. > Some banks are responding positively to inquiries about overdrafts, others negatively.

Generally, larger building-based organisations have a better relationship than smaller ones.

6 Reserves > No organisations have revised reserves specifically because of the economic downturn, although several are in the process of reviewing them anyway and the downturn is one factor being considered. > There is some limited evidence of local authorities penalizing organisations that build up reserves, but only in exceptional cases. > Small organisations see the need for reserves but have not been able to build them up; some larger ones have a healthier position.

7 Attendance and participation > There is limited evidence of change to date – changes in the box office or those attending are much more likely to be due to local circumstance or targeting rather than downturn. > There is little consensus on how the downturn will affect attendees.

A different feeling and basis to this recession and uncertainty on how it will affect behaviour means that relatively well-off, older, ABC1 socioeconomic groups with disposable income could react in different ways. > A number of organisations expressed that they will have to intensify efforts already made to attract new audiences. a

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FEATURE

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FEATURE

A New Direction for young people in London A New Direction is the London delivery agency for Creative Partnerships (the Government’s flagship creative learning programme) and is funded by Creativity Culture and Education (CCE) to deliver Creative Partnerships activity across London. CCE itself is a new independent organisation born out of the Creative Partnerships National Office after de-merging from Arts Council England on 1 April 2009. CCE receives regular grant funding from Arts Council England, which is confirmed until 2011.

In October 2008, the three London Creative Partnerships teams (London East and South, London North and London West) de-merged from Arts Council England, London and joined together to become A New Direction.

A New Direction is an independent charity working with London’s schools and young people to develop creative approaches to teaching and learning, build aspirations and skills, and connect young people to their city and the opportunities around them.

A New Direction is currently delivering the programme to schools across 14 London boroughs, and is set to widen this out to a further 7 in September 2009. By broadening to 21 Local Authorities, A New Direction is fast developing into a pan-London organsiation – able to respond to the needs of schools and young people across the city. The 2009/10 Enquiry Schools programme will be delivered in 112 schools, with 70 places allocated to the new boroughs and 42 to the existing 14.

Projects within the current programme range from developing enquiry based learning approaches to whole school programmes exploring cultural entitlement. Areas of enquiry encompass the following broad themes: Building Schools for the Future, Environment, Cross Curricular Learning, Olympics and Student Voice.

A New Direction’s projects focus on, and are deeply informed by, their context in London: the city’s diversity and internationalism, its changing landscape, its economy and the opportunity and the legacy of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A New Direction is evolving new and additional programmes of work – extending its brokerage model to new contexts outside the Creative Partnerships Programme. These programmes focus on promoting creativity, and creating real opportunities for educational achievement, young people’s enjoyment of learning, and the development of skills directly related to employability, through crosssector partnerships.

A New Direction is working in partnership with IPC Media, on the IPC Schools’ Design Programme. The programme was initiated in 2005 to compliment Time Warner’s (IPC’s parent company) community focus on youth and arts education. The programme targets secondary school students based in Southwark and involves IPC’s design professionals working with young people on an exciting and original graphic design and media course.

The objectives of the IPC programme are to: > Encourage secondary school students to view magazine design as an exciting career option. > Increase skills development in the area of graphic design. > Seek out opportunities to offer longer work placements and potential future employment. > Influence the skills development of teachers and methods of design training in schools. > Encourage employee engagement through the participation of IPC designers in various aspects of the programme.

The programme involves an after school 10 week training course in ‘indesign’ software, delivered in partnership between staff from the London College of Communications (University of the Arts London), IPC Media Designers, and Design and Technology teachers from the schools. Students develop a portfolio of work through a comprehensive curriculum. On completion of the course the students are placed on a week’s work simulation at LCC and work on the programme’s magazine ‘4 Real’, which is devised and designed by the students themselves.

Students are then placed at IPC Media alongside designers from magazines including: NME, Look, Wallpaper, Marie Claire, Chat, Homes and Gardens, and Horse and Hound.

One of the measures of success of the programme is that every student designs and lays out a page of the

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FEATURE

Photos: © Keith Saunders

magazine in which they are placed, which is then published.

Planning is now underway for this summer’s programme, and will extend to the London Borough of Croydon. All students completing the programme will receive an NVQ Level 3 in desktop publishing.

Another example of a cross-sector partnership is ‘Story of Stratford’, a two-year programme in partnership with Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd, within the public art programme of the development.

Stratford City is one of the largest retail-led mixed-use urban regeneration projects ever undertaken in the United Kingdom.

Situated adjacent to the 2012 Olympic Park, it will create a new metropolitan centre for East London.

At its heart is Westfield Stratford City – a world-class retail and entertainment destination featuring 300 local, national and international fashion, home, food and lifestyle brands.

The ‘Story of Stratford’ involves artist Helen Marshall, working with students from Colegrave Primary and Stratford Schools, creating a digital archive of film, images, audio and artwork. The project will track the changes to the area in which they live, as the building site transforms into a world-class operational retail centre when it opens in March 2011.

The young people will research the Stratford City development and become ambassadors for the regeneration of Stratford.

“One of the measures of success of the programme is that every student designs and lays out a page of the magazine in which they are placed, which is then published.”

Westfield and A New Direction will coordinate exhibitions throughout the course of the programme to showcase the student’s work.

A New Direction is itself based in Stratford, East London, and sitting at the heart of the five Olympic host boroughs, is naturally placed to address the opportunities the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games provides young people within those boroughs, and across London.

We are currently working as part of the CREATE Festival to facilitate opportunities for young people to programme and produce work as part of an annual festival of creative activity in the 5 host boroughs.

Developed in partnership with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), the ‘Welcoming the World’ project saw over 500 students from 19 schools in the five Olympic host boroughs create film, music and photographic work which explored what was important to them and what they would like to share with the rest of the world about their local area. The young people produced high quality work which reflected the diverse cultural, social and individual stories within their communities.

This work will be showcased in an exhibition at the International Olympics Museum in Lausanne in October 2009.

Following the success of the project, A New Direction continues to work closely with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and

Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to explore opportunities to roll out similar programmes to more schools and to develop education projects directly linked to the Cultural Olympiad.

A New Direction continues to build on the international interest in Creative Partnerships by engaging in dialogue with a range of international organisations and networks to explore shared approaches and potential partnerships. We have links with Oklahoma A+ Schools, British Council Japan, and a range of small Japanese not-for-profit creative organisations, City of Malmo Culture Department, and Utrecht s Centrum voor de Kunsten. In September 2009, a programme of activity will be delivered with Service Children’s Education in Germany.

As the organisation moves forward and the momentum of our programme increases, A New Direction will align itself to key initiatives, strategies and networks across the Capital. Our aim is to be a clear, useful pan-London resource driven by the aspirations of young people, which facilitates strong relationships between schools, young people, and London’s cultural resources, and creative sector. a Steve Woodward, Marketing and Communications Manager – A New Direction.

For further information about A New Direction visit W: www.anewdirection.org.uk

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FEATURE

Lizzie Meadows at Creative Arts East discusses a Mediabox funded project which resulted in big ideas for a guest list.

Creative Arts East

Bright ideas in the “A striking aspect of both films was the humour and inventiveness of the content and style – animation, fantasy, and documentary styles were interwoven in a fresh and surprising way.

These were clearly the results of unfettered youthful imaginations, which enjoyed telling stories with drama and effect.”

At a recent Norfolk film premiere, leading actors mingled with a proud expectant audience moments before screening began. But this was neither Norfolk thespians Stephen Fry or Roger Lloyd Pack working the red carpet or Oscar winning Kate Winslet unveiling her latest blockbuster to the packed auditorium at Cinema City, Norwich. The talented cast and crew were, in fact, remarkable pupils from two East Anglian Special Schools who had taken part in the Mediabox funded Bright Ideas project delivered by arts development charities, Creative Arts East and Suffolk Art Link. Both films will also be entered for Oska Bright Film Festival in 2009.

The Bright Ideas project gave both groups of young people, aged 13 to 19 years, the chance to make short films about subjects they felt passionate about. Pupils from The Priory School, Bury St Edmunds screened ‘Kids in a Bubble’ – a short documentary about safe and independent travel for young people with learning difficulties whilst Norwich based Parkside School presented a part animated conservation drama entitled ‘Taming Mildred’. Both groups learnt an enormous amount about film making and had fantastic opportunities to work alongside

professional artists, actors and film directors using high quality film making equipment.

Previous to the Bright Ideas project, none of the young budding film makers had any experience or opportunity to engage in media based activities. Staff at both schools welcomed the initiative with enthusiasm as it would not only provide access to creative activities beyond the school curriculum but it would also allow opportunities for the pupils to voice their ideas and concerns in a public arena.

From the very beginning the young people were encouraged to lead all aspects of the creative processes from idea creation to film production.

For instance, in discussion with their professional counterparts, the participants engaged in conversation and debate about such complex aspects such as compliance, editorial review and accessibility. Tutors ensured full training and support were given appropriately by delivering demonstrations and hands on learning during the early sessions.

Each student was able to choose the areas they wanted to become involved in such as acting, CAD for animation sequences or sound technology. Sessions were structured

to allow progress review, to plan ahead and to evaluate scene content.

At Parkside the whole group were involved in these processes whereas participants from The Priory elected a steering group.

As instrumental decision makers, the participants were able to shape and control the messages and results of the work whilst developing and realising their own ideas. Natalie Jode, Creative Arts East’s project manager enthused, “A striking aspect of both films was the humour and inventiveness of the content and style – animation, fantasy, and documentary styles were interwoven in a fresh and surprising way. These were clearly the results of unfettered youthful imaginations, which enjoyed telling stories with drama and effect.”

In the early stages they interviewed classmates and other people in order to gather ideas and develop story lines. The outcome of this was that Parkside chose to focus on threats to wildlife and the environment and then engaged in research to incorporate animation and computer software, props, costumes and music into their film. The Priory pupils were inspired by their perception of a lack of information and advice available

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FEATURE

east with Mediabox to young disabled regarding travelling independently and safely on public transport. Thus their aim became to create a short film that would be a useful tool for many other groups and schools.

Roles were shared to ensure everyone gained experience in a range of essential skills and not only did this develop their ability to be flexible in different and sometimes complex situations, they learned to help each other and adopt lateral problem solving approaches. It was widely recognised that self esteem and personal confidence thrived as participants gained new technical skills and improved personal and social skills.

The project contributed to the ‘enjoying and achieving’ and ‘making a positive contribution’ outcomes of Every Child Matters as Nicky Stainton, Executive Director of Creative Arts East explains, “All Creative Arts East’s projects with young people support Every Child Matters – particularly enjoying and achieving and making a positive contribution, it also fits our remit for inclusion and diversity – that is by working with groups and individuals who might otherwise be excluded from activities, and to

create opportunities for creative learning for young people.”

The young film students relished all opportunities to express themselves creatively and their new found ability to be able to voice their practical concerns. When asked what they had enjoyed the most, one participant replied, “It was hard but it was great fun. It was sometimes hard to define the right moods but we got there and its been great for our self confidence.” One parent admitted that her son had enjoyed the project so much he had signed up for drama lessons at a local theatre and had set his sights on the film industry. Not the only one with big plans. When asked whom they would like to see the film, unanimously the group declared, “The Queen and the Prime Minister”. Distribution is underway!a Lizzie Meadows, Communications & Marketing Officer, Creative Arts East E: Lizzie@creativeartseast.co.uk W: www.creativeartseast.co.uk T: 01953 713390

Images: Natalie Jode, Diversity & Inclusion Project Officer, Creative Arts East

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FEATURE

Cross your heart A rural arts case study Claire Smith writes about the challenges of engaging young audiences in rural Cheshire and the creation of a new resource for anyone interested in using performance to consult and engage with young people in rural areas.

In 2005 Cheshire’s rural touring network embarked on a project that was to create a model of working with young people and eventually produce a watchable DVD resource documenting the project, accompanied by a 20 page booklet.

Claire Smith – rural touring scheme manager for Cheshire’s rural touring network became increasing aware that young people were not being attracted to the programme of arts events on offer through its core network so back in 2005 she embarked on a project to ambitiously make a bespoke piece of theatre with music to tour into rural youth groups.

The challenges were of course various: Where do you find a group of young people willing to stick with a project that ultimately would last a full year?

How do you create a partnership that opens doors to the support and

resources that a project like this demands?

The model that has worked has been as follows:

How do go about seeking out a champion in the youth service that will be convinced of the worth of the project and advocate it to their colleagues?

> A core group of young people use music and drama strategies to explore experiences feelings, issues, thoughts about growing up through the guidance of creative director and musical director. > These ideas are honed on an intensive weekend residential > A play is written and taken back to young people for consultation > The play is then cast with professional actors and produced with professional technical team and toured back into rural youth clubs. > Young people are involved at all stages; those in the core group attend publicity meetings/auditions/rehearsals etc.

Those young people who will host a show are encouraged to ‘event manage’ therefore they are engaged in hosting the company and audience in their venue/club.

How do you go about making a piece of work that truly reflects young peoples views without alienating those that might be able to change things for them?

Artistically of course there were the demands of creating a truly professional piece with high quality lighting and sound that could fit into tiny rural youth clubs never before used to house a performance. This was to be theatre on a ‘micro’ scale !

Well into its third incarnation now with two fully toured shows behind us, the project has succeeded in finding the answers to some of these questions.

As part of the evaluation for the first project – The Maizefield written and directed by Peter Southcott – one key collaborator, an active parish councillor and youth advocate strongly urged us to make a documentary of the show and the process leading up to it. This was backed up by audience reactions: “Thought provoking, well presented a brave and successful project.”

“It raises lots of issues for the community – older and younger. I would like to see it used to prompt discussion by community groups perhaps as part of developing a Parish Plan.”

“Thought provoking for the more elderly in the village – ‘Give us the power to see ourselves’.”

When the process began for a second time, a process that resulted in ‘Cross Your Heart’ written and directed by Janys Chambers, we engaged with a talented filmmaker, Lucia Cuevas, who documented the process over a year from the initial workshops through to the final production with audience reactions. Also, both shows so far have had the support of Aidan Jolly as musical director.

The result is a testament to all those involved – If you are a community arts practitioner you will be intrigued by the model of working and the

commitment shown by the young people…if you are someone who has little experience of the arts this resource will convince you of its ability to engage and empower !

This project has helped us seek out and engage with young people in rural areas of our County in a meaningful and sustainable way.

With a honed model of working which seems workable and transferable, we are hopefully turning a whole new generation of young people on to the thrill of seeing live theatre that is not only entertaining but relevant in local spaces and also encouraging skills that could create a new generation of rural touring promoters.

“This is an excellent piece of work, with some considerable potential to build young audiences in rural communities.”

Claire Garratt – Arts Council England, North West ( Maize Field 2006 ) a To obtain a copy: Contact Gill Clark at Connexions Cheshire & Warrington T: 01606 44825 E: gill.clark@connexions-cw.co.uk

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FEATURE

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FEATURE For the last few issues, Mailout has been running a series of articles called Set Aside, a series of reflections on the arts and rural England, commissioned

by Culture East Midlands and the National Rural Touring Forum. To complete the series, Rebecca Lee encapsulates the work of rural arts networking in the East Midlands.

Until I began working on projects outside the city, the rural arts scene did not feature on my internal artworld map – it dwelled in the grey areas between the bright, busy urban centres. Since then, I’ve spent time with venues, festivals and practitioners (who are unfortunately often overlooked), and the grey areas have been filled in with a colourful range of forward-thinking work.

Arts activity in the rural East Midlands is quite astonishing, not only because of the quantity, but because of the breadth of the work too. In recent years, the organisations presenting and producing work have upped their game and there’s a new confidence in the work and events that are produced; they are far more ambitious and advanced than might be expected from scattered groups working in a largely rural region.

The East Midlands is the third most rural region in England: 30% of its population live in places with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants and 78% of the land is used for agriculture and horticulture. The region boasts the Peak District, 90 market towns, country estates, former coal fields, fen-lands and the Lincolnshire coast.

There are strengths in the arts across all of the counties; thriving festivals, innovative site-inspired artistic projects, initiatives that work in new ways with the region’s heritage. And there’s certainly no expectation that rural should mean mediocre or conservative.

For example, there is a huge number of festivals, including major events

Rural Arts Networking in the East Midlands presenting international artists. In Buxton people come from across the country to see opera rarities performed in a beautifully restored Edwardian opera house, while Wirksworth Festival is communityled and champions the work of local professional artists in almost every available space in the town. Even relative newcomers like Lincolnshire’s International Chamber Music Festival are building audiences far from the cities.

The majority of visual art work is contemporary and quite often siteinspired, where unusual buildings or the physical landscape in the region are integrated and create new exhibition styles, rather than attempting to mimic urban art spaces. The Beacon Art Project uses little-known historic sites to show international work and even provides a free coach service; Fermynwood Contemporary Art in Northamptonshire presented installations by Laurenz Theinert in Fermyn Woods and the audience experienced the work on a nighttime walk of discovery. In Lincolnshire, a parade of inventive and intriguing beach huts has been installed by the seaside – they were selected from over 240 international entries to be part of the Bathing Beauties festival. The newly built Level Centre in the Peak District is undertaking internationally important arts work with disabled people.

Speaking about the development of the region’s rural arts sector with Nicki Gardner, Chair of the recently formed East Midlands Arts in Rural

Areas Network (EMARAN) and parttime Arts Officer at East Lindsey District Council, she felt that the increase in the number and quality of projects was linked to the introduction of Grants for the Arts by the Arts Council in 2004. The scheme increased access and redressed inequalities in funding and rural areas began to benefit. Similarly, greater recognition of the value of cultural tourism and the beneficial effects the arts can have on rural communities has led to a change in many attitudes about rural art projects. There are now rurally accessible arts and creative business support systems from regional local authorities, like the artsderbyshire web-resource and Creative Leicestershire.

EMARAN adds to the support system by assisting the development of organisations and individuals; it’s a first for the region and the UK. The network came about through an original initiative led by Culture East Midlands designed to strengthen and raise awareness of the role that culture plays in economic and community development in rural communities. East Midlands Development Agency, Arts Council England EM, Museums, Libraries and Archives Council EM and English Heritage supported the programme.

EMARAN hosts two events a year that provide space for anyone working in the rural arts to make connections, increase their visibility and develop their practice. As Nicki explained, “We have learnt how fundamentally important it is for people to be connected and be able

The ‘Jabba’ Bathing Beauties beach hut, designed by i-am associates.

to build and maintain relationships. It might seem a like simple task, but without this, ideas aren’t formed, projects don’t happen and rural artists can become invisible. The risk working rurally is that the opportunity to make links is severely limited and overcoming this is the biggest challenge for people.

Incubation centres and arts hubs are more common in cities and new projects, ideas and support instantly arise when people work together”.

Midlands rural initiative (www.ruralculture-em.org). The site holds case studies, news on new training and funding opportunities, a comprehensive contacts list as well as recent research and toolkits to support organisations working on or with rural cultural projects. The site attracts over 1000 visits a month and has begun to form a hub for a virtual network. EMARAN will take over its management from now onwards and continue its development.

The first five conferences have attracted more than 350 delegates and Nicki feels that the success of these events has been because of continued discussion and a willingness to try something new.

She explains, “Our conferences work when they are being true to the specific needs of rural arts delivery and development. We’ve tried a formal approach and it just didn’t deliver in the way that we’re used to; it wasn’t what our artists, companies or organisations needed. Our most recent conference used a method we’ve learnt works best and saw us learning from listening to experiences ‘from the floor’ to uncover what makes a successful rural partnership. Our next conference will be structured to allow delegates to direct the conversations, and discussions that are of most use to them. We’ll use our regional geographic landscape and the shifting economic landscape around us as starting points”.

In the future EMARAN wants to bring more people together and help create a network of fruitful and encouraging relationships regardless of the geographical distance or terrain. Nicki was pleased to announce that they had secured development funding from the Arts Council to increase their capacity and expand their reach. They can engage even more people in new conversations and help develop more ambitious work. Nevertheless, she did feel that “a network is only as good as your last conversation so we want to keep on trying new ways of working”. Having taken part in their lively, talkative and frank conference on partnership working and seen new relationships developing and ideas forming, it looks like EMARAN are starting to colour in the grey areas on other people’s maps.

Further support for rural arts and culture activities comes from the rural culture website that also came into being through the Culture East

The next EMARAN conference will be held on 20 May 2009 at Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, Northamptonshire. You can find out more by visiting www.ruralcultureem.org where details will be uploaded as they are confirmed. a

Rebecca Lee is an arts consultant for local and national projects, practitioner with Creative Partnerships and a musician. She comes from Lincolnshire and is now based in Nottingham.

Rebecca.joan.lee@googlemail.com

Here are some references for the people mentioned above.

Buxton Festival www.buxtonfestival.co.uk Wirksworth Festival www.wirksworthfestival.co.uk Lincolnshire Chamber Music Festival www.licmf.org.uk The Beacon Art Project www.beaconartproject.com Fermynwoods Contemporary Art www.fermynwoods.co.uk Bathing Beauties www.bathingbeauties.org.uk Level Centre www.first-movement.org.uk Culture East Midlands www.culture-em.org.uk EMARAN/rural culture website www.ruralculture-em.org Artsderbyshire www.artsderbyshire.org.uk Creative Leicestershire www.creativeleicestershire.org.uk

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First ever International Village of Culture comes to the North East International Village of Culture is the first ever collaborative showcase of rural touring to take place in seven village halls throughout County Durham 31 March – 4 April, 2009.

The festival, which forms part of North East England’s word-class programme of festivals and events developed by culture10, will tour a series of performances from some of the most exciting and innovative international artists from Scandinavia, the Baltic states and Eastern Europe with events ranging from dance, theatre, storytelling and music.

Harald Haugaard – Denmark

Ro:toro – Estonia

International Village of Culture will give audiences the opportunity to experience the best quality artists and new work in small rural settings.

It will also showcase the work in progress of two exciting and specially commissioned new collaborations.

The commissions involve UK company Dodgy Clutch Theatre Company working with musicians and dancers from the Eastern Cape, South Africa – and also UK based Grand Theatre of Lemmings and North East-based My Giddy Aunt collaborating with artists from France – to produce theatre suitable for touring in 2010.

There will also be an opportunity to explore and debate the issues of rural touring at an international level during the festival. The National Rural Touring Forum is hosting an international conference alongside the showcase events, at St Aidan’s College, Durham City Tuesday 31 March and Saturday 04 April 2009.

Confirmed conference speakers

Akseli Klonk – Finland

include Phyllida Shaw (chair), plus national and international speakers from the UK through to Canada and Sweden.

Rosie Cross, the National Rural Touring Forum’s International Coordinator says: “The Arts Council of England’s priority is Great Art for Everyone. The 40 or so rural touring schemes in England and Wales are key to delivering quality professional arts experiences to communities in isolated rural areas. In the wake of European City of Culture celebrations, International Village of Culture is a chance for people involved in the arts to explore the wealth of national and international arts activity happening outside urban centres, as well as for audiences to see top class quality performers.”

Stella Hall, creative director of culture10, said: “Our cultural programme is regionwide but International Village of Culture helps us to take its accessibility to new levels and really reach out to new audiences in isolated North East locations. People living in rural settings deserve the same choice of high quality cultural experiences as those living in the heart of our cities and I’m delighted that the International Village of Culture will bring international artists right to the doorstep of such communities and hope that this will be the beginning of new long term international partnerships.” a For more information www.nrtf.org.uk/ivoc

OTHER INFORMATION: The International Village of Culture forms part of North East England’s world-class programme of festivals and events in 2008, managed by culture10. culture10 is an annual curated programme of exceptional cultural events and festivals across NewcastleGateshead and North East England. Established in 2004, it is managed by the culture10 team, working in partnership with NewcastleGateshead Initiative, and is funded by Newcastle City Council, Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, One North East, Northern Rock Foundation and Arts Council England, North East. For further details see www.NewcastleGateshead.com The National Rural Touring Forum represents a number of rural touring schemes and rural arts development agencies across England and Wales and works with local communities to promote high quality arts events and experiences in local venues. www.nrtf.org.uk

THE KELMAN GROUP WORKSHOP WEEKEND Dates: Sat 18th & Sun 19th April 2009 1pm – 6p.m. both days Location: The Watershed, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield Costs: £60 (£40 concs) for the weekend In this two-day course you will be using a series of exercises developed to train professional improvisers and to make new work, exploring the physical, vocal and mindful aspects of performing, including presence, being in the moment, ensemble,and playfulness.

Suitable for performers and nonperformers alike, all we ask is that you have curiosity and a sense of fun.

Due to our commitments, this Huddersfield course may be the only opportunity to experience this work with The Kelman Group this year.

“Brilliant, intensive, well-supported” “Dynamic, thought provoking, liberating” “WOW! Thank you! More!”

The Watershed is a lovely participatory arts space in Slaithwaite. Slaithwaite is on the main Leeds to Manchester train line and just off the A62 Manchester Road.

W: www.kelmangroup.com T: 01484 851227 EVENTS AT PAD PAD in Preston is running a host of events over the next 6 months.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s happening. If you want to find out more about a particular event then please get in touch with the PAD team on the contact details below.

Cartoon Capers (Workshop) Age: 6–12yr old accompanied with adult).

Dates: Saturday 18th April, 1–3pm Costs: £2.00 Artist Talk – Magda StawarskaBeavan, Tracy Griffin & Jayne Simpson Dates: Saturday 16th May, 1pm Costs: FREE Artist Talk – Catriona Stamp Dates: Saturday 13th June, 1pm Costs: FREE Bookmaking Workshop with Catriona Stamp Dates: Saturday 27th June, 1–3.30pm Costs: £5.00 (15+yrs)

Artist Statement Writing Workshop Dates: Thursday 9th July, 6.30–7.30pm Costs: FREE

The School will draw on the extensive expertise and experience of creative industries regeneration in the Yorkshire region.

Artist Talk – Thomas Williams Dates: Saturday 15th August, 1pm Costs: FREE

CREATIVE CLUSTERS CONFERENCE 2009

Artist Talk – Richard Bannister Dates: Saturday 12th September, 1pm Costs: FREE Pricing Workshop with Jenny Rutter Dates: Wednesday 16th September, 2–5pm Costs: FREE PAD, 10–14 Market Street, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 2AR T: 01772 903471 E: pad@preston.gov.uk W: www.padshopandgallery.com CREATIVE CLUSTERS SUMMERSCHOOL Entrepreneurship, workspace and the local creative economy.

Dates: 6–9th July Location: Huddersfield Costs: £850 +VAT, including meals and accommodation The Creative Clusters Summer School is a four-day, immersive, indepth introduction to policies and best practice in developing the creative economy at the local level.

The School is designed for regeneration and development professionals, consultants and researchers specialising in: > Managed workspaces for creative businesses > Business support programmes for creative entrepreneurs > Local and regional strategies for the creative economy It is particularly aimed at personnel working for government departments, affiliated organisations and NGOs who are taking on new responsibilities in this field, with practical projects to deliver, who want a deeper understand of how ‘creative economy’ and ‘place-making’ strategies can play a part in their regeneration work.

The course is intensely practical.

Through guided visits to model projects and interaction with experienced professionals, participants will become familiar first-hand with practical development tools. There will be continuous consideration of how these solutions might be customised for participants’ own localities.

A personal note from Creative Clusters Director, Simon Evans: “After six successful conferences since 2002, I have decided that the Conference will take a sabbatical break in 2009. The present economic uncertainty offers a good moment to reappraise what we do, and to plan properly for the next phase of Creative Clusters’ development. A break will also allow me some time for paternity leave: my first child is due in the summer.

We are not disappearing of course: the Summer School is launched this year, I am available for speaking engagements and consultancy work as usual, and the Creative Clusters Conference will be back in 2010.”

PROPERJOB THEATRE Proper Job Theratre projects have a range of courses coming up over the next few months: Theatrical Biomechanics Dates: 28th and 29th March 10am – 3pm Location: Huddersfield.

Costs: £80 Proper Job Theatre Company offers workshops for anyone interested in Meyerhold’s Biomechanics.

Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold was a Russian theatrical producer, director and actor whose provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern theatre.

Over the past 10 years interest in Biomechanics has greatly increased as people better understand Meyerhold’s contribution to theatre, both historically and in terms of the present day practice. It is a highly physical system which is often written about and discussed. The difference with Proper Job’s work is that the students will be helped to understand Biomechanics from a physical point of view, creating a deeper and more sustainable knowledge.

The workshop will be lead by James Beale, director of Proper Job.

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COURSES CONFERENCES AND EVENTS`

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COURSES CONFERENCES AND EVENTS The Creative Facilitator Dates: 25th and 26th April 2009 Location: Huddersfield Costs: £100 This workshop is for anyone who delivers work or facilitates workshops within the education and arts sector. Proper Job has been delivering educational workshops for 22 years and this workshop is an opportunity to share many of the secrets that have been proven to be successful. Drawing on our in-depth knowledge of NLP, Howard Gardner, Daniel Goleman and Edward de Bono the course will help to develop an advanced methodology to improve communication and facilitation skills. The weekend is an intensive, in-depth training that will challenge and provoke; it could prove invaluable to anyone who delivers to either adults or children.

The course will be lead by Rick Ferguson, director of Proper Job, qualified teacher and certified trainer of NLP. Introduction to Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) Dates: 6th and 7th June 2009 Location: Huddersfield Costs: £100 Neuro Linguistic Programming is a set of techniques and skills with which you can actively use your mind, emotions and body to run your own life more effectively and communicate with other people with more precision.

Those skilled in NLP techniques are able to think and communicate more clearly, as well as manage their thoughts, moods and behaviours more effectively.

This workshop is a practical introduction to NLP for professionals such facilitators and teachers who want to be introduced to some of the core techniques of Neuro Linguistic Programming.

As with all of our work these workshops will be interactive and exercise based, to make it engaging for all participants.

The course will be lead by Rick Ferguson, director of Proper Job, qualified teacher and certified trainer of NLP. The Big Drama Weekend Dates: 25th and 26th July 2009 Location: Huddersfiled Costs: £50 Open to young people aged between 11 and 16 years with an interest in drama. In one weekend

the group will devise and perform a piece of theatre. The weekend is designed to be exciting and fun while at the same time the young people will learn a number of theatrical techniques. The course will also develop communication skills and build confidence and selfesteem. Friends and family are invited to see the final show at the end of the weekend.

For more information on any of the above or to book a place please contact E: naomi@properjob.org.uk W: www.properjob.org.uk PRACTITIONER TRAINING Escape Artists’ Practitioner Training courses are designed to provide arts practitioners and arts administrators with the additional skills required to work effectively in the area of socially inclusive arts.

The courses are run by practitioners who have, between them, many years of experience of working with socially marginalised people.

All their courses are accredited through the Open College Network and are delivered at their London base. However, they can, if required, deliver courses elsewhere. Courses currently on offer include: An Introduction to Developing and Delivering Arts Projects with Vulnerable Groups Dates: 28 April 09 Lead Trainer: Lottie Ettling/Sarah Turner Developing Drama Workshop Skills for use in the Criminal Justice System Dates: May 7, 8, 14, 15 2009 Lead Trainer: Megan Bunting Using Creative Writing with Vulnerable Individuals and Groups Dates: 26–29 May 2009 Lead Trainer: Michael Crowley For more information on the above or to learn about the other training offered by Escape Artists: T: 0207 6550909 or go to W: www.communityarts.org.uk to download a prospectus Alternativle you can attend their Open House Dates: April 30th 2009 Costs: Free The Open House is an opportunity to learn more about our creative programme, speak directly to our staff and practitioners about our courses and view previous projects.

Our practitioners will also be running short ‘taster’ sessions to

show how Escape Artists works with clients.

It is for people who contract client services in the Criminal Justice System, Mental Health Care, Centres for the Homeless, with Young People at Risk, third sector and arts organisations, arts personnel interested in developing their skills within these areas.

Escape Artists, Studio 24, 7–15 Greatorex Street, London E1 5NF T: +44 (0)20 7655 0909 E: admin@escapeartists.co.uk HELP LINCS KIDS FIND THEIR VOICES Free training available for adults who want to help children sing.

Specialist training is being offered free of charge throughout Lincolnshire to any adult who works with local children and wants to help them express themselves through song.

Devised and managed by soundLINCS – Lincolnshire Music Development Agency – as part of the Government-backed ‘Sing Up’ National Singing Programme, the training takes the form of practical and topic-specific workshops in schools, arts centres, village halls and other community venues around the county.

“All the sessions are run by our team of experienced music facilitators and are intended to be fun, friendly and informative,” explains soundLINCS Programme Development Officer Louise Salmond Smith. “The workshops are suitable for absolutely anyone who engages with children, ranging from people with little experience of group singing to those who want to develop their existing vocal skills.”

Previous Sing Up workshops run by soundLINCS have reflected this diversity, with teachers and classroom assistants being joined by pre-school staff and playground supervisors, childminders, arts facilitators, youth workers and leaders of groups like Scouts, Guides and Brownies.

A comprehensive schedule of over 50 workshops has been drawn up to cover the next six months, with weekend, all-day and twilight sessions planned for all seven Lincolnshire districts. Topics to be covered include ‘Playground Songs & Games’, ‘World Music’, ‘Traditional British Folk’ and ‘Singing in Parts for Beginners’. Voice care,

selecting appropriate material, singing without the aid of a piano and choral work at various ability levels are also on the agenda. The twilight sessions – aimed specifically at those working with children in schools – will also incorporate confidence-building exercises and a ‘Sing Up Surgery’ to address queries relating to other aspects of the National Singing Programme.

Free of charge, the Sing Up workshops are being run by soundLINCS in partnership with Lincolnshire Music Service. Places are limited and must be booked in advance.

Full details on venues and times are listed at www.soundlincs.org and are available from Louise Salmond Smith at soundLINCS E: louise@soundlincs.org T: telephone 01522 510073.

CREATIVE WALES AWARDS AND ARTS COUNCIL OF WALES ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2009 Dates: Wednesday, April 29 & Thursday, April 30 2009 Location: Barry Memorial Hall A motivating forum on placing the arts at the centre of national life.

Speakers include Professor Dominic Shellard from Sheffield Theatres Trust and Andrew Dixon of the NewcastleGateshead Initiative.

Delegates are invited to the Creative Wales Awards taking place in the Memorial Hall and Theatre, Barry.

Presentation of Awards, live music and light refreshments. Price included in Conference fee.

For further information regarding the Creative Wales Awards Ceremony and Conference, please contact Julie Turner: T: 01686 610554 E: julie@turners4.freeserve.co.uk W: www.artswales.org.uk GOVERNANCE FOR THE ARTS CONFERENCE Dates: 1 April 2009 Location: Charity Centre, London NW1 (Euston) Costs: from £200 Essential legal updates for every arts organisation with topical sessions reflecting the current climate. Ideal for all board members, chief executives and directors.

Sessions: > Developments in Governance > Employment Issues in the Current Climate > Dealing with Difficulties on Board > Money and Solvency > Managing Your Property and Assets > An introduction to intellectual property issues > Corporate Partnerships; Trading and Contracts > The Duties of a Trustee > Managing Organisational Change Prices from £200 W: www.dsc.org.uk/Conferences/ @33683 CREATIVE FACILITATION: TRAINING COURSE Dates: 29 April 2009 Location: Cornerhouse Mancashter Costs: £99 – £155 depending on sector ‘Creative Facilitation’ provides an introduction to a creative approach to group facilitation. It aims to encourage, develop and inspire those with responsibility to lead others through a facilitative process, be it for the purposes of team building, consultation, ideageneration or training. Throughout the day we will be using a number of different interactive exercises and games in order to illustrate content.

We will also look at group dynamics, communication issues and different learning styles in order to explore how these might be of impact.

For more information, please contact the Artsplan Team via: E: artsplanbookings@artswork.org.uk or call 023 80682 535.

W: www.artswork.org.uk/artsplan CREATING SAFETY: CHILD PROTECTION AND YOUTH ARTS Dates: 20 May 2009 Location: Baltic Centre for contemporary arts, Gateshead Costs: £99 – £155 depending on sector This one day course is essential training for anyone working within youth arts, but especially those using more physical art forms, such as dance and drama. Developed in conjunction with South East Dance this course compliments the Arts Council England ‘Keeping Arts Safe’ guidelines developed with the NSPCC. The training will cover current child protection legislation in line with the requirements of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB),

within the context of delivering a youth arts project and includes a ‘safe touch’ section, exploring how child protection guidelines can be maintained within more physical art forms.

W: www.artswork.org.uk/artsplan RESORTING TO THE COAST: TOURISM, HERITAGE AND CULTURES OF THE SEASIDE Dates: 25 – 29 June 2009 Location: Winter Gardens, Blackpool Costs: £90, (day rate) to £375, (full fee) Globally, coastlines are arguably the most important sites for tourist activity and tourism development.

The various combinations of sea and shore have become highly popular and successful attractions, and a majority of the world’s leisure tourists cling to these liminal spaces at the margins of the land. The lure of the ‘seaside’, the beach, and the resorts which have evolved to service and entertain tourists, is immensely powerful, reflecting an ever-changing relationship between humans and the oceans. The dominance of coastal tourism within the modern period has generated a wealth of issues which this conference seeks to address.

For more information W: www.tourism-culture.com/ pop_up/forthcoming_conferences. html?PAGE=2 SUMMER SCHOOLS 2009 Dates: 10 – 17 July 2009 Location: Waterslade Studios Costs: £750, which includes accommodation, meals and refreshments.

Forkbeard’s residential courses are held at their inspiring creative base in rural Devon. Set in delightful surroundings, the facilities are fully equipped for film, animation, digital post-production, prop, puppet and automata construction, sound, lighting and hybrids of all these techniques, as used in Forkbeard’’s multi-media stage, film and exhibition work.

There are 20 places on each course.

For further information contact: Deborah Harrison, Forkbeard Fantasy, PO Box 1241, Bristol BS99 2TG T: 0117 930 9933, E: ff@forkbeardfantasy.co.uk E: www.forkbeardfantasy.co.uk

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FUNDING The Equitable Charity Trust is an education charity making grants of around £1 million each year. Grant sizes range from £2,500 to £30,000 but most are for sums £5,000. to £25,000. The focus is on projects for disadvantaged children and young people in the UK, particularly those types of project that support the delivery of the National Curriculum or vocational learning opportunities.

Please consult the web site first for further info and guidance notes.

Applications can be submitted at any time and are considered monthly by the Trustees.

The Equitable Charitable Trust, Sixth Floor, 65 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 2AD. T: 020 7264 4995/4993 Fax: 020 7488 9097.

E: jlong@equitablecharitabletrust .org.uk W: www.equitablecharitabletrust .org.uk The Paul Hamlyn Foundation has recently issued new guidelines for the Education and Learning Programme, which has three specific themes: supplementary education, tackling school exclusion and truancy, and developing speaking and listening skills for 11 to 19 year olds. The other programmes are Arts and Social Justice.

Applications can be made on line but make sure your organisation is eligible to apply and your proposal fits the criteria for the programme you are applying for. It includes an online eligibility check.

Further information contact Paul Hamlyn Foundation, 18 Queen Anne’s Gate, London. SW1H 9AA. T: 020 7227 3500. F: 020 7227 3575 E: information@phf.org.uk W: www.phf.org.uk Another reminder that The Awards For All scheme, the Lottery’s Small Grants Scheme is also closing at the end of March. This very successful initiative with an accessible straight forward application form which has enabled thousands of community groups to get their hands on some of the cash. Their line is that each of the contributing distributors are better placed to address the needs of their applicants and the themes they support. They are also saying that across all the distributors it is anticipated that new money available for small grants in 2009-10 will be comparable to money that was available to community groups

through Awards for All – ah well. Big Lottery Fund will provide a small grants programme on 1st April awarding grants of £300 to £10,000 to local communities in 2009 – 2010. Sport England are doing the same. Arts Council will make provision through their existing ‘Grants for the Arts’ programme and Heritage Lottery Fund through the existing ‘Your Heritage’ and ‘Young Roots schemes.

T: 0845 600 20 40.

Textphone: 0845 755 66 56.

E: enquiries@awardsforall.org.uk W: www.awardsforal.org.uk The next round for BBC Children in Need is the 15th April, followed by 15th July and 15th October 2009. and you can now apply on line.

E: Pudsey@bbc.co.uk Helpdesk Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm T: 020 8576 7788.

W: www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey £42.5 million to help volunteers, charities and social enterprises has been pledged by the Government with our money to help volunteers, charities and social enterprises deliver extra real help to those that need it most during the global economic downturn. A great deal less than the offer to banks and the so called captains of the banking industry.

You can find out more about the offer at W: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ thirdsector/realhelpfor communities.aspx The Coalfield Regeneration Trust only has capacity in the small grants programme, Bridging the Gap Scheme, for amounts up to £10,000 in England but in Scotland the Scottish programmes are not affected. The Trust is committed to supporting grass roots community activity and recognises the important role this work has in regenerating former mining communities and improving the quality of people’s lives.

Further information T: 0800 064 8560.

Fax: 01709 765 599.

E: info@coalfields-regen.org.uk W: www.coalfields-regen.org.uk Application forms need to be posted to the Trust at their Head office, PO Box 97, Rotherham S63 7WX.

The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation has moved. Their new address is: Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG. T: 020 7812 3700.

E: info@esmeefairairn.org.uk W: www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk They are happy to consider requests to fund core costs or project costs.

The City Bridge Trust – Bridging Communities offers grants for activities which benefit residents of the capital.

Further information from The City Bridge Trust, City of London, PO Box 270, Guildhall, London EC2P 2EJ. T: 020 7332 3710 Minicom: 020 7332 3151 Fax: 020 7332 3127 E: citybridgetrust@cityoflondon .gov.uk W: www.citybridgetrust.org.uk The Fair Share Trust UK exists to support specific local communities who have missed out on Lottery Funding in the past. There are a considerable number of areas and the focus is on projects which are medium to longer term, rather than short-term one-off grants. Grants from £5,000 to £250,000 with some flexibility.

For all the info go to W: www.fairsharetrust.org/ index.php/find agent/ SITA Enhancing Communities Programme for community improvement projects. The next deadline is 31st March for Large Grants and 9th April for Small Grants.

Further information contact SITA Trust, The Barn, Brinkmarsh Lane, Falfield, South Gloucestershire GL12 8PT. T: 01454 262910.

Fax: 01454 269090.

E: sita.trust@sita.co.uk W: www.sitatrust.org.uk/apply/ community The PRS Foundation Grants Programme (UK) is the UK’s largest independent funder for new music of any genre, provides a range of grants to stimulate and support the creation and performance of new music in the UK has recently announced the application deadlines for its grant making programmes in 2009.

For all the information visit W:www.prsfoundation.co.uk/ funding/2009deadlines.htm

clipout>> mailout’s cut out and keep guide to good practice

Clipout is our regular cut out and keep guide to good practice. Immigration is a hot issue for the Government and it’s easy to fall foul of the rules. If you work with international artists this issue of Clipout in partnership with the National Campaign for the Arts will help set you on the right track.

Working with International Artists INTRODUCTION The National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) is the UK’s only independent campaigning organisation representing all the arts. It provides a voice for the arts world in all its diversity. It seeks to safeguard, promote and develop the arts and win public and political recognition for the importance of the arts as a key element in our national culture.

In 2005 the Home Office initiated a major revision of the UK immigration system. The new system is known as the Points Based System (PBS). This system came into effect on 27 November 2008.

BACKGROUND Under the previous system there were a number of entry routes by which artists could come to the UK, including: on work permits, as business visitors, as film crew on location, under a specific category for writers, composers and artists, and via an entertainers’ concession which allows entry without a work permit to certain categories of artists, including those participating in major arts festivals. For many artists, a work permit and/or a visa were not previously required.

Under the new Points Based System, routes of entry are grouped together into ‘tiers’ numbered 1–5. There are also a small number of other routes

of entry outside of the tier system for certain, specific categories of visitor.

Artists are generally expected to enter via Tier 2 and Tier 5 Creative and Sporting. Work permits are no longer issued; instead a certificate of sponsorship from a licensed UK sponsor is required. Sponsors have to demonstrate their legitimacy and pay a fee to join the sponsor register.

They are required to abide by a set of sponsorship rules and will be subject to sanctions for non-compliance.

Under PBS, individuals from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), will require entry clearance, bringing the citizens of many major countries, including the USA, into the entry clearance system for the first time.

Non visa nationals may come to the UK for up to three months without entry clearance but will still need a certificate of sponsorship. A list of visa and non visa countries is available from the UKBA website.

Applications for visas must be made in person and will include biometric data (finger prints) given at the point of application. Artists who previously entered under the Entertainers Concession will now be able to gain entry under the Entertainer Visitor route.

BECOMING A SPONSOR Organisations wishing to bring nonEEA nationals into the country to work will have to register as a sponsor. Prospective sponsors will

have to apply for a sponsor’s licence and will be required to comply with a set of sponsorship rules, including codes of practice related to resident labour market testing. Sponsors who do not comply or who break the law will be subject to sanctions, civil penalties, and criminal proceedings.

Sponsors will use an IT system to issue certificates of sponsorship, track visa applications made by their sponsored migrants, and update their records.

BRINGING MIGRANTS INTO THE COUNTRY Migrants in PBS enter under one of five ‘tiers’ designed to accommodate different categories of migrants and conferring different entitlements. Tier 2 and Tier 5: Temporary Workers are likely to be most relevant to artists, although some may use Tier 1 (Highly Skilled).

Tier 2 is for skilled migrants with a job offer. Jobs which do not fulfil a designated skills shortage will be subject to resident labour market testing. Tier 2 can be a route to settlement. The maximum initial leave will be three years, after which applicants may apply for further leave in-country. Migrants wishing to enter under Tier 2 will have to accrue sufficient points on the basis of qualifications, prospective salary, age, and the nature of the job they wish to take up. There will be an English

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clipout>> language requirement and applicants will need to show that they have funds to support themselves on arrival in the UK. Tier 5: Temporary Workers is for temporary workers and is not a route to settlement in the UK. There will be 5 sub-tiers, including one for “creative and sporting” applicants. Maximum leave under this sub-tier will be 12 months. Sponsors will have to vouch that migrants do not pose a threat to the resident labour market, in accordance with codes of practice which will be issued as part of the sponsorship rules. They may also vouch that migrants will not call on public funds during their time in the UK. VISAS Migrants in Tiers 2–5 will require a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), issued by a licensed sponsor, in order to enter the country. This will be an electronic document with a unique reference number. For migrants who require a visa to enter the country the CoS is an integral part of the visa application process.

Migrants applying for visas will complete an online self assessment determining the correct tier of entry and visa applications will also be made online. It will be possible for a person other than the applicant (eg the sponsor) to complete the forms on their behalf and to pay for their visa fee.

Applicants will be required to give biometric data (finger prints) when making an application, and will need to attend a designated biometric collection point in person. Not all such collection points will be visa processing centres, in which case applications will be transferred to processing centres and returned.

Applicants may therefore be separated from their passports during the transfer and processing of their application.

Artists who had previously entered the country using the Entertainers’ Concession will now be required to use the new Entertainer Visitor route of entry. Migrants entering under this route will not require a CoS. They will, however, require a letter of invitation/engagement. Visa nationals will also require a biometric visa.

FEES The sponsor licence fee for a small organisation or a charity will be £300 for Tier 2, and £400 for Tier 5, or for both. For medium and large organisations it will be £1000.

Because of the vetting procedures involved in allocating sponsor licences, the process can take up to six weeks from the submission of an application to becoming a registered sponsor.

Visas and CoS fees for Tier 2 currently stand at £205 and £170 and for Tier 5 they are £99 and £10. The cost of visas for both Tier 2 and Tier 5 are due

to increase to £265 and £125 respectively later in the year.

Under Tier 5 each individual migrant requires a certificate of sponsorship.

However if the migrants are coming over as a group (eg. an orchestra, dance troupe etc.) individual CoSs can be linked to a common group identifier and only one £10 payment will be required for the entire group.

FURTHER INFORMATION > The UK Borders Agency website provides information about the new system: www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ntent/documents/managingourbo rders/pbsdocs/ > The NCA has been working with the Home Office and the arts sector to address potential problems for the arts proposed by the new system. Information about this work is available on the NCA website at: www.artscampaign.org.uk/campai gns/nationalpolicy/Visas%202005 %20Overview.html The NCA cannot provide advice on immigration. NCA materials related to immigration are for information only and subject to change.a ©NCA 2009 National Campaign for the Arts, 1 Kingly Street, London W1B 5PA. Registered No. 1930446 (England).

T: 020 7287 3777 W: www.artscampaign.org.uk

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