The West Midlands is now third only to London and the South East as the region in the UK with the most London 2012 Inspire Marks awarded to cultural and artistic projects. This follows a number of recently successful applications submitted by some of the region’s most inspirational and exciting arts and cultural organisations.
Details of the most recent Inspire Mark awards in the West Midlands are set out below and look out for a new section coming soon to www.wmfor2012.com dedicated to Inspire Marks, how to apply for them and what it can bring to your organisation or project.
Birmingham European Theatre Festival, Birmingham. The festival took place 30 June to 3 July involving four theatre pieces each night, followed by live and recorded music by Birmingham-based musicians and DJs.
Creative Futures, Coventry & Warwickshire. Grass roots dance and music programmes working with local young people from some of the most deprived areas in Coventry, to develop their skills and abilities. To be showcased at an event at the end of this year.
Dance Alive (Dancing for the Games), Shropshire. Dance Alive is a £70k+ project involving 150 workshops in three venues in rural Shropshire and 12 performances between now and July 2011. The programme is youth-orientated but will create opportunities for all ages to participate in and experience dance.
Godiva Carnival Procession, Coventry & Warwickshire. Godiva carnival procession took place on 3 July 2010. It is an annual celebration of the heritage and culture of Coventry City which forms part of Godiva Festival and each procession between 2008-12 will have a section of the parade dedicated to London 2012.
Open Weekend in the Black Country. Walsall and Wolverhampton and the Black Country celebrated two years until the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics with family friendly days for all to enjoy at The New Art Gallery Walsall, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Bantock House Museum.
Fit and Funky (Dancing for the Games), Birmingham. A community dance outreach project working with people with experience of mental health issues to explore the associated stigma. The project culminated in a unique piece of dance theatre performed over London 2012 Open Weekend.
Culture Cubed, Staffordshire. Culture Cubed invites members of the public to make a statement about the culture and environment they live in using photos, found objects and cut outs. The finished work must fit into a cube 2012 mm square which will then be photographed and added to the library local studies archive and become part of a larger installation for display in 2011.
Dancing for the Games (formerly People Dancing) - engagement & digital work, West Midlands. Dancing for the Games is one of the two projects funded by the Legacy Trust in the West Midlands region.
The River, Birmingham. Over the past eight months over 178 people from Birmingham, aged 8-78, have worked together to create a film documenting their lives through dance. The River Project was showcased as an one-day celebratory event on 6 August.
Artwalk 2010, Birmingham. Artwalk was a participatory arts festival that saw Handsworth transformed into an arts district for three days, featuring the work of visual artists, live musicians, street performers and poets.
Culture Link, West Midlands. Culture Link will use the inspiration of the Paralympic Games to break down barriers. It will recruit 20 local blind and partially sighted participants and pair with 20 trained local volunteers, provide training workshops in at least 6 museum and heritage sites and provide “Access all areas” activities and creation of accessible marketing materials.
Dance Transformations, Shropshire. Dance Transformations is a three year training programme supporting six emerging disabled and non-disabled dance artists based in the West Midlands. This is an artist led project working together to explore original choreographic ideas and working processes with mentor guidance.
The Bubble Chamber (Dancing for the Games commission), Coventry & Warwickshire. The Bubble Chamber is an engaging and innovative digital-dance project taking place in ‘void’ shops throughout the West Midlands. Working with young people aged 14-19, participants are drawn from 5 schools in the region.
Making Links (Dancing for the Games commission), Black Country. Dudley Performing Arts’ ‘Making Links’ is inspired by the great chain making heritage of the Black Country. This unique dance programme, celebrated by young people of Sandwell and Dudley, will link together unique Black Country stories in site specific and large scale performance venues as part of ‘People Dancing’.
12 (Dancing for the Games), Worcestershire. ‘12’ is a two and a half year programme of classes, projects and performances in Worcestershire that brings together video artists of international repute with a choreographer, professional dance artists and a composer that will culminate in a site specific performance in 2012.
Time Capsule, Birmingham. As part of Open Weekend, citizens of Birmingham were invited to create their personal entry in to a Time Capsule called ‘Our Digital Scrapbook’ – this is us in 2010. Passers by, previously organised groups, anyone online at home or in the library will upload their personal ‘Olympian’ or Transformational moment to this 21st century time capsule.
Focus Here, Herefordshire. Two artists have been engaging with visually impaired students and members of the B1 Blind England Football team at the Royal National College for the Blind and thePoint4 who are hosting the championship. The engagement process has resulted in a series of exhibitions which will be sited at thePoint4 Royal National College as part of the Blind World Championships.