EXPERIMENTS IN ART

by Tracy Shaw, Loca Creatives Director

Photo: Fiona Goodwin

This month, a simple shout-out for a small but sweet project which we've had the privilege of coordinating again over the past few months, for the fourth consecutive year. And if it adds weight to Bob & Roberta Smith's election campaign in Surrey Heath, so much the better.

You can read all about the Change project in Batley here, so there's no need to repeat the detail. But what is worth flagging up is the success with which a brand new dimension has been incorporated for the 2015 round - the aim of using artist-led workshops in schools to support Science teaching and learning. In its first two years, Change set out with no greater ambition than to take high-quality, hands-on visual arts learning experiences into schools that were keen to supplement what they could offer themselves, and bring the resulting artworks together in a public exhibition, using the very versatile and multi-faceted theme of 'change' as the inspiration for all the work. In year three, recognising that schools increasingly need to be able to show cross-curricular benefits in order to justify their investment in arts projects, the artists were tasked with devising creative activities that would explicitly support Literacy and Numeracy skills. With the introduction of the Science angle this year the project took another leap forward - so effectively that we're going to retain it for at least another year.

A browse around the three types of projects - Mark-making, Printmaking and Mixed Media - will give a flavour of how the artists, collaboratively with staff at their allotted schools, planned twelve individual change-themed projects with clear Science-related learning objectives in mind. Light, States of Matter, Forces, Evolution, Animal Habitats, the organs of the human body... A really rich mix of project focuses emerged (promising an equally rich and vibrant exhibition when it opens at Batley Art Gallery in June), and the individual project pages tell great tales of children's engagement, enjoyment and learning. What isn't in evidence yet (because it's still being collated) is the fantastic feedback that testifies to the power of artist-led work in school settings when it's planned and executed with care, flair, expertise and imagination. Teachers tell us that:

• children's understanding of and engagement with the chosen Science topic has been enhanced, and their Science vocabulary has expanded
• children have been motivated - to do extra work outside of class, to do homework, to carry on using the skills and techniques they have learnt in other contexts

• children have gained a more positive attitude towards their artistic skills and now think positively rather than negatively about the skills they have

• children who have difficulties academically have been able to thrive and excel in a different way

• children's cooperation and group/teamwork skills have improved

• children experienced awe and wonder

• staff have learnt new creative skills, gained confidence with arts techniques, and picked up ideas for their own art teaching

• staff have been inspired by seeing Science taught in a different way and are thinking about how to apply this in other areas of the Science curriculum, and more broadly

Not bad in three short sessions, eh? and, we hope, a small but useful addition to all the amassing evidence in support of the value of arts engagement for children's learning, attainment, progression and future flourishing (a helpful overview of which can be found here, courtesy of Engage).

If you're reading in Surrey Heath, don't forget - vote Bob!

SKILLS FOR LIFE

by Tracy Shaw, Loca Creatives Director

 

The recent publication by the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) of Social and Emotional Learning: Skills for Life and Work gives us a handy prompt to fly the flag for our Social & Emotional Health work in schools. With a stroke of good timing we've just produced a set of 'storyboards' capturing some of the best of our recent projects and covering some different angles in the work - coping with transition, building good friendships, dealing with loss, strengthening family relationships, and so on.  Take a look - the quotes are great and the impacts speak for themselves.

 

The EIF review brings together three individual reports, each with a different focus and together setting out to define what social and emotional skills are, how important they are, and what can be done to improve these skills in children and young people in the UK. The review "bolsters the evidence on the strong links between social and emotional skills in children and how they fare as adults", so it should be a helpful reference point when we're promoting our own specialist practice to people working at policy and strategy levels in the education and public health spheres. Next time I'm talking to someone with their hands on some purse-strings, the phrase 'it's a no-brainer' may well spring to mind.

I might also use this compelling piece of data from a separate EiF report. "Local and national government in England and Wales is spending annually nearly £17 billion on picking up the pieces from damaging social issues affecting young people, such as child abuse and neglect, unemployment and youth crime. This £17 billion is spent only on the short-run direct fiscal cost of acute, statutory and essential services and benefits that are required when children and young people experience severe difficulties in life... It does not capture the longer-term impact or the wider social and economic costs. There are also inter-generational consequences of these outcomes and of the issues that underpin them. This means that the £17 billion is only a small part of the costs of failure to achieve successful transitions to adulthood." A classic case of 'ask not what are the costs of doing, but what are the costs of not doing.'

As the Social and Emotional Learning: Skills for Life and Work overview document explains, "early intervention, by contrast, is about taking action as soon as possible to tackle the root causes of social problems, ensuring that everyone is able to realise their full potential by developing the range of skills we all need to thrive." Early intervention is where Loca Creatives' own schools-based Social & Emotional Health work sits - targeted, small group projects with selected children who have been identified by schools as showing 'signs of struggle' with their social and emotional development and emotional wellbeing, and who need support beyond what the normal classroom environment (or even, in some cases, dedicated work through school nurture groups and similar) can provide.

 

For us, one very helpful feature of the review is that it defines five key aspects of social and emotional capability in childhood - skills that don't come as a fixed social and emotional skill set but that can be learnt and improved - and then looks at the relationships between those five skills areas and the kinds of outcomes that make for thriving adults with good health and mental wellbeing. For two of the five areas - Motivation and Resilience - hard evidence is apparently lacking, which may simply be because these skills are as yet under-researched rather than because they are unimportant for adult outcomes (I bet we can all muster cogent arguments for how important they are, even if the hard data doesn't come readily to hand). In three areas, though, there seems to have been plenty of evidence gathered for the role that childhood social and emotional skills play in adult life.
 

• Self-control/self-regulation (greater impulse control and fewer behavioural problems) is strongly associated in adulthood with mental wellbeing; good physical health and health behaviours; and socio-economic and labour market outcomes.

• Self-perceptions, self-awareness and self-direction (including self-esteem and the belief that one’s own actions can make a difference) matter in adulthood "for mental well-being; good physical health and health behaviours; and socio-economic and labour market outcomes."

• Social skills related to peer relationships, social functioning and sociability in childhood are for example important, the overview document says, for mental wellbeing and having a family. Thinking about some of the relevant emphases in our own work - emotional literacy, emotional vocabulary, trust, empathy, tolerance - I think we'd go further and say that such skills are vital for healthy, successful, rewarding relationships in any one-to-one or communal context (and therefore, it follows, for good mental health).

And there's more music for your ears, if like us you're involved in championing the importance of nurturing children's emotional wellbeing as well as developing their social and emotional skills. "The evidence also suggests the importance of emotional well-being in childhood. Emotional health in childhood matters for mental well-being as an adult." No real surprises there perhaps, but it's good to have it in black and white in a weighty research document backed not only by the EIF but by the Cabinet Office and the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission too.

 

All in all, the review findings "provide a robust case for increased local and national commitment to supporting the social and emotional development of children and young people." Three cheers for that. And hurrah too, from our own point of view, for the findings of the international team who did the research towards the second of the three reports. It looks at the current evidence on the effectiveness of programmes in the UK aimed at children and young people aged 4-20 years. "The review found strong and consistent support for the impact of social and emotional skills programmes implemented in the school setting. Well-evaluated programmes in primary and secondary schools which sought to improve the skills of all students, including self-esteem, social skills, problem solving and coping skills, led to benefits for students’ social and emotional competencies and educational outcomes."

 

Here's another useful quote to end with: "These three reports make clear that social and emotional skills play a fundamental role in shaping life chances of children and young people and the nature of their adult lives. They are important both for individuals, for society and in influencing intergenerational patterns of inequality and disadvantage."

 

Enjoy our storyboards.

FOR THE MANY NOT THE FEW

by Tracy Shaw, Loca Creatives Director


Words by Jennie Lee et al, Cloud by WordItOut



 

Debate about the value of arts and culture and the importance of creativity in our lives, and for Britain, seems hotter this month than I can ever remember it being. February has seen the publication of the Warwick Commission report on Cultural Value, the launch of BBC's Get Creative campaign with stirring words from Deborah Bull on why creativity matters, a Radio 4 Front Row special on whether artists are owed a living, a report on the relationship between arts engagement and health from Manchester Metropolitan University, and Ed Miliband's Arts for All speech courtesy of the new Creative Industries Federation. A multitude of voices have been championing the vital role of arts in education ever more loudly, with artist Bob & Roberta Smith going all out to make it an election issue in Surrey Heath (and all power to him). Talking of the election, Fin Kennedy is doing his bit with Operation Mobilise and urging us to do ours - and we really should. I pledge that I will, here and now.

 

It's inspiring, thought-provoking, uplifting, validating stuff - but still, despite the discussion being hard to avoid over the past few weeks, I've had a nagging question. Is there really a public debate going on, or is it one that's just confined to the few (those who work in the arts, teach them passionately in schools, read long reports, follow Twitter conversations, listen to Radio 4...)? Which is why, for me, one thing has stood out above  all the noise - the call from Devoted and Disgruntled and Stella Duffy for us all to do something very public and attention-grabbing today - the 50th Anniversary of Jennie Lee's A Policy for the Arts White Paper (the only arts policy White Paper there's been, so I gather).  Coincidentally, it's 70 days to the election too.

 

In Stella's words: "sing, dance, declaim, rant, rave, pout, protest, applaud, evoke, annoy, effect, affect, acknowledge the dreams of fifty years ago.  And how much is still to do to make real the possibilities of fifty years ago. The hopes of arts for all, arts funding beyond London, arts in all schools, arts as a human need...Get the country together to demand a government that cares about ALL people having access to ALL arts." 

 

It's a call to really make a noise out there, to make a fuss and make the debate truly public - one engaged with by the many, not just the few - wherever you're working and whoever you're working with.  Do it, if not today then one day soon. Let's face it, if those of us teaching in the arts, working in the 'participatory arts' (or whatever label you like to choose) and performing in front of audiences can't get people talking about the value of arts and creativity in their lives, who the heck can?

 

So here are the tools, generously provided through the efforts of a small bunch of smart-thinking, committed and discontented people. There's a link to a document here - extracts from the original White Paper interspersed with contemporary facts, quotes and views which Devoted and Disgruntled are inviting us to use as a score, script or other basis for doing something - without limitations. Plus links to a Facebook group and googledoc where you can shout about what you've done, and a Twitter hashtag #ArtsPolicy50.

 

We'll be looking for ways of doing our bit, with thanks to D&D and Stella (and everyone else who's provoking debate and taking action) for the inspiration.  How about you?

 

 

IT TAKES TWO TO TANDEM

Just about a year ago we had a guest post from Phil Wood following his stint as provocateur at a Rotterdam gathering of community artists as part of TANDEM.  TANDEM is an exchange programme matching cultural organisations, and the people who work for them, with others across Europe and the World in order to build long-lasting international partnerships.  Now Millie Watkins of NYMAZ - delighted to have been shortlisted for a more recent round of TANDEM and eager to share the experience - writes from a participant's perspective.  Big thanks to NYMAZ for letting us publish Millie's piece.

Photo: Guido Bosua/tandemexchange.eu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The First Date
I was invited to participate in a Partner Forum, a five-day event in Rotterdam that was just the start of a wider scheme called Tandem Community & Participation. The programme aims to nurture partnerships between pairs of “cultural managers” from the Netherlands and its three neighbouring countries. I would be representing NYMAZ, among 31 other managers from the community and voluntary arts sectors. By the end of the five days, most of us would be in pairs coming up with collaborative project proposals in order to apply to the main phase of the programme – with the chance of making our projects reality.  Here's what happened next...

We were asked to prepare a ‘Pecha Kucha’ presentation – five slides, with one image and only 30 seconds to speak per slide. This was one way we could all immediately get to know a little about each other.  It was a tough task - not only to condense my own story into two-and-a-half minutes, but to take everybody else’s in!  Each individual had so much passion and pride in their work, but after twenty-or-so short bursts of inspiration, and two hours in, it was hard to keep track of how many times I’d thought to myself “I’d love to find out more about that…”

Where Do You Stand?
One of the most interesting things about the experience for me was the heated discussions taking place around every corner, and the TANDEM team had no doubt programmed the event in such a way as to encourage this. Is your community arts practice ‘digestive’ (concerned with enhancing social integration and cohesion)?  Or auto-relational (ultimately serving the purpose of the artist)?  People I spoke to identified with a number of different points on this ‘map’ of community arts, the above points being two of many.

What does ‘community arts’ even mean?  I met somebody who felt that community arts was a “cute, safe” kind of community engagement that does not add to nor take away from society, but is a way for the state to keep the people happy.  Others saw community arts as having the potential to amplify the voice of the people.  Some thought community arts was no place for professional artists, whereas I felt passionate that quality arts practice must be at its heart. 

Each debate that I took part in brought me closer to understanding my own motivations, and these were the moments that made the TANDEM experience not just about international partnerships, but about personal development, too.

Tying the Knot
Ultimately, the purpose of the Partner Forum was for each of us to find a Tandem partner. The whole event was chock-a-block with opportunities to discover common ground and forge ties. Speed dating, a grown-up musical chairs where two minutes per person was just long enough to gather a job title, a main art form and a wacky idea. A cookery lesson and a number of (delicious) dinners cooked for us, allowing us the space to think and talk about our interests and ambitions. 'Appreciative questioning and witnessing’, encouraging us to open up to listening ears, reflect on what we do well, and be inspired by each other’s success stories. All of these activities provided opportunities for us to make connections, which might later become Tandems.

There was a small catch. Some of the group, including myself, had found a partner before even arriving. I’d been in touch with Anouk Diepenbroek, the Head of Education at a contemporary concert venue in Amsterdam called Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, and we’d already thrown some ideas around for a joint project involving their unique education project, the ‘Sound Playground’ installations, and some of the accessible tools used by NYMAZ’s partners with young people with special educational needs and disabilities.  We both felt that our organisations could learn from each other’s different strengths. And by the fourth day we announced our engagement, ‘tied the knot’, and we were a Tandem.

Side Effects
After nearly a week of deep thought and ambitious planning, we were all knackered.  We’d seen so much, heard so much, connected so much that our brains were hurting!  But we’d made it to the end with plans to move forward, and I don’t think at the outset many of the Tandems could have predicted the collaborative project idea they would be running with by the end. 

Our project proposal, a Music Leader Exchange for community musicians in North Yorkshire and Amsterdam, was not one of the final seven to make it through to the main phase of the Tandem Community & Participation programme. But we won’t forget that one of the recurring themes of the week was ‘side effects’, or unexpected outcomes. Our Tandem partners were not the only new connections we made during the five days, nor were our final project proposals the only ambitious ideas conceived that week, and the whole TANDEM concept has opened up NYMAZ's horizons to the potential of international collaboration.   But sometimes, the best ideas come when you’re least expecting them.

 

2014 IN PICTURES

In time-honoured fashion we thought we'd wrap up the year with a glance back at some of the highlights. Thanks to everyone who's helped fill 2014 with inspiring creativity and magical moments, and in particular to the artists who've delivered this year's work with huge skill and care - the name-checks come nowhere close to giving you the credit you're due.

January: Arts skills training with staff at Kirkheaton Primary. Back
in class teachers applied their newly acquired techniques and ideas
to the term's Outer Space topic, supported by Fiona Goodwin.



February: Mill Lane Primary's Families project gets into its stride.
For six months, every Wednesday, James Allott and Christina
Holdsworth created a space that hummed with conversations,
laughter, pride, and kids and parents enjoying learning together.

March: The launch of Cornerstones on Poppy Road in St Mary's,
Oldham. Thanks Impossible Theatre for getting things off to an
attention-grabbing and memorable start with LightWeight.

April: East Island detail - part of the 'archipelago' created by Year 4
at Pinders Primary during a project focused on developing team-
work and social skills. North, South, East & West groups designed
their imaginary islands under the expert guidance of Mary Robson.



 



May: Cornerstones workshops on a Maps and Symbols theme got
into full swing. Lucy Bergman's sculptural bookmaking was just one
of many activities with St Mary's residents over the summer.

June: A proud moment for these parents, showing children and staff
their ideas for artworks for the Early Years Unit entrance at Christ
Church Academy. Bronwyn Morris and Jan Yates later turned the
designs into permanent pieces for fencing, walls and windows.



July: Luggage for Life transition projects wrapped up in three
Wakefield primaries.  Supporting 'vulnerable' Year 6 children to
cope well with change is the focus of our Risk and Resilience work
for the Council's Public Health team, led by Mary Robson. 










August: A privilege once again to co-ordinate the Change Project
in Batley, on behalf of Mosaic Community Arts and the Batley &
Birstall Schools Partnership. This year's exhibition definitely the
best yet - as we say every year!

September: A project to support secondary school students who
had recently experienced close bereavement created a safe space
for conversations, ably facilitated by Incy Wood and Sarah Jackson.

October: The Cornerstones finale. Fantastic to bring nine months'
hard work by Adam Strickson, Dan Jones and Lucy Bergman to a
close with an evening of celebration, procession and performance,
and to see the five newly installed carved boulders - beautifully lit
by Impossible Theatre - being appreciated and enjoyed.

 

November: New Social & Emotional Health projects underway in
Wakefield, focused on confidence-building and preparing for
transition. Conversations about Friendship, and other activities to
develop a shared emotional vocabulary, are an important part of 
the ground-laying work in the early sessions.

December: Such concentration and focus! Starting with mark-
making experiments, Year 8 and 9 students at Salendine Nook High
got totally engrossed in developing their self-portraits and achieved
great results in a few short sessions, thanks to careful, caring work
on self-identity and self-esteem done by Incy W and Sarah J.

 

FULL CIRCLE

We're delighted to have another guest post from our travelling associate Lesley Fallais. Last time she wrote about how arts and culture are leading Vardo's regeneration in Norway.  This time it's the quality of creative education in Scandinavian museum/gallery settings that's inspired her - not least because it took her back to where and why her own work started.  Lesley's original post with more photos from Birk Centre Park is here.

Families' artwork at HEART - charcoal, wire and tissue paper   Photo: Lesley Fallais

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of my four-month trip to Scandinavia I can look back on a journey filled with spectacular and inspiring experiences. In particular I will remember the many occasions on which I've been impressed and inspired by the way that culture, community, art and design seem central to public life, especially in Denmark.

 

In the last few days of my trip I visited Birk Centre Park in Herning, Jutland. As the publicity says, “Birk Centre Park is known internationally as a unique area where art, architecture, landscape, education and business interact in an exciting way. In the 60’s the textile industry in the area developed rapidly, key companies founded a new creative way of thinking by merging their industries with art and education. The architecture of the factories inside and outside made art and culture a natural part of the workers' everyday life.”

 

On this campus style site today, Modernist buildings that were once textile factories house students of TEKO, Scandinavia’s biggest Design and Business School for Fashion and Lifestyle. The Innovatorium places entrepreneurs alongside business support teams and this contemporary building is part of a larger, stylish business park. Other key elements in this creative mix are HEART - Herning's museum of contemporary art - and The Carl-Henning Pedersen and Else Alfelt’s Museum (founder members of the international COBRA art group in 1948). The University of Herning has more than 3000 students on the site studying business and engineering subjects. The site is full of green spaces, it has a sculpture park and the biggest public art sculpture in Northern Europe - the gigantic Elia, designed by award winning Swedish-Danish artist Ingvar Cronhammer.

 

One of the most striking things about the museums and art galleries I've visited in Scandinavia has been that they almost all have really impressive education spaces - creative learning is clearly valued and well provided for, is a core part of the offer, not an add-on. This is nowhere more true than at Birk. Visitors of all ages are involved in creative projects, young people can join ‘COBRA Junior’ and there is free access for children under 18 years of age. HEART museum runs a creative programme involving 20 local schools, each partner recognising that "Art can be a catalyst for learning".

 

I watched a group of parents and children with education staff at HEART and was forcefully reminded how powerful this type of work can be when it is well facilitated and well resourced. The group were looking at the work of Svend Wiig Hansen, a heavy weight of the Scandinavian art world (1922-1997). His work is expressive, abstract and challenging - “innumerable human bodies driven by the forces of nature”. I have no idea what the teacher was saying to the group but they looked transfixed. They eventually disappeared into the education room and re-emerged later for a public viewing of their art work. I was really struck by its quality - what the group had achieved in a short time was simply stunning.

 

It took me back, as my career began in museum education. I believed then, and still do, that art and culture are unique catalysts with the power to deeply engage people of all ages in learning and decision making. In all my work over the 25 years since - which have taken me far away from museum/gallery education into urban regeneration, community engagement, public art and public realm design - I've remained convinced of that 'truth', have sought to always apply it in my projects, and have been an advocate for it at every opportunity. In those few moments at HEART, witnessing the skilfulness with which those parents and children were taken through a creative learning process, the quality of what they produced, their absorption and the pleasure they took from the experience, it was a joy to be reminded of where and why my own work started.



FIVE TIMES, FIVE STONES

by Tracy Shaw, Loca Creatives Director

Photo: Porl Medlock

The work we've been doing for the past eight months in St Mary's, Oldham, has just come to a colourful crescendo (amazingly - it hardly seems a moment since we were poised at the beginning).  Last week five beautifully carved stones arrived on a very big trailer in the middle of a very small housing estate and were carefully craned into position. Placed in an arc they form a 'timeline' depicting five key periods in St Mary's history, and tell the story of how the piece of land they are sited on has evolved from wild, scrubby moorland into a place of new homes and new connections. They are arranged so as to create an area which can be used as a seating and social space. It's been a delight over the last few days to see them being sat on, stood on, played around, closely peered at and excitedly talked about.

On Sunday we celebrated with a magical event and a ceremonial unwrapping, inviting residents and guests to "come on a journey through stories of St Mary's told in a performance, songs, a film and five carved stones" - all components made through our work with and in the local community over the last few months .  The indoor performance and outdoor film screening brought the carvings to life and gave them added depth, ensuring that people will remember the stories told on the stones and will pass them on. By the time we and our many helpers packed up to make our weary way home there was a sense that the passing on is already beginning to happen, and that the stones already belong on Poppy Road.

See Sunday's event in pictures here.

There's still more work to be done and ends to tie up, but it seems a timely moment to say a big thanks to the Cornerstones team (Adam Strickson, Dan Jones, Lucy Bergman) for their fantastic work; to Contour Homes for the opportunity; and to St Mary's residents for welcoming us, working with us and celebrating with us. It's been a delight.