Arts and social change

The Arts and Social Change strand will explore the role of arts and imagination in creating new connections between people and where they live in order to strengthen participation in community life in Peterborough. Creative and arts based approaches underpin engagement for the entire programme of Citizen Power. This will be done through a wide range of programmes that place artists at the centre of re-imagining the possibilities of what a place could be and how to create this together.

This is not an arts project, nor a research project that ‘uses’ the arts, but a project that offers practical and imaginative tools for working together to create positive social change.

The primary aims for the project are:

  • To deliver high quality creative experiences through the arts that build and extend community engagement (and social capital)
  • To support and build a self sustaining network of locally based artists who can both contribute to the artistic aspirations of Peterborough and play an active role in the arts community regionally and nationally

The programme will establish the city as a place for creative engagement with a focus upon:
  • The integrating of arts dimensions across Citizen Power projects as well as within the city’s aspirations and initiatives
  • The commissioning of high quality innovative artistic interventions
  • The building and strengthening of a locally based, artists led network

This will be delivered through an integrated framework of programming as detailed below.

Creative Gatherings

This strand is the anchor for the locally based arts community in the Peterborough region. Beginning in mid-2010, and held every few months until the end of the programme, the Creative Gatherings will provide a collaborative public space for new and emerging networks within the arts community and is facilitated by Chris Higgens and Fiona Lesley of The Map Consortium.

Creative Gatherings are held in different venues, each related to arts delivery in the city and co-facilitated by those interested in doing so. Both locally based arts programmes, Experiments in Place Making and Dialogue in Action are facilitated through the Creative Gatherings.

The third Creative Gathering, held on 8 December 2010, was co-facilitated by Ivan Cutting from Eastern Angles Theatre Company and focused upon the gathering of oral histories and their impact on our sense of belonging. Please have a look at our blog post for a further description.

The most recent Creative Gathering was a day-long event held on 22 February 2011 at City College Peterborough. It was co-facilitated by artists from Blok Collective, and brought participants together to explore professional development and funding opportunities and share the experiences gained through Experiments in Place Making. For further insights, please have a look at a recent blog post.

Experiments in Place Making

Experiments in Place Making aimed to encourage locally based creative practitioners to further investigate how their creative practice can engage people with each other and where they live. Creative practitioners were partnered with a Neighbourhood Manager at Peterborough City Council in order to identify a particular local challenge. This new partnership presented an opportunity to explore and extend creative practice in developing new approaches to place making and in particular, a chance to experiment and develop innovative and collaborative practice. 

This case study describes the projects that took place across Peterborough from October 2010, the ideas that were tried out and how they were received by local residents.

Download case study on Experiments in Place Making (PDF, 17KB)

Dialogue in Action

Dialogue in Action will partner artists and public sector workers to exchange perspectives on what occurs in their respective worlds of work. The programme will be held over the Spring of 2011 and will include an artist, a front line public sector worker such as a police officer, and a back room public sector worker such as a planner. The programme will offer opportunities for innovative approaches to the workplace and encourage ways of refreshing, sharing and expressing these to unfamiliar audiences in order to creatively influence public sector reform.

Made in Peterborough

In collaboration with Encounters, ‘Take Me To’ sought to uncover Peterborough's most treasured and inspiring places through the eyes of its inhabitants. Moving across the city by minibus, participants were invited to take part in a very personal tour - visiting the places in Peterborough that mattered to them and sharing their stories. In return, each participant was invited to listen to the stories of others in interesting and unexpected settings. Rather than looking at the city as defined by geographical or community boundaries, the city was 'mapped' by individuals and their experiences. The stories to emerge from the tours ranged from humorous to incredibly moving, and reflected the remarkable history of Peterborough and its future aspirations. Please visit the slideshow here for a closer look at Take Me To.

Artists Residencies: Context Matters

Two artists will be hosted by locally based voluntary groups in Peterborough for one year from spring 2011 (anticipated from May) with the entire programme managed by Donna Lynas and Christina Green of Wysing Arts Centre. The two residencies will run concurrently. Artists are currently being recruited and being asked to respond to the voluntary groups’ briefs with final decisions on the partnerships agreed in late March. This will be the first time in the UK that artists will be hosted by voluntary groups for an extended period of time. One residency is aimed at an artist – working in any art form – with substantial experience of working within socially engaged and participatory settings, the second is aimed at an artist – again working in any media – with less experience but with a strong commitment to socially engaged and participatory practice. This second artist will receive ongoing mentoring from the first. The hosts in Peterborough comprise:

  • Gladstone Children Centre
  • Morland Residence Association
  • Street Pastors (local chapter of national organisation)
  • 49 Lincoln Road, Learning Difficulties Centre

In addition, the arts underpin engagement throughout Citizen Power. An example of this is within Recovery Capital that worked within Forum Theatre in the second half of 2011.