Tuesday 21 August 2007

Liz Hancock, Gill Crozier & Judith Harrison


Liz Hancock, Gill Crozier & Judith Harrison are having an exhibition at Sandford Gallery in Church Stretton during September and would like to invite you to their Open Day on Saturday 8th September from 11am - 5pm (Cider Punch will be served) . The exhibition continues until 30th September & is open every day.


Christine Kardasz & Heather Prescott

‘Life Room’
An Exhibition of figurative work
by Christine Kardasz
& Heather Prescott

Coffee Shop Gallery
Gateway Education & Arts Centre
Chester Street, Shrewsbury
September 5th—28th … Mon—Friday 9.00—9.00
(Weekends vary—to check opening Tel Gateway 01743 355159)

Private View … Friday September 7th … 7—9 pm

Thursday 16 August 2007

Digi Camera Training +

Are you a beginner with a digital camera? Or comfortable with point and shoot but want to learn more or understand lighting or filters? Would you like to learn a little about using photoshop to edit your pictures? Interested in developing a website but not sure where to start?

If you answered yes to any of these questions Qube Multimedia is running a series of courses for you.

Click this link to find out more

www.qube-oca.co.uk/multiflyersept07.pdf

Fine Art - Morning After Director

Fine Art - Morning After Director:

Lara Ratnaraja Lead Mentor: Nicola Shipley Guest mentors: Helen Legg, Melissa Nisbett, Matt Price, Dom Murphy

The Morning After Fine Art programme will explore the genres of fine art practice, and how to develop your professional arts practice and develop a group catalogue to profile the artists work to curators, galleries and commissioners.

Who Is It For? New and emergent fine art practitioners - who are looking to develop their professional art practice and build a reputation in the fine art world. We aim to grow their skills to develop the freelance business of being a professional artist.

What Is It? ·

A 12 week, 60 hours practice led mentoring programme for fine artists. ·

Practice led mentoring and seminars using curators and arts professionals providing experiential advice and guidance ·

Development of freelance skills using models of good practice. ·

A catalogue the artists can use as part of their professional portfolio. o

Group Sessions and seminars o

Portfolio Review

Helen Legg Ikon o Introduction to contemporary fine art

Helen Legg Ikon/tbc o Approaching galleries

Helen Legg Ikon o Catalogue Design

TAK! Design o

Marketing for the contemporary fine art market
Melissa Nisbett Ikon o

Confidence building and how to approach galleries

Nicola Shipley/Matt Price

Previous artists have developed tools to identify galleries and curators and increased their confidence in their practice. In addition, they have developed a catalogue to use as part of their professional portfolio and learnt how to present their work to galleries and commissioners. Previous participants have gone on to show work at: Ideas Factory V & A Event, New Art Birmingham, The Event, Virtual, Ten4 Magazine, The Out Crowd, Fused Magazine, Rhubarb-Rhubarb International Festival of the Image How do I get involved? Please send your CV, personal statement and representative images of your work to annie@creativealliance.org.uk by Monday 27th August 2007.

For more information see the attached biographies or call 0121 224 7308. Annie Laughrin Project Manager West Midlands Creative Alliance R018/019 Custard Factory Gibb Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B9 4AA Tel: 0121 224 7308 Mob: 07793 557322 Email: annie@creativealliance.org.uk

Skills training project wins funds to take local young people to Tr

Skills training project wins funds to take local young people to Transylvania - search begins for volunteersSouth Shropshire Council has been awarded major grant from the European Union to provide conservation skills training for young building professionals from Shropshire and Herefordshire.The Leonardo scheme provides 38000 euros (over £25,700) to cover travel and accommodation costs to destinations, which can provide unique training opportunities for young people, who can then use their skils to improve their contribution to the life of their home area.The South Shropshire project builds upon a long established link with the Saxon Villages of Transylvania, and will include conservation of the ancient walls of the fortified church of Viscri Transylvania and the repair of a 15th century timber framed barn in the village.Colin Richards, Conservation Officer for the District Council is coordinating the project in partnership with Walford College. Young building professionals interested in taking part should contact Colin or Carmen Parker on 01584 813355 or colin.richards@southshropshire.gov.uk to arrange an interview.The aim is to take out around a dozen people for two weeks between the 28th September and the 12th October, and a further two-week training project is planned for the spring of 2008.This trans-national skills training project is part of a wider scheme to attract Lottery funding for the repair of Ludlow's Town Walls, which requires skills training as a qualifying criteria.

Tuesday 7 August 2007

Castle Artists and Friends


What's Your Next Move?

What's Your Next Move?

As the national development agency for contemporary crafts the Crafts Council aims to nurture and support makers at all points in their practice.

Next Move is an innovative, setting-up scheme designed to put newly graduated makers on the fast track to developing their own businesses. Placements are now available in England and Wales, as 2007 marks the beginning of a new partnership with the Arts Council Wales to take Next Move to Welsh colleges.

The two-year placements offer selected makers residencies within higher education institutions. The benefits include free studio space, a maintenance grant of £6000, an equipment grant of £1000, professional development and business training, plus extensive support from the Crafts Council and the Arts Council Wales.

The following six The Next Move placements are available to start in December 2007:


School of Jewellery, UCE, Birmingham, one placement (jewellery)
University of Sunderland, two placements (glass and ceramics)
Cardiff School of Art and Design, UWIC, two placements (ceramics and textiles)
Plymouth College of Art and Design, one placement (ceramics, glass, jewellery or large scale metals)


For information on application criteria and an application pack please visit the Crafts Council website http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/ or contact Liz Webster, Maker Development Officer on E: e_webster@craftscouncil.org.uk , T: 020 7806 2584.


Deadline for Applications 6pm 10 September 2007

Monday 6 August 2007

looking for someone who has the skills

Castle Community Leisure is a local registered charity whose aim is to promote and encourage the building of and the use of social, sport and arts facilities in the area, in particular the fantastic resource of the newly built SPARC centre in Bishops Castle.

CCL are looking for someone who has the skills, professionalism and enthusiasm to raise the profile of CCL and the events already planned for SpArC in the coming months. Bishop’s Castle is the market town for SW Shropshire serving a rural hinterland of scattered communities; employment is predominantly in agriculturally related industries, with an increasing retired and elderly population demographic. The local Community College (<700 pupils aged 11-18) has a catchment of several hundred square miles.
The new SpArC centre has a well equipped studio theatre and several events are programmed in but there is no one person in post to develop these opportunities, market these events or create more opportunities. CCL is applying for longer term funding for this post but in the interim seeks a p/t coordinator to get the ball rolling for this pilot season.

Tasks

To liaise with all people who have booked forthcoming events into SpArC or who are regular users e.g.
Jenny Henrywood - (Arts Dev officer for District)
Gwyneth Owen - SpArC manager
Sian Kerry - Arts Alive/CCL/Community College young promoters group
Julie McGivern – Hd. of Drama at Community College
Di Morris - administrator at Community College
Irene Stelfox –Youth Service

Publicity & Marketing

To issue press releases and create photo opportunities

To create publicity material and distribute widely throughout town and wider area.

Distribute information to local groups – YFC, WI, Churches, Youth bus, youth service, primary schools, playgroups, etc to make sure wide network of people hear about the programme

Exhibition space
To follow up work commenced on getting the walls in gallery space clad with board suitable for mirror plating exhibitions

Other
Attendance at CCL meetings during contract period and any other appropriate ones that arise from time to time.
Collection of audience statistics for each event (Need to record these for funders.)
Promote and recruit volunteers for Front Of House steward training opportunity (already booked and funded) on September 19th
Attend performances already booked, organise publicity display for future events, work of CCL etc.
Support Hyperlinks project, digital media project fro young people, in partnership with Belmont Arts Centre

Person Specification:

Skills and knowledge
Relevant arts experience
Computer literate in Excel, Word, Outlook and a DTP programme
Good at writing copy
Generating press coverage
Generating in house publicity
Good at communication and negotiation with different parties, brokering deals and keeping everyone ‘on side’

Characteristics
Diplomatic, persistent, self motivated, organised
Experienced in dealing with situations where there is a multi-agency interest

The contract

The coordinator will answer to the CCL trustees in the first instance, (sub committee to manage post and support worker).

Office facilities will be provided by CCL
Office space will be provided in SpArC building as support in kind by SSDC
CCL will provide worker with a laptop and printer

The contract is on a freelance basis and will be paid as a fee for services. The contract is for 24hrs per week for four months, hours and pattern of work to be flexible. The development worker will be self employed and manage their own hours. The contract will be reviewed after 1 month. The fee will be £4200 (an hourly rate of approx £11).

Start – As soon as possible

Application Procedure
The deadline for receipt of submissions is 5pm Friday 17th August 2007, preferably by email to sian@artsalive.co.uk . Please include:
A current CV
Contact details - Please supply a mobile contact number as well as a land-line.
Names and addresses of two referees.
A letter of application, which indicates how you meet the person specification and details of relevant experience, and availability to start

Applications to be received by 5pm Friday 17th August.
Shortlisted candidates who are to be interviewed will be contacted on 20th.
Interviews will take place on 21st August in SpArC, from 4pm.

Queries and applications to: Sian Kerry, CCL Secretary, sian@artsalive.co.uk
01588 620883 (away till 12th August) Blue Barn, Green Lane, Churchstoke SY15 6EN

Exhibitions Curator wanted

Exhibitions Curator
16 hours per month

to co-ordinate and develop the existing visual arts programme

£6.33 per hour + tickets for some films and live shows

Closing date for applications 12 noon Tuesday 28 August
Interviews Thursday 6 September
Further information and application form from Christine Underhill,
Ludlow Assembly Rooms, 1 Mill Street, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 1AZ
Tel: 01584 813704 or e-mail christine@ludlowassemblyrooms.co.uk
Ludlow Assembly Rooms is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and particularly welcomes applications from people with disabilities and from minority groups with suitable qualifications and experience.

looking for 3 American amateur artists

I went to YLAF last year and had a brilliant time, and was hoping that perhaps you may be able to assist me.
I am working on a Sky TV documentary, and I’m looking for 3 American amateur artists of any standard (drawers or painters) who live in Britain who can take part in one day of filming where they will be trained all day by a world renowned artist in attempt to create a masterpiece by the end of the day.
I thought you may know of someone who may be interested to partake, as I realise you work with a lot of artist contributors at your festival.
We are filming within the next month so feel free to pass my details on, I would greatly appreciate it : Daniela.Carson@ITV.com

Saturday 4 August 2007

Minutes of VAN Trustees meeting

Minutes of VAN Trustees’ meeting
The Cornhouse, Monday July 30 2007
Present:- Carola Fielden: Martin Smith: Julia Pim: Dave West: Mike Hatch: Chris Dean: Andrew Howe: Neil Walker. Apologies from David Collingwood.

Minutes approved subject to one alteration; the sub for the rest of the year is £10 not £12.

Matters arising from the minutes
1 Art About Town. Jules said that feedback forms have recently gone out to shops; a few are back, so far positive reactions. Shops had experienced low numbers of shoppers generally in this period (the weather?). Feedback forms for artists will go out soon. There had been 1 or 2 instances of mis-communication between artist and shopkeeper.
Around 9000 leaflets had been distributed. Donations towards Blue Chairs Charity stand at £30.03 and still growing. A photo-op and press release around a cheque presentation will be organised by Jules and Carola.
Jules felt that in future the job of organising Art about Town should be split into 4 roles. Her final summary of the event will be available during August/Sept/

2 Lobbying Carola met with Sue Goodwin (SCC), (who is not leaving, and will probably be senior arts officer in the Unitary authority when it arrives).
She could not give us their list of artists, (data protection) but instead offered to print and post our questionnaire to all 260 names on the list.
She gave us a copy of the Arts Council report on their national questionnaire, in which Shropshire had the highest rate of responses returned (57%). Also she gave us a list of addresses of Shropshire Arts Partnerships which Carola will use a) to contact b) to invite to publicise themselves on the VAN website.
Apparently in the SCC arts policy, visual arts in Shrewsbury are “prioritised”, presumably because they are seen as in need of more support than other areas.
Sue Goodwin thinks that if we want to ask for money to develop the website, we “must prove the need for it”. Dave and Carola both emphasised that this means we need a thought out business plan, and therefore means we have to clarify what we think VAN should be/wants to be doing.
Carola has also tried but failed so far to make contact with Maggie Love (SABC arts development officer), who apparently has expressed great willingness to help us..

3 Membership We have 36 paid up members at the moment. It was decided that membership application forms (which Carola will produce) will go out with the questionnaire; we also need to start sending receipts.

4 Finance Andrew said we need £600 pa to cover our costs (i.e. to survive but not do anything that means paying out money). That’s the equivalent of 60 members at present rate. The address for bank and other stuff will be changed from Belmont to Andy’s. Co-signatories for cheques are Neil Walker, Mike Hatch, Pat Jones, and Wren Miller.

5 Website Much discussion, ending with general agreement that the website is a priority for the next year. Martin is to link our site to Shropshire Community Directory. Carola asked trustees to look at the Axis website (a national arts site) for comparison and inspiration. She also said that Russell Parry, although not a member, is very willing to work on our website, as long as we pay him something.

General discussion
*That VAN must be, and be seen to be, professional in its activities, was expressed strongly by Andy, Carola and Martin and others during the evening.
*Martin reported back from a seminar on “Culture in Shropshire and Telford” which he attended both as Qube and VAN. Out of that, he said, a group is to be set up called SHAG (Shropshire art Group) to organise if possible outside local authority constraints and financing, and to act as a discussion forum. The groups includes Art Alive;Pentabus;DASH;VAN;Qube;BorderArts;Blue Eyed Soul. This obviously is a broad group; it was emphasised that locally the profile of visual arts within “culture” is low compared to say drama or music. Carola will use the list of attendees as another set of targets to contact.
*Carola is to produce a list of the local “great and good” in the arts scene and local authorities, so that trustees know more clearly who we are talking about.
*Comment relayed by Dave from Andy Down of Creative Industries Hereford:- “the unique thing about VAN is the Art about Town” – (in comparison to other local arts groups).

Future Activities
Various decisions about the summer festival were taken:-
a) every exhibitor in Art about Town must be a member of VAN; (prop Carola, sec Dave, passed unanimously)
b) There was discussion about artists and shopkeepers’ fees, but nothing was decided.
c) Artists in the Open Studios must also be members (prop Dave, sec Carola, passed unanimously)
d) There should be one leaflet and trail map, which should include both the shops in Art About Town, with names of the artists, and the Open Studios
e) We should avoid the clash of the public events for the opening of A around T being on the same weekend as the Open Studios
f) If possible the Open Studios should run for 2 weekends; Ann McCay to be consulted
g) The finances of Open Studios ought really to be included in VAN accounts, but this will obviously be discussed first with Ann McCay.

Conclusion
It was decided by unanimous vote that VAN’s basic development work for the next year is to prepare a business plan in order to make funding applications to support the work and extension of:-
1 The website
2 Sarah Lean’s curating function
3 Art Around Town
4 Open Studios
5 The Open
6 Administration
…………… as well as continuing with our existing work.
AOB
Sarah Lean, who took over Caspar’s curating operation, says she has problems finding artists who want to be exhibited!! We should have her details on the website; and the chair encouraged trustees to get to all her PVs and take other people with us, make more contacts, get networking. (Sarah Lean. leancreations@hotmail.com and www.leancreations.co.uk )

Next Meeting Monday Sept 10, The Cornhouse, 7.00 pm

Thursday 2 August 2007

Major International Showcase For Ceramics

Major International Showcase For Ceramics
Presented by The Craft Potters Association in association with Ceramic Review and The Crafts Council.
Ceramic Art London 2008, the leading selling exhibition in the ceramics calendar, will take place at the Royal College of Art on February 29 to March 2, 2008. Ceramic Art London 2008, will again provide a unique focus on excellence in contemporary studio ceramics based on the work of leading makers from the UK and from overseas.
Further details can be found on http://www.ceramics.org.uk/home.php


Please find attached information on how to exhibit at Ceramic Art

Genevieve Clemens
Market Development Admin Assistant
Crafts Council 44a Pentonville Road London N1 9BY
T:+44(0)20 7806 2512
F:+44(0)20 7837 6891

A job opportunity has arisen

A job opportunity has arisen at West Midlands Office, as a Assistant Officer, Learning & Participation. This post provides an excellent secondment opportunity for the right individual. Please if possible could you circulate amongst your contacts and networks.
The closing date is: Weds 15 August 2007, at 5pm For those who are interested in applying please could you apply for this vacancy via our website. Hard copies of the application form are available on request if you have difficulty completing the on-line application form.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Assistant Officer, Learning & Participation West Midlands Office, Birmingham Starting salary: £18,000 per annum (pro-rata) + package of benefits Contract: fixed term to March 2008, with possibility of extension.
This is an excellent opportunity to help deliver creative learning strategies across the region. Your role will be to support the Learning and Participation officers in working with schools and communities, children and young peoples' services and the wider voluntary sector to ensure a high quality of participation and engagement with young people at the centre. You will also support applicants seeking funding, assess grant applications and support the Learning Officer in ongoing projects.
You will have an understanding of both policy and delivery using the arts in learning and participation settings. You will have excellent communication skills and a good critical awareness together with proven administrative and organisational skills, including the ability to set up systems and organise events.

Ref no: WMF021
Closing date: 5pm, 15 August 2007

For further information (CVs will not be accepted) and to see a full list of our current vacancies visit our website: www.artscouncil.org.uk
(no agencies please)

You must be eligible to work in the UK to be considered for this post
We proudly promote cultural diversity and equal opportunities for all.
IIP, Stonewall Diversity Champions and two ticks status www.artscouncil.org.ukArts Council England is the trading name of the Arts Council of England registered charity no. 1036733

Wednesday 1 August 2007

Artists Invited to try out for exhibition

Artists fron across Shropshire are being invited to take part in an exhibition at Ironbridge.
They are invited to hand in a piece of artwork that represents the heritage site in some way as well as representing themselves as an artist.
A judging panel will choose a number of pieces to include in the exhibition from September 6 to October 6 at Merrythought Teddy Bear Factory.
Jenny Gunning, exhibition organiser, said: "When handing work in, artists are reminded that if there work is chosen, they will be allocated an area which will offer as much room as they can fill with an estimated number of 20 to 50 pieces per artist.
"It is estimated more than 3000 people will visit the world famous heitage site over the weekend of the world heritage festival, giving local artists the perfect opportunity to show off their own interpretations of the Gorge."
Artists interested in the event should call Jenny on 01952 434020