“...the trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.”

Shivering in my seasonal malaise, I can already feel the pessimistic tendencies rearing their heads (yes: heads - plural - think, Hydra for mental state, and what feels like Hendra for the viral state). All that forced new year jollity and promises fit for breaking. I know I’m supposed to be suffused with the spirit of the age and isn’t arts/health all happy-clappy? NO. I am constantly reminded that whilst of course, creativity, culture and the arts have the power to give us something of the numinous and take us out of ourselves: they also have the potential to help us express/make sense of our frustrations, anger and fear. When I am caught offguard  by grief and loss, nothing helps me more than the pain that song-writers and poets expose me too. Terrible for the heart at the time, but through all that murk and sorrow there’s a sense of being part of the world. Neither happy or in the remotest bit clappy, but cathartic and ultimately providing more than a dose of prescribed sedation ever could. 

So, with baited breath, I read that the Barbican and Wellcome Trust are working together on a series of events around science and the arts called; Wonder: Art & Science on the Brain. Will this be more illustrative art subserviently telling the genius stories of science, or else artists just using the palette that science offers them: a splash of DNA here, or a flickering neuron there? No, I’m being a little glib - this looks damn fine stuff: a series of events that explore this relationship in detail, through art and science.

But might the bright lights and big funding of neuroscience be both appealing and possibly reductive - stripping the essence of being human into a neat set of pulsing signals, or else a heady cocktail of chemical slush? I see science maintaining its place in the emerging coalition curriculum, as the arts get kicked into the long grass. It is very sweet of the Guardian to offer us a neat little box that asks What is Neuroscience, and provide us with answers in five handy bight-sized haikus? I wonder if they can answer, What is Art 
in such neat little packages? 

Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system and the understanding of thought, behaviour and emotion.
The discipline predates ancient Greece but came of age with the discovery of electrical nerve impulses in the 18th century.
Tools including supercomputers, brain dyes and magnetic resonance imaging scanners are regularly used by modern neuroscientists.
Neuroscientists aim to explain how the brain works and find ways to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Their work could help tackle conditions including strokes, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, brain injury and cerebral palsy.        

I notice that music artist and DJ James Holden has been commissioned to create a soundtrack “to engender a high state of consciousness in the audience” at the Barbican. Oh, it’s that powerful stuff music again and I have no doubt whatsoever, that this will be superb - perhaps almost profound as Jeremy Deller’s sublime Acid Brass from 2004 that conjoined the beauty of traditional brass band music (imagine, young men and women from working class communities creating, learning and loving music like this) with Acid House* anthems. 

There seems to be lots of arts/health research underway with our genteel older citizens, enjoying the benefits of communal singing - wouldn’t it be interesting to see some research around the long-term benefits of euphoria induced by the music of 808 State and the KLF?

Sooner than the Barbican events which take place in March, the National Theatre have a new play by writer of ENRON, Lucy Prebble, which explores the effects of chemicals on the brain taking into account the nature of love and authenticity of feeling, via the value of sadness and depression as important, everyday life-experiences. Perfect - is the thing we describe as love real, or just a chemical reaction?

I’ve quoted endlessly (for good reason) from both Jonah Lehrer in Proust was a Neuroscientist calling for a fourth culture, where science and the arts, (the twin pillars of society), learn from each other as oppose to just co-opting each others appearance: and Gary Greenberg in the illuminating Manufacturing Depression, telling the story of the pharmaceutical industries grip on our psychic terrain, far more eloquently than I ever could. (...and do remember, in all of this, I am not talking about crippling clinical depression) 

Oxford Professor of Mathematics, Marcus du Sautoy eloquently describes this constant pitching of artists and scientists as opposites, as a false dichotomy suggesting they are both ‘homing in on the same structure.’ I’d take it further than that and strip away what it is to be an artist or scientist, and just ask what is it to be human? To be curious, to love and be aware of mortality? All humans are concerned with these profound notions at certain points in their lives. All people. Artists and scientists can of course, offer us something to meditate on - sometimes these will be conjoined and profound and at other times, quite rightly, they’ll operate from their own unique spheres, but infected by what it means to be alive here and now. 

The Effect
Love is double blind.
A clinical romance that explores questions of sanity, neurology and the limits of medicine. Director Rupert Goold reunites with designer Miriam Buether following their production of Earthquakes in London to deliver a vibrant theatrical exploration into the human brain via the heart. To learn more about the science and the inspiration behind The Effect go to http://theeffectplay.com/

Keep Breathing 
For those of you lucky enough to be able to see this show, I'm sure you'll enjoy all its elements. If you can't make it, I hope you'll enjoy this song from the performance. 

Infected by both melancholia and some seasonal bug, I discovered a peaty-highland drink, that offered me a level of sedation and a degree of physical warmth! With a modest prescription, I took myself off to see the 1962 ‘epic’ Lawrence of Arabia at the cinema. I wasn’t sure what I’d make of it. Was it jingoistic? Offensive? Not exactly a teenager, I was probably the youngest there - and there were some very dubious stereotypes on screen. But the story was compelling and the landscapes' were utterly, utterly beautiful. It was full of some wonderful T.E. Lawrence quotes too, not least, in not minding that something hurts. Psychic as well as physical I wonder? Isn't a degree of emotional pain a healthy part of our evolution?

As the guilty host reservoir of some vile germ and a seasonal miserabilist, I sat far away from the other humans present and periodically decanted a slug of this peaty-stuff and was taken away into a less self-pitying place and memories of my first exposure to extreme wilderness in the form of the Australian interior and memories of heat and dust.

Now, as my bleary eyes cast a glance over the feudal honours list that bestows fake grandeur on the great and good of our dear little Albion, I notice Tracey Emin (wasn’t she threatening to leave these shores on account of tax rises for the filthy rich?) has been awarded some ghastly gong for her services to culture, alongside Olympians Coe, Wiggins et al. For Queen and Empire eh? Fellow cynics: shall we keep our eyes peeled on the legacy of the Olympic Games over 2013? I will be curious to see the ruddy cheeked young athletes of the future, throwing away their ham burgers and french fries and vaulting into a golden dawn of athleticism. So too, the Cultural Olympiad legacy - will we witness more jubilant dancing in our streets: a slump in high-street (tax avoiding) coffee consumption and a resurgence of bakers, florists and potters? Will all hate-crime against people with disabilities fade into a pre-olympian history? 

When organiser of the Olympic opening ceremony, Danny Boyle was asked on Front Row, if he’d like a knighthood for his work, he replied: "I'm very proud to be an equal citizen and I think that's what the opening ceremony was actually about."

Now that’s what I’d call honour.

*Ghastly eh? Acid House - isn’t that all about DRUGS! But are the self prescribed e’s of club culture any more sinister than the wholesale prescription of sedatives to the disenfranchised and discontented masses? As an e-virgin I have no idea, but I am aware of the ongoing educational campaigns of people like Professor David Nutt to clarify the issues and of course the blindingly obvious fact that you can’t tax the street vendor - but oh boy, you can the big pharma. 




My only hope is that you are well, happy and enjoying life. I wish you nothing but lovely things for 2013 and all it brings. Thank you for visiting this wintery place...C.P

Christmas comes but once a year

One of the things that came out loud and clear in the Participation Report that my colleagues worked on in the Autumn was the value of the voluntary sector resource centres across the county. Particularly at Christmas, when so much else is closed, they play a vital role in supporting people through what can be a difficult time.

I'm based at an office in Ponthafren Association's centre in Newtown, which covers much of North Powys. Even now as I type I can hear staff and volunteers welcoming new members into the Centre, just a handful of days before Christmas Day itself. In the Pine Room they will find a roaring log fire, an open box of chocolates on the table, tea and coffee by the gallonful, but above all, friendly faces and a chance to chat about whatever they want. 

So... as Christmas looms around the corner... I just wanted to add some website links here to those centres around Powys which plug such a big gap in so many people's lives. All year, yes. And Christmas too!

From North to South:

• Ponthafren Association in Newtown and Welshpool. 
• Mid Powys Mind in Llandrindod Wells and surrounding areas.
• Brecon and District Contact Association in Brecon and surrounding areas. Website being updated, but I'm told open every day, 12 - 4.30pm, except New Year's Eve, open 12 - 3pm.
• Ystradgynlais Mind in Ystradgynlais, who are open Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, 10am - 2pm.

If the opening times are not listed in detail here they are on the organisations' websites - links above.

You can also find links to other organisations that provide help and support on our website here.

Finally, I was looking back through an old Christmas issue of the Powys Mental Health Alliance magazine.... where there is a section called "Tips to stay well at Christmas."  There are loads listed, (and you can find more if you link to this page and look at December newsletters) but here are three of my favourites:

• Use the time to do something practical. You may get a sense of achievement for having accomplished something.
• If you are feeling low, try and explain how you feel to those close to you. Unless you explain how you feel, people will not understand what is wrong. Those close to you will want to help, and a sympathetic listening ear is an important treatment for depression.
• Look after yourself. Put yourself first and treat yourself to something that you will enjoy.

So, a big bag of vegetable crisps - carrot, beetroot and parsnip lightly fried and salted -  for me then!

Take care, and see you in the New Year!

Photos taken at the Ponthafren Centre, 20 December 2012

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WHAT - 
NO WORDS ABOUT THE TIME OF YEAR?

The last few days have seen a flurry of email into the arts and health inbox. Lots of correspondents have been rounding up their successes of 2012; some have been more despondent, the political climate having swept away their jobs and I’ve had a few responses to last weeks posting on the arts/health conference planned in Israel in 2013: some encouraging and insightful, others more critical - but all welcome and received with thanks.

So this ‘last post’ won’t round up any of Arts for Health successes' of 2012 - it will instead offer just a few more opportunities and a few season tidbits. 

The Guardian this week are offering free seasonal screen-savers designed by some prominent artists, and as a gentle echo to last weeks posting and a meditation on healthcare inequalities in Haifa and Gaza, here is one of those images by Cornelia Parker called a bright light over Jerusalem. She comments: 'This naked light shines in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. I thought celebrating this Christmas with the symbol of a bright idea, the light bulb, was appropriate – a bit of cold cheer in the darkness'

Artists and cultural commentators have also been rallying against the governments proposals to marginalise the arts in the national curriculum, and I was moved by some of the personal testimonies to teachers and arts educators that these figureheads cite. You can read them all by clicking on the Bob and Roberta Smith image below. Here’s a snippet from the wonderful playwright April de Angelis:

“Drama at school was the key that unlocked me with its premium on curiosity and inventiveness; the joy of working in groups yet feeling your individual input was integral. Being inside the complex world of a play with its debates, strategies, motivations and allegiances was brilliant for confidence and developing a love of language. I wasn't a kid who was taken to the theatre, so school was the place. In the school mag at the time I said the cast felt like family. Drama creates engaged, articulate beings who are attuned to their connection with others – which is why it's been suppressed – it's a political act.”

Just a reminder too, that the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) and the Department of Health have published their detailed agreement showing how the NHS CB will drive improvements in the health of England’s population through its commissioning of certain public health services. Please read this as it represents significant new opportunities fro the cultural sector. click on the dedicated nurse below for more details...

Getting On

This year saw another series of the excellent hard-hitting NHS drama, Getting On. You may have seen it - may love or loath it, but it beats Casualty hands down. Gritty realism and blissful social commentary. I particularly enjoyed the final episode (6) on 8th December in which artist Dylan Schwarz and his assistant Elke arrive on the ward to set up a kids art project. This has to be the ultimate arts and health TV moment of 2012? If you’ve not seen it - search it out, or talk to me about it in January - I have a copy!

Early Career Researcher at Arts for Health

Arts for Health at MIRIAD, the Manchester Institute for Research and Innovation in Art and Design at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Lime Arts of Central Manchester Foundation NHS Trust, wish to appoint a highly motivated early career researcher (ECR) on a short-term contract from February to April 2013 to make an important contribution to the consolidation and development of archives relating to the arts and well-being. 

For more information regarding the requirements of the role please email langley.brown@mmu.ac.uk  

Full details here: https://www.jobs.mmu.ac.uk/mmujobsite/VacancyDetail.aspx?VacancyUID=000000007610

New Community Services Fund for British Pubs The rural pub services and community champions, Pub is The Hub, has announced the launch of The New Community Services Fund to help UK pubs to diversify into new services provision for their own communities. Pub is The Hub wants to raise £1 million over the next two years.  The Government has kick-started the fund with a £150,000 donation to the Community Services project. In addition the drinks company Diageo plc, has donated £50,000 and is urging other companies to follow suit.  Pub is the Hub has advised and supported small scale diversification schemes and community acquisitions all over England, Wales and Scotland; from the installation of libraries and production of school meals in pubs through to larger capital projects such as farm shops and post offices. Read more at: http://www.pubisthehub.org.uk/news/story/new_community_services_fund_boost_for_british_pubs 

Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust (UK)

The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust which awards grants to charitable organisations in the United Kingdom  has announced that  the next closing date for applications is the 1st June 2013. During 2013, the Trust is seeking to fund projects that help children and young people.  Grants are usually between £1,000 and £3,000 and are awarded for one year.

Previous grants awarded include:

A grant towards a resource centre providing advice and training for workers dealing with mental health in rural areas and

Funding towards a project aimed at behavioural programme for persistent young offenders. 

Read more at: http://www.austin-hope-pilkington.org.uk/ah_how_to_apply.htm 

Swearing, Christmas and Happiness
...and finally, here is a lovely video (be warned, it has swearing, so don’t complain - you’ve been warned) for the new Martin Crimp play; In the Republic of Happiness which is playing at the Royal Court Theatre until 19th January. Seasonal and so much more. Enjoy - Oh and Happy Christmas...

Thanks as ever for stopping by. What a year...C.P.

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...a beautiful song on a chilly evening

A black dog story

Many years ago a long-term relationship I was in at the time broke down. The house we had been buying together was sold, and we went our separate ways. About a year later, perhaps rather foolishly, I went back to look at the house, and it was in the process of being demolished. The site was due to be cleared, along with others in the street, for the building of flats. The roof was gone and internally the house had been gutted. All that remained was an empty shell. It looked just as if a bomb had hit it.

Suddenly, out of a gaping hole that had previously been our front door, an immaculate white cat emerged. It was like the ghost of all the much-loved cats (four) which had previously shared the house with us. For a while that cat came to symbolise for me a period of mental distress that I had gone through at the time.

But for many, it is the black dog of depression which follows them through periods of their lives. At the end of the Mental Health First Aid course which I attended in 2009, I was given a short book called “I had a black dog” by Matthew Johnstone. It is a beautifully illustrated picture book, which, as Stephen Fry comments: “… says with wit, insight, economy and complete understanding what other books take 300 pages to say. Brilliant and indispensable.” There is a link to it here.

But also, I find (thanks to my colleague Glynis), there is a short video, uploaded recently, about this black dog. We decided to share it here:

Tips for Talking to Children about the Connecticut School Shooting

By David Fassler, M.D.

Parents and teachers are faced with the challenge of discussing the recent tragic school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut with young children. Although these may be difficult conversations, they are also important.

There are no "right" or "wrong" ways to talk with children about such traumatic events. However, here are some suggestions that may be helpful:

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  Create an open and supportive environment where children know they can ask questions. At the same time, it's best not to force children to talk about things unless and until they're ready.

  
  
  
  


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  Give children honest answers and information. Children will usually know, or eventually find out, if you're “making things up.” It may affect their ability to trust you or your reassurances in the future.

  
  
  
  


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  Use words and concepts children can understand. Gear your explanations to the child's age, language, and developmental level.

  
  
  
  


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  Be prepared to repeat information and explanations several times. Some information may be hard for them to accept or understand. Asking the same question over and over may also be a way for a child to ask for reassurance.

  
  
  
  


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  Acknowledge and validate the child's thoughts, feelings, and reactions. Let them know that you think their questions and concerns are important and appropriate.

  
  
  
  


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  Remember that children tend to personalize situations. For example, they may worry about their own safety or the safety of friends or siblings when going to school.

  
  
  
  


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  Let children know that lots of people are helping the families affected by the recent shooting.

  
  
  
  


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  Don't let children watch too much news coverage with frightening images. The repetition of such scenes can be disturbing and confusing.  

  
  

  
  
  
  

Children learn from watching their parents. They are very interested in how you respond to local and national events. They also learn from listening to your conversations with other adults.

Children who have experienced trauma or losses in the past are particularly vulnerable to prolonged or intense reactions to news or images of violent incidents. These children may need extra support and attention.

Children who are preoccupied with ongoing questions or concerns about safety should be evaluated by a trained and qualified mental health professional. Other signs that a child may need additional help include sleep disturbances, intrusive thoughts or worries, or recurring fears about death, leaving parents or going to school. If these behaviors persist, ask your child's pediatrician, family physician, or school counselor to help arrange an appropriate referral.

Although parents may follow the news with close scrutiny, most children just want to be children. They may not want to think about or discuss violent events. They'd rather play ball, climb trees, or ride bikes.

Senseless, violent crime is not easy for anyone to comprehend or accept. Understandably, some young children may feel frightened or confused. As parents, teachers and caring adults, we can best help by listening and responding in an honest, consistent, and supportive manner.

Fortunately, most children -- even those exposed to trauma -- are quite resilient. However, by creating an open environment where they feel free to ask questions, we can help them cope with stressful events and experiences, and reduce the risk of lasting emotional difficulties.

David Fassler, M.D., is a child and adolescent psychiatrist practicing in Burlington, Vermont. He is also a clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont, College of Medicine.

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...in the spirit of the season

Last week, I shared some of my reflections on my time in Australia, not least my occasional observations of the abuse of displaced indigenous people. This week I received a round-robin. Not the usual festive cheer, but an invitation to submit a 'virtual' paper to  the Arch of Arts in Health conference in Israel. The agenda has been set and they are soliciting contributions which might get printed up in the conference papers, if they like it and you pay the conference registration fee up front! Anyway, I notice it’s supported by the good old Society for the Arts in Healthcare now rebranded you might remember, as the pioneering Global Alliance for Arts and Health, and I guess this is one of its new incarnation's first forays into arts/health foreign policy. Like I say, the agenda's been set - so I don't think you've an opportunity to present in real time around any of their themes, which includes one dear to my heart - Using the Arts to Address Stress and Trauma in the Community.

The whole area of community stress and trauma is an interesting one to me and the setting of the sunny seaside town of Haifa, with its rich cultural history, is one in which it would be intriguing to expanded on some of the themes I’ve been developing with colleagues in the field over the last few years. I’d like to think that I’ve already incrementally explored some of the ideas that I could have developed. This year in Great Expectations in Fremantle, I touched on globalisation and singular world views (even in arts/health: surprise!), calling for an exploration of diverse practice, especially from the rich examples of non-English speaking countries. I’d explored the idea of the arts being more than some soporific prescription for subduing disquiet in A Brightly Coloured Bell-Jar, and through the ongoing manifesto work, we’ve all been discussing inequalities and how the arts, creativity and cultural engagement might just give the most marginalized people a voice beyond their day-to-day existence.

But harking back even further, in Port Macquarie in 2009 I gave a paper which explored health inequalities alongside cultural inequalities. Isn’t it obvious that the two sit side by side? In this paper I discussed the snobbery of art critics, particularly Brian Sewell’s reflections on the graffiti artist Banksy and his sell-out exhibition in Bristol that year. He remarked, "The two words 'graffiti' and 'art' should never be put together...the public doesn't know good from bad... It doesn't matter if they [the public] like it. It will result in a proliferation of entirely random decoration.” Oh how wrong - how very wrong. Art emerges from the heart and guts of a community - just look at the compelling Tarzan and Arab (see below) - I wonder if they’ve submitted an abstract?

Inequalities span all aspects of life and are perpetuated by those in positions of authority. I also quoted an excellent dialogue between a design critic Nathan Edelson and web designer and co-founder of the website Electronic Intifada, Nigel Parry. The conversation discusses making the segregation wall that divides the West Bank, more aesthetically pleasing. I’m sure you’re all familiar with this wall, which stands at three times the height of the Berlin wall, will eventually run for 700 kilometers and which the “international Court of Justice in 2004 has ruled as illegal. It essentially turns Palestine into the world’s largest open-air prison.” You can read this article here, and not least, about the remarkable intervention of Banksy that has elevated street art to an entirely new level and inspired a new generation of artists like Shamsia Hassani. 

Above all, its been interesting to talk with people about notions of health beyond the individual and tentatively looking to how our arts/health agenda is expanding and evolving beyond morbidity and towards healthy communities. So what might healthy communities look like? Well, not all identical, I’d suggest. What I consider a healthy community from my white, western mindset might be very different to someone in another country where access to water or a roof over your head, might be of a more pressing concern. In fact, in East Jerusalem, the two are poignantly conflated in the black water towers on the roof-tops of the Palestinian suburbs, where it's necessary to store water in this way, just in case the powers-that-be decide to cut off the water supply in the Arab areas. An artist like Taysir Batniji subverting the signature water towers of Bernd and Hilla Becher, captures something of this in his forensic study of the military watchtowers that observe the inhabitants of the West Bank.

So, just what might my abstract have looked like for this conference? Mmmm - good question. 350 words max and around the theme of using the arts to address stress and trauma in the community. Well, there are lots of interesting ideas on the notion of ‘using’ the arts. Is that in the totalitarian sense? Then there are very different ideas of what constitutes a community. Could it be the people of a district or country considered collectively in the context of social values and responsibilities?  Are the arts a simple distraction in the face of pain and discomfort? The sticky plaster during a painful procedure? 

Or could it be that in ‘addressing’ stress and trauma, we might explore new and creative methodologies in delivering stress and trauma? Remember the bulldozing of Rachel Whiteread’s House (1993) demolished by the Tower Hamlets, London Borough Council on 11 January 1994 to the anger and disappointment of local residents? The bulldozing. Anyone remember poor Rachel Corrie? 

And aren’t there sound artists developing wild and wonderful technologies, exploring the assault potential of noise? A performer like Marco Fusinato bombarding visitors to an exhibition with a light and noise attack, reminding us that city councils in the UK can adapt this approach into ‘acoustic weapons’, emitting high frequency noises that only poor little ‘hoodies’ can hear. It apparently makes them stop congregating in packs and move on. 

This emerging technology has been used in the cells of Guantanamo Bay and on the streets of Israel too. If only this 21st century Milgram Experiment could be used on larger communities of people. After all, we’re all in this together - a mutual sense of morality eh? Grind them down, displace them, marginalize them, push them to the invisible borders of civil society - then silence them when they scream - bang them up, or worse. Still, if you’re in a refugee camp under that Christmas star this winter, the wall can become your canvas.

But I mustn’t confuse things. The arts are all about passive consumption; soporific joy; global happiness and the blind acceptance of a well-oiled market trend. The very idea that art gives voice to frustration, anger and dissent just isn’t a part of the arts and health field. Or is it?

Here is a short film I began as a contribution to the conference, but for some reason - my heart just wasn’t in it.

It seems crude to go into the jobs, funding and prospecting section of the blog straight away, so here is Bill Callahan and America.

SOME NEW FUNDING & COMMISSIONS

Hidden Histories: Artist Commission at Tatton Park

Deadline: December 31, 2012

Tatton Park would like to invite two artists to create site-specific artworks or performances in response to the rich history of life at Tatton. The research project will give scope and material for two arts based projects to interpret the findings in imaginative ways which can be shared with visitors, either through art works or performances, film or other media. Each of the two placements attracts a fee capped at £2,500 in return for two separate, fully researched and designed proposals, to be delivered by 31st March 2013. If you have any questions please contact Caroline Eadsforth on 01625 378063 or Caroline Schofield on 01625 374408. http://www.tattonpark.org.uk/PDF/Hidden_Histories_Artist_brief.pdf  www.tattonpark.org.uk 

Public Art Commission, Sefton Council

Deadline: January 4, 2013

Public Art Commission, Sefton Council, Sefton Coast Landscape Partnership, Heritage Lottery Fund

Commission fee: £4,000

Sefton MBC’s Coast & Countryside Service seeks an experienced artist to develop and deliver public art within an ecologically varied and sensitive area of Crosby Coastal Park of north Merseyside. The site is a thriving wetland habitat to birds, insects and wildlife and is a recreational and educational resource for local communities. Within the available fee, the artist will be required to undertake a number of community engagement and consultation workshops in addition to the design, fabrication and siting of a number of art features sympathetic to the nature of the site. The scope and number of workshops and art features will be agreed in consultation between the artist and commissioner for delivery within the available budget. The artist will be required to work to a mutually agreed action plan and timeline to deliver community workshops. The resulting feedback from these workshops will help influence the form of the public artworks which may be a bespoke sculpture, installation or park furniture to complement the site. The ambition for the commission is in two phases:

Phase One: Within the £4,000 fee, the artist will engage local community groups through workshops prior to the delivery of an agreed public art feature. This fee is inclusive of all artist fees and costs. Phase Two: The Commissioner will work in partnership with the artist to identify additional funding streams to extend the project and further promote art in the park. All applicants should send an expression of interest letter, including a recent CV containing images of previous work and a suggestion of what may be delivered within the fee of £4K by Friday 4th January 2013. A shortlist of applicants will be selected for interview. To apply or to request for further information, a site plan or full commission brief contact - Jayne Foat: address: Sefton Coast & Countryside Service, Ainsdale Discovery Centre, The Promenade, Ainsdale, Southport PR8 2QB.

email: Jayne.foat@sefton.gov.uk

In THIS Moment: Evaluation

Cheshire Dance is inviting proposals for the evaluation and measurement of an exciting dance and older people project.  A fee of £5k inc VAT is available for this role.  Contract runs Feb 2013 to Sept 2014. Cheshire Dance has successfully secured funding from the Baring Foundation to run ‘In THIS Moment’ in collaboration with Wearpurple Arts at Age UK Cheshire. The Baring Foundations ‘Arts and Older People’ grants programme, is focusing on ’Creative Homes in Creative Communities’, supporting work to link residential care settings to their local communities through the arts. Applicants must have experience of working in the fields of Arts and Health and Older people in their role as an evaluator.  For further information please request the brief from Cheshire Dance info@cheshiredance.org Deadline for proposals 5pm on 4 January 2013

The Sylvia Waddilove Foundation (UK)

The Sylvia Waddilove Foundation provides grants to charities for education projects (organic farming, animal husbandry, veterinary science, animal welfare and animal surgery)  the visual and performing arts; the preservation of buildings of architectural or historical significance; the accommodation of those in need; the skills based training of young people; medical research and disability. Grants of up to £25,000 are available to registered charities. The Foundation favours supporting small charities that will carry out the project themselves (except in the case of medical research), who rely on volunteers and who can demonstrate a successful history of projects.

The next funding round will open on the 10th December 2012 and will close on the 4th January 2013.Read more at: http://www.pwwsolicitors.co.uk/charitable-applications/charity-details/the-sylvia-waddilove-foundation-uk 

Music Grants for Older People (England & Wales)

The registered charity, Concertina makes grants to charitable bodies which provide musical entertainment and related activities for the elderly. The charity is particular keen to support smaller organisations which might otherwise find it difficult to gain funding. Since its inception in 2004, it has made grants to a wide range of charitable organisations nationwide in England and Wales. These include funds to many care homes for the elderly to provide musical entertainment for their residents. The next deadline for applications is the 30th April 2013. Read more at: http://www.concertinamusic.org.uk/Grants.php

Idlewild Trust (UK)

The Idlewild Trust has announced that the next closing date for applications to its grant making programme is the 22nd February 2013.  The Idlewild Trust is a grant making trust that supports registered charities concerned with the encouragement of the performing and fine arts and crafts, the advancement of education within the arts and the preservation for the benefit of the public of lands, buildings and other objects of beauty or historic interest in the United Kingdom.  During the last financial year to 31 December, 2010, the Trust received 373 applications and awarded 65 grants totalling £129,305. Read more at: http://www.idlewildtrust.org.uk

...thank you as ever for reading this blog...C.P.                            
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