Case Studies: ECC Arts & Cultural Fund Projects by ExploreEssex

Case Studies: Essex County Council

Arts and Cultural Fund Projects Tendring, Essex, 2022/23

CASE STUDY:

Brightlingsea Free Festival

Cultural Organisation Group: Brightlingsea Free Music Festival

Sector: Festival / Community Arts

Key groups targeted by this project: All

Author: Culture team, Essex County Council

Delivery period of project: August 2022

INTRODUCTION

Brightlingsea Free Music Festival is a two-day open-air event held on Hurst Green, Brightlingsea, and is family friendly and open to all age groups. The festival features live music from a wide range of genres supported by professional and highquality stage and sound equipment and engineers.

The 2022 festival saw 15 musical acts take part, ranging from a local choir and shanty singers to a rock ‘n roll band fresh from a US tour.

THE STORY OF THE BRIGHTLINGSEA FREE MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Brightlingsea Free Music Festival was established in 2001 with the aim of providing a platform for new and established bands from across the mainstream spectrum of popular music.

Apart from 2020, due to Covid-19 restrictions, it has been held every year since over the first weekend in August.

The 2022 festival - which was the twenty-first time the event had been held - was recognised for its achievements at the Pride of Tendring Awards.

The aim of the 2022 Festival was to deliver a highquality music festival and maintain, as well as build, on the 6,000 plus visitors the event attracts each year.

THE “CHALLENGE” OR “OPPORTUNITY”

After the 2021 festival, several longstanding committee members decided they could no longer commit their time, and at that point a decision was made not to have any more festivals. However, the few remaining committee members felt the festival had become an important part of the Brightlingsea culture and should carry on, especially at a time when communities were emerging from the pandemic restrictions and required the mental boost that a festival can bring. Therefore, the festival managed to recruit new members to the committee who brought fresh enthusiasm and ideas. However, funds were particularly low, so the festival needed to secure funding and sponsorship.

After approaching local authorities and businesses funding was secured, enabling the delivery of the festival The challenge was then to deliver a high-quality music festival that the Brightlingsea community could be proud of.

The festival also wanted the project to help improve the mental and emotional wellbeing of all participants, volunteers, and audience members, especially following the issues of social isolation and poverty resulting from the recent pandemic.

WHY THE GROUP OR PRACTITIONER CHOSE TO PARTNER WITH ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL (ECC)

The festival had been fortunate enough to have had funding and support from ECC during previous projects and have always found ECC very supportive and informative, throughout both the application process and project management.

HOW THE ECC CULTURE TEAM RESPONDED

The Brightlingsea Free Music Festival application to the Arts and Cultural Fund clearly outlined the Essex residents it aimed to engage with via an exciting programme.

The ECC Culture team has supported the project via regular catch up’s, offering assistance wherever needed in terms of marketing, PR, and general project advise.

THE RESULTS

The festival delivered a two-day, free entry open air music festival primarily for the residents of Brightlingsea and the local area. The festival featured 15 bands and/or artists, 10 food and drink stalls, a licensed bar, a tea tent run by the local Foodbank, first aid provision and site security.

This year’s festival also saw the highest ever audience attendance, with 3,500 maximum and 7,000 to 8,000 overall attending, and the feedback received found that 2022 was not only one of the best festivals in the town’s twenty-one-year history, but it gave a sense of pride and community spirit back to the people of Brightlingsea. Also, the festival made a financial profit for the first time in several years, thereby enabling planning for 2023.

A particular success was that the festival decided to directly run its own beer tent rather than book a third party to manage it, and whilst this meant a lot of extra work and volunteers, it proved to be a great success.

TESTIMONIALS

Bob Walsh, Income Generation Officer, said: “I can honestly say we had no negative feedback whatsoever. We had several new members on our committee - three previous longstanding members having resigned following years of stalwart servicewhich brought a freshness and enthusiasm to our approach.

“The best feedback was from the Brightlingsea Mayor, Mick Barry, who was previously a longstanding committee member and he said it was the best festival he had been to and was particularly impressed with the level of organisation.”

GETTING INVOLVED

Here at Essex County Council, we are passionate about arts and culture and keen to support projects across the county. If you have an idea you would like to share with us, take a look at the Arts and Cultural Fund page on the Explore Essex website: www.explore-essex.com/culture/arts-culture-fund and get in touch via email: culture@essex.gov.uk

Images (left to right): Jay Hopping in our Box Office and Flynn McCarthy working in the horse box cocktail bar, 2022.

CASE STUDY: Colchester Chinese Cultural Society

Cultural Organisation Group: Colchester Chinese Cultural Society

Sector: Community Engagement

Key groups targeted by this project: All

Author: Culture team, Essex County Council

Delivery period of project: Spring 2022 – January 2023

INTRODUCTION

The Colchester Chinese Culture Society (CCCS) is a non-profit Community Interest Company formed in April 2004 and was established to work for the benefit of the local Chinese community in Colchester, and its integration into local and regional society in Essex.

The CCCS works to promote Chinese community life and to foster interaction with other community groups and works with a range of cultural partners including Essex Book Festival, Essex County Council Cultural Development, Firstsite Gallery, Jaywick Martello Tower, Active Essex, Signals Media Arts, Mercury theatre, Colchester Arts Centre and Essex Cultural Diversity Project (ECDP).

For over 15 years CCCS has developed a range of cultural, education and community engagement activities with the aim of promoting Chinese culture and art amongst its members and the public in Colchester and far beyond. For many years it ran a Chinese language and cultural school for children of Chinese heritage and other interested locals.

The society has produced and presented a wide range of arts and cultural activities nationally and internationally. These have included: Chinese New Year Celebrations; Concert of UK Chinese Music Ensemble; Japanese Erhu Orchestra and appearances on the international stage, such as X-Factor.

Partnerships have been developed to enable the society to access a wider range of artistic activities, including the Mercury theatre; Essex County Council Music Hub and Arts Development Team; Colchester Borough Council; Firstsite Gallery and the EDCP.

Over the years, the CCCS has received numerous awards and funds such as Arts Council England; ECC’s Chairman’s Award; Lottery Awards for All and High Sheriff’s Award.

Due to her vast experience of managing similar projects and small grants – such as from ECC, Colchester Borough Council and Arts Council England - Simone Xue, CCCS Project manager, took responsibility for managing the day-to-day delivery of the project.

Simone has a background in public finance and currently works as an accounting technician for ECC’s Finance Professional Services department. As the chairperson CCCS, she has a wide range of experience including strategic planning, project management, fundraising and administration. Simone has a great interest in art, particularly in Chinese art such as brush painting, Chinese calligraphy and paper cutting.

The “Challenge” or “Opportunity”

The Essex Cultural Diversity Project had highlighted that the Tendring district had been referred by Arts Council England’s Levelling Up for Culture Places and Priority Place as being high on its priority list for its low engagement in the arts and cultural sector.

In fact, Tendring has the lowest cultural engagement with diverse communities taking part in the arts and the CCCS identified that the Chinese community in Essex as a whole, is the least engaged with in relation to the arts and heritage sector due to the lack of opportunities, funding and networking and the language barrier.

The project engaged with the long-established Chinese communities in Colchester and Tendring. Historically these communities have been very isolated and mostly engaged with local businesses, the self-employed and those working in the catering sector.

Chinese communities in Essex, especially the Tendring area, have been severely affected by the pandemic and have been victims of hate crime and racial abuse since the lockdown.

Through the project, CCCS have showcased not only the best of Chinese culture and shared its traditions, customs and cultures with diverse and non-diverse audiences but they have also been successful in attracting a wide range of audiences who had limited or no knowledge of Chinese Culture.

Why the practitioner chose to partner with ECC

Through the Arts and Cultural fund, CCCS have embarked on a five-month programme of activity that has supported and engaged with diverse communities in Tendring, has worked in partnership with the Essex Cultural Diversity Project, and has taken part in a series of events and activities which have led to further engagement and participation in the arts.

Through the project ‘Arts Tendring’, the workshops and masterclasses have encouraged people to participate and engage with Chinese artists through various artforms including dance, music and visual arts.

The programme featured community events and participation and engagement workshops, including Tai Chi, calligraphy, Chinese drumming and dance which engaged with all ages - from the young to the elderly - and which supported mental health and well-being through the arts.

Without the ECC Arts and Cultural Fund, and the support from Essex Cultural Diversity Project, ‘Arts Tendring’ would not have been delivered.

The Results

During the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations in June 2022, the CCCS hosted two events on the bank holiday weekend

Bhaji on the Beach saw the CCCS work with the Essex Bangladeshi Women’s Association who took part in two days of Jubilee celebrations. CCCS also held the Beach picnic at Jaywick Sands with cultural activities and food cooked by various diverse community groups. The event attracted 650 people and was open to all communities and featured on both the BBC Look East and ITV Anglia News programmes.

In Jaywick and Harwich, the Jubilee Street Party attracted 450 visitors and involved music and dance and celebrated the diverse communities in Tendring with bunting. The event was open to all communities and encouraged different cultures to share traditions as part of this landmark in history.

Also, the CCCS organised The Festival of Jiangsu and Tendring which saw the UK exhibition hosted by the Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre, while the China exhibition was held at Qingyun Gallery in Changzhou city in Jiangsu province.

The festival follows on from last year’s online festival of Colchester and Jiangsu, which saw Essex based Chinese artists and artists in China collaborating through online platforms, due to Covid-19 restrictions, to deliver a week-long culture festival.

The launch of the festival took place on Sunday 6 November at Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre and was attended by ECC’s Cabinet Member for Devolution, the Arts Heritage and Culture, Councillor Graham Butland, along with delegates and dignitaries from the Harwich and Chinese communities as well as almost 800 attendees. It was also launched on a Metaverse platform and reached an audience of 60,000.

Having showcased the best of Chinese culture and its traditions and customs with diverse and nondiverse audiences, the CCCS have been successful in attracting a wide range of audiences who had limited or no knowledge of Chinese culture.

As part of CCCS’s audience development they collected information and feedback from both the artists, practitioners and audiences. This helped both new partners and CCCS to better understand interest and demand for diverse programming in the Essex and gain audience feedback to assess how they perceive the quality of performances.

Testimonials

Simone Xue, CCCS Project Delivery manager, said: “The support from ECC’s Arts and Cultural Fund has provided us the opportunity to further expand our work in Tendring and reach out to new audiences to deliver diverse programming in new venues, including Harwich Arts Centre, outdoors spaces at Jaywick Sands and working with a range of partners in Essex.”

GETTING INVOLVED

ARTS AND CULTURE CASE STUDY: Frinton Summer Theatre

Cultural Organisation Group: Frinton Summer Theatre

Sector: Theatre, Education, Employment

Key groups targeted by this project: Young people in Tendring, Essex

Author: Cultural Development Team, Essex County Council

Delivery period of project: Autumn 2022

Images (left to right): Sean Brewer (Front of House Duty Manager) with volunteers from the ‘Friends of Frinton Theatre’ and Neve Hopkins, Ella Rose Howes with Jeanie Armstrong (Theatre Trustee) at one of the Summer Frinton Theatre craft workshops

FRINTON SUMMER THEATRE:

Addressing sector barriers through meaningful work experience

INTRODUCTION

Frinton Summer Theatre is renowned for an annual programme of high-quality professional performances presented in the suburbs of Tendring, Essex. Supported by volunteers, the theatre has reflected on the socio-economic barriers for young people seeking to gain work experience without sufficient financial support, and how this may create barriers for entry-level experience within the sector. Through the Arts and Cultural Fund, the project has provided meaningful work experience to young people in the local community and contributed to their professional development.

THE OPPORTUNITY

THE STORY OF SHARON RAWLINSON

Frinton Summer Theatre, located in Frinton-onsea, was founded in 1934. The company is the oldest surviving ‘weekly’ Summer Repertory Theatre company in England and produces a season of eight productions each year during July and August. An essential part of the landscape of professional theatre both locally and nationally, Sir Ian McKellen described it as “a jewel amongst the necklace of theatres” when he performed his one-man show at the theatre in Spring 2019. Recognized as the incubator for the future talent of British theatre, the company’s long-term ambition is to create a permanent all year-round multipurpose arts centre in Frinton-on-sea. In 2019 Frinton Summer Theatre were awarded a Heritage Lottery grant to produce a book and a digital archive of the unique and rich cultural history of our theatre - engaging and working with the Frinton and Walton Heritage Trust. Her Majesty the Queen received a copy of our book and expressed her gratitude and support for the theatre in a letter in 2021.

Importantly, Frinton Summer Theatre have identified Tendring as an economically diverse community, which has a great deal of untapped creativity. Young people and early career professionals are at the heart of the economic and creative development of the area. Each year The Frinton Summer Theatre receives requests from lots of young people to work with them. However, the challenge is that the opportunities at the theatre are often low-paid or voluntary positions. Consequently, these experiences go to those with more fortunate circumstances, i.e., those who can afford not to earn money whilst gaining valuable experience. For this reason, the opportunity in face of this challenge was to offer meaningful paid work experience to those who need it most and not just those who could afford to take part in it.

WHY THE GROUP OR PRACTITIONER CHOSE TO PARTNER WITH ECC

Frinton Summer Theatre indicated that Essex County Council’s ‘Everyone’s Essex’ campaign aligned closely with their goals to provide meaningful work experience and widen participation in the community. In particular, they identified with how the strategy focused on providing opportunities to wider sections of the community, empowering entrepreneurialism and levelling up agendas which could facilitated in their own project by supporting young people in their career planning, education, development and implementation within the theatre sector.

HOW THE ECC CULTURE TEAM RESPONDED

Frinton Summer Theatre’s application to the Arts and Cultural Fund clearly outlined a commitment to ‘Everyone Essex’ and the benefit to residents in view of widening participation and providing entry-level opportunities and work experience for young people who otherwise may be limited to pursue opportunities in the theatre sector. The importance of providing opportunity to those who would otherwise face barriers was the most important consideration within this project strand. In addition to awarding this project funding, the ECC culture team has supported the project via regular meetings and helping wherever needed in terms of marketing, PR and general project advise.

Emma Filby, Assistant Producer at Frinton Summer Theatre, said: “ECC provided clear outlines and guidance. Help was always on hand when developing our application and it was always encouraging to receive feedback and good wishes as we started to deliver our plan in the summer”.

THE RESULTS

As a result of the Arts and Cultural Fund, Frinton Summer Theatre were able to offer meaningful work experience to five young people from the Tendring area, to learn about all areas of production in a working theatre. This included two placements for students to shadow professional designers and stage managers during the summer season. The placements were given to two early career professionals - one who is now starting a design course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. This opportunity has allowed them to learn essential skills around time management, budgeting, working with others and delivering projects within a professional setting including a paying audience.

In addition to this, Ella Rose Howe and Neve Hopkins led craft and children’s activities at the Big Top Tent in August, allowing them to use their creative skills and gain experience working with young children. The craft sessions were oversubscribed due to popularity and demand in the area and have received rave reviews and feedback locally.

Jay Hopping, who worked as Frinton Summer Theatre’s Box Office Manager over the summer, and who is now starting a three-year course in professional Acting at East 15 Acting School, University of Essex, said: “Working on the box office allowed me to learn how the theatre works from start to finish. From advertising, sales and production; I feel that I now have a very clear view of all of the logistics to put a show on. I will use the skills I’ve learned from this experience in my studies and when developing my own projects when I graduate.”

Additionally, those working in the front of house were able to learn essential skills to support them in finding better paid work whilst studying. Flynn McCarthy commented: “Working in the front of house bar has given me experience in making and selling drinks to the public. I am hoping to find a job in a bar in London to help support myself and this experience has given me some professional experience to add to my CV, which will make it more likely for me to get a better job to support myself through university.”

Emma Filby, Assistant Producer at Frinton Summer Theatre, added: “From a user experience perspective, the theatre had a fun and vibrant feeling this year and customers have fed back on their approval and appreciation of the front of house crew. Communities work best when they are diverse by ways of age and economic background, and we found that a wonderful synergy between our friend’s group (consisting mainly of retired local people) and our young recruits had developed which ultimately improved the customer experience.

“We hope to be able to deliver a programme like this again next year. We would very much like to offer these experiences to another group of young people next year - allowing them to gain some valuable experience before heading off to university, drama school training or professional work”.

GETTING INVOLVED

Here at Essex County Council, we are passionate about Arts and Culture and keen to support projects across the county. If you have an idea you would like to share with us, take a look at the Arts and Cultural Fund webpage on the Explore Essex website here: www.explore-essex.com/culture/arts-culture-fund and get in touch via email us: culture@essex.gov.uk

Images (left to right): Jay Hopping in our Box Office and Flynn McCarthy working in the horse box cocktail bar, 2022.

ARTS AND CULTURE CASE STUDY: The Harwich Festival

Cultural Organisation Group: The Harwich Festival

Sector: Festival / Community Arts Key groups targeted by this project: All

Author: Culture team, Essex County Council Delivery period of project: Spring 2022 – January 2023

INTRODUCTION

The Harwich Festival originally began in the late 1970s as a classical music festival, but it has evolved into a year-round combined arts festival and charity that helps support the local community.

The Harwich Festival also manages the Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre which stages numerous events, including gigs - both local grassroots and touring bands, theatrical performances, art exhibitions and heritage workshops for children.

It also acts as a hub for local arts groups including camera clubs, art clubs, a craft café, ballroom dancing, a ukulele group along with an embroiders guild and local choirs.

THE “CHALLENGE” OR “OPPORTUNITY”

The Harwich Festival, which worked with many local artists and art groups and established working relationships with a broad range of partners, is now driving forward new community projects in Harwich that are both being led by the Harwich Festival and the artists themselves.

For 2022, they wanted to expand the local aspects of the festival to help give it even more of a community feel than usual, an important priority as 2022 was the first full annual festival since the pandemic.

THE STORY OF THE HARWICH FESTIVAL

The festival aims to promote the arts in Harwich and the surrounding area for the public benefit by establishing a regional Arts Hub that provides a diverse range of cultural activities. Not only does the Arts Hub address the needs of all sectors of the community, it also promotes cultural events throughout the year which are located in venues that ensure full engagement with the community.

Peter Davis, the Harwich Festival Artistic Director, has curated the annual festival for over 10 years and Chris Berwick, the festival’s General Manager, has over 15 years of working on community driven art projects in North Essex.

Chris Berwick, General Manager, has also overseen the running of the Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre since 2020 and has managed the annual festival and other large events. Chris also a duty manager at The Colchester Arts Centre and runs a grassroots music project which run over 800 events including festivals, such as Kelvedon and Harwich.

WHY THE GROUP OR PRACTITIONER CHOSE TO PARTNER WITH ECC

The festival has been fortunate enough to have had funding and support from ECC during previous projects over the years and have always found the team very supportive and informative throughout both the application process and project management.

HOW THE ECC CULTURE

RESPONDED

TEAM

The Harwich Festival application to the Arts and Cultural Fund clearly outlined the Essex residents it aimed to engage with via an exciting programme.

The ECC Culture team has supported the project via regular catch up’s, offering assistance wherever needed in terms of marketing, PR, and general project advise.

THE RESULTS

The Open 20x20 exhibition - which invited the community to submit artwork in any medium that was 20x20 centimeters - saw 583 people attend the Old Chapel in Harwich. Meanwhile the Dovercourt Art Club exhibition attracted almost 800 people at the Esplanade Hall whilst the ‘Exploring the Sublime’ exhibition at the Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre had an audience of 2,300.

Musicals ‘Dracula by Dramatic Pause’ at Redoubt Fort and ‘Kinder by Smoking Apples’ at the Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre provided strong performances, while the Harwich Coral Society Performance at St. Nicholas church attracted an audience of almost 330 people.

The arts and theatre events provided the chance for the Harwich Festival to work with a new section of the local community that they had not previously worked with. Not only did the festival work with many new artists during the 20x20 exhibition, but it also gave many the chance to showcase their work for the first time publicly.

This resulted in a rise and interest in local arts groups with The Dovercourt Art Club, Harwich Camera Club and Craft café all reporting an increase in members as a direct result of these exhibitions. Venues such as the Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre and Old Chapel have seen a large increase in footfall for exhibitions held since the Harwich Festival 2022.

Newer artists such as Maria Barnes and Sandra Wagstaff, both from Harwich, Tina Bullen from Colchester and Lousia Charrington from Tendring, as well as many more, who displayed their artwork at the exhibitions have since gone on host their own local exhibitions. They have also become involved with Harwich Festival projects, such as the First Arts Fair.

The touring company, Smoking Apples, offered the festival an opportunity to engage with local schools and several classes attended a tour of the set and discuss the puppetry and visual theatre show about the ‘Kindertransport’. Providing the schoolchildren with a unique opportunity to see behind the scenes of a professional, yet poignant production, resulted in the festival being approached by school to co-ordinate several community-based projects in 2023.

While attendance for art events during the 2022 returned to pre-pandemic levels, the Harwich Festival saw an increase in overall engagement and formed new working relationships with community groups and schools. At the same time, local arts groups witnessed an increase in membership figures as a direct response to the exhibitions which also culminated in artists collaborating with groups and venues to form new working partnerships for the first time.

Chris Berwick, the festival’s General Manager, said: “The response to the project from the community has been immense. There has been a massive increase in the Art Exhibition attendance at the Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre since the annual festival and a lot more people have got involved with the local arts club as well as the craft café classes.

“Community feedback included the fact that people didn’t know how accessible the arts can be and where they could attend classes and workshops. In fact, over 2,000 individuals attended the exhibitions in Old Harwich and at the Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre.”

GETTING INVOLVED

Here at Essex County Council, we are passionate about Arts and Culture and keen to support projects across the county. If you have an idea you would like to share with us, take a look at the Arts and Cultural Fund page on the Explore Essex website here: www.explore-essex.com/culture/arts-culture-fund and get in touch via email us: culture@essex.gov.uk

CASE STUDY: INSTAR

Cultural Organisation Group: INSTAR

Sector: Education

Video: Arkade Event. Jaywick on Vimeo

Author: Culture team, Essex County Council

Delivery period of project: Spring 2022 – Spring 2023

The Story of INSTAR

INTRODUCTION

Founded in 2013, with a debut project inspired by the science of bats, INSTAR produces multidisciplinary contemporary artwork inspired by the natural world, from the oceans to the uplands, the urban to the rural. Their portfolio spans commissioned site specific public art, exhibition design, installation, engagement and creative interpretation. Working collaboratively to create deeper connections to the natural world through contemporary art, INSTAR aims to reveal a hidden wonder and to create emotive and inspiring legacies.

Trish Humphreys has worked within the arts and cultural sector for over 30 years, as an artist, project manager, facilitator, creative consultant, curator and evaluator. Alongside her own art practice, she has worked with multiple leading organisations including:

• Arts Council England

• Engage

• World Event Young Artists

• London Natural History Museum

• Nottingham Museums Galleries and Nottingham Contemporary

Throughout her career Trish has worked as a producer on many programmes, particularly those focusing on communities and young people. Trish was also the Head of People and Nature at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust until September 2020, where she led a team connecting people to the natural world through innovation, events and research.

She has also held regional responsibility for Social Inclusion at Arts Council England, East Midlands, worked as the manager of Creative Room in Nottingham City for eight years –where she curated internationally renowned multi-disciplinary youth arts programmes by connecting young people with practicing artists and international partners - and has worked collaboratively with The National Theatre, British Council, Liverpool European city of Culture, Arts Council England and Heritage Lottery.

Nick Humphreys – who co-founded INSTAR with Trish in 2013 – has been a practicing artist throughout his life, working predominantly in the medium of (illustrative) painting, poster design and street art (stencil) and has exhibited his work on many platforms across the UK.

After gaining a BA Hons in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University, Nick has gone on to produce award-winning illustrative works on canvas. During his career Nick has won the most prestigious award at the Surface Gallery Street Art exhibition (2014), been shortlisted for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, has had his exhibited at Royal Western Academy and the Hartley Gallery. Recent commissions have also included contemporary portraits of Lord Byron, D. H. Lawrence and Alan Sillitoe as part of the Nott’s Rebel Writers (Nottingham Unesco City of Literature) campaign.

As well as a visual artist, Nick is a prolific writer with a life-long passion for the natural world and researcher of natural history. He has been a guest writer for many years and has gained commissions to creatively interpret 70 UK wildlife species for online materials for the environmental sector and for natural science collections.

THE “CHALLENGE” OR “OPPORTUNITY”

INSTAR’s ‘ARKADE’ project will engage the community in Jaywick on themes of the coast and environment over ten months and celebrating the area’s uniqueness, via light-based interventions in the heart of Jaywick, along with a temporary public art installation and associated exhibition in April 2023.

The main challenges faced so far have related to local politics and conflictions between groups. Given this experience, INSTAR have adopted a plan to be independent of all groups and to not affiliate with any one in particular.

It has also been challenging to connect with schools and the local youth project, however INSTAR are confident this will be resolved in time for the delivery of the project in April 2023.

Previously, INSTAR held a project launch event at Jaywick Martello Tower which had an excellent turn out. This has provided INSTAR with the confidence to progress engagement with both targeted and public groups in multiple locations in Jaywick.

INSTAR have been delighted to establish new partners who have advised on local engagement – namely Essex Wildlife Trust – who have just launched their Nextdoor Nature project in Jaywick. Conversations to date have been very informative on a local level to inspire their plans. This relationship will also give a legacy to the project as they can pass on their engagement onto them to continue.

WHY THE PRACTITIONER CHOSE TO PARTNER WITH ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL (ECC)

INSTAR have previously worked successfully with ECC with the Infinity Forest commission and greatly enjoyed the collaboration. From this, ideas to collaborate in the future were fostered. When the funding opportunity arrived, there was a natural synergy and INSTAR recognised they had an exciting proposal. It is also important to note that INSTAR gravitated to the coastal habitats and communities in the Jaywick area, which inspired their proposal.

THE RESULTS

INSTAR are in the very early stages of the project, however, from the project launch event INSTAR have been overwhelmed by the warm welcome and potential in the community. Importantly INSTAR want to create a legacy for the project that has a long-lasting impact. They are establishing collaboration and co-production where possible to enable this.

Finding a location for the artwork to be delivered and installed which is accessible and available for local people in Jaywick has proved to be a creative challenge – but at this stage INSTAR are not concerned. The instinctive venue is Jaywick Martello Tower; however it could be argued the venue is not a place visited by those hardest to reach. INSTAR are therefore working with the Jaywick Resource Centre and have booked rooms to deliver activities in February.

Another consideration for a space is a community hall behind the public house ‘Never Say Die’ in Jaywick. While it would be an amazing place to hire, it will come with its challenges. INSTAR’s aim is to embrace these challenges to ensure the artwork is part of the community and not in an external place or away from the day-to-day reality of many. This location will be in the heart of Jaywick and will draw passing interest and engagement.

As part of the launch INSTAR consulted with audiences about plans to host ‘off shore’ and ‘on shore’ programmes – which triggered immediate interest in the project. This use of language will enable INSTAR to attract communities to take part – the idea of chartering boats to go out to sea has already sparked excitement.

INSTAR have provided free packs of postcards (3D prints) with 3D glasses to all who came to the launch event in November and was so popular they ran out. INSTAR now have plenty more which they plan to continue to distribute when working with groups. All project information and websites all feature on these as a takeaway resource of information about ARKADE.

On Saturday 12 November 2022, more than 30 people attended the project launch at Jaywick Martello Tower, including leaders from local projects and community groups and the University of Essex.

HOW THE ECC CULTURE TEAM RESPONDED

INSTAR’s application to the Arts and Cultural Fund clearly outlined how it aimed to engage with the Jaywick community. The ECC Culture team has supported the project via regular meetings and has offered assistance wherever needed in terms of marketing, PR and general project advice.

GETTING INVOLVED

Here at Essex County Council, we are passionate about Arts and Culture and keen to support projects across the county. If you have an idea you would like to share with us, take a look at the Arts and Cultural Fund page on the Explore Essex website here: www.explore-essex.com/culture/arts-culture-fund and get in touch via email us: culture@essex.gov.uk

Cultural Organisation Group: Sharon Rawlinson, ‘The Art Box’

Sector: Education

Key groups targeted by this project: Children and young people in Tendring, Essex

Author: Cultural Development Team, Essex County Council

Delivery period of project: Summer – Autumn 2022

AND CULTURE CASE

The

ARTS

STUDY:

Art Box, Sharon Rawlinson

THE ART BOX: Mobile creative workshops delivered directly to the community

INTRODUCTION

Sharon Rawlinson is a creative practitioner in Manningtree, Essex, working across painting, photography and film, as well as delivering community art projects. Her interest in site specific initiatives led to the launch of ‘The Art Box’, a travelling art studio which enables the delivery of accessible creative workshop opportunities to those in areas of low arts engagement, prioritising children and young people in Jaywick and Clactonon-Sea. Through the Arts and Cultural Fund, the project has been enabled to deliver workshops at festivals, events, community projects and schools to inspire creativity and wellbeing through access to culture.

THE STORY OF SHARON RAWLINSON

As well as maintaining her visual arts practice rooted in her surroundings, Sharon has worked closely on several community art projects with The Grand Theatre of Lemmings. Over the past six years, this has spanned projects including a touring project across Essex libraries called George the Bookworm (2021) and an annual Christmas advent window display in Manningtree, Essex. The latter included her working as the lead artist to create a series of illuminated window displays with, and for, the local community and businesses to instill a sense of place and pride in response to the heritage of the town. This was combined with creative workshops for children on how to make willow lanterns and a participatory ‘illumination parade’, centering the outcome of these workshops and an opportunity for children and their families to come together and celebrate their achievements and participation in the project.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The primary opportunity that emerged from this project was for Sharon to extend her professional development by leading her own independent community art project based on a sustainable model to engage a targeted group. This included support for a mobile creative engagement facility that could bring workshops, resources and opportunities directly to children and young people in areas of low engagement across Tendring. This was achieved by specifically targeting accessible community projects and events with a known following such as the Clacton Airshow and Brightlingsea Fresh Air Festival. Importantly, Sharon indicated that it was imperative to offer workshops for free at point of delivery, which would not have been possible without receipt of the Arts and Cultural Fund, ensuring that the project was sustainable from the perspective of both the practitioner and audience.

WHY THE GROUP OR PRACTITIONER CHOSE TO PARTNER WITH ECC

In applying for the Arts and Cultural Fund, Sharon identified how this relationship could be best placed to help her develop creative workshops for groups who wouldn’t normally have access to the arts or the artistic process: “Having the backing of Essex County Council (ECC) gives the prestige and professionalism needed when approaching different groups on a first-time basis. It has also enabled me to offer workshops to groups that I wouldn’t normally have the confidence to approach or ask. Now that I have tested my ideas and workshops, I know that it is a viable, sustainable method of delivery to a target audience. Having ECC as a project partner has given me confidence that ‘The Art Box’ be even more successful as it grows in future years”.

HOW THE ECC CULTURE TEAM

RESPONDED

Sharon Rawlinson’s application to the Arts and Cultural Fund clearly outlined the social impact of her project with the Essex residents it aimed to engage by ways of utilising a model for working that initiated creative workshops and opportunities directly on their doorstep. Importantly, the project provided ways to explore creative expression of their environment and identity using sustainable and environmentally conscious methods. In addition to awarding this project funding, the ECC culture team has supported the project via regular meetings and by offering assistance wherever needed in terms of marketing, PR and general project advice.

THE RESULTS

The feedback from the public and project participants has been overwhelmingly positive. Many of the participants on the ‘doodle art’ workshop enjoyed picking out the relevant hand drawn images that were iconic to the town. By choosing an image to colour in they found a community art project such as this “gave a great sense of being” and “pride in where they lived”. Many participants subsequently asked that the finished artworks be displayed in their local library to continue the legacy of community pride. In fact, following the success at the Brightlingsea Open Air Festival, a local councilor has arranged for the display of the workshop artworks across shop windows in Brightlingsea later this year.

Sharon Rawlinson, Arts and Cultural Fund recipient, said: “I am delighted to be part of the first round of ECC Arts and Cultural Fund and looking forward to the opportunities to further my artistic practice whilst providing workshops to those in low provision areas. The money that you have given to my project has helped so many people already and will continue to do so”.

GETTING INVOLVED

Images: ‘The Art Box’ at Brightlingsea Open Air Festival, October 2022.

CASE STUDY: Underdog Crew Studios

Cultural Organisation Group: Underdog Crew

Sector: Film Making and photography

Key groups targeted by this project: Teenagers and young adults

Author: Culture team, Essex County Council

Delivery period of project: Spring 2022 – Spring 2023

Underdog Crew Studios

Introduction

Dominic Morgan, professionally known DB Morgan, is the founder of Underdog Crew. He is a multi-award-winning film screenwriter, director and producer, and has won over thirty awards and accolades on the international film festival circuit for his debut movie, Blood Highway. He recently completed his third feature film, Morris Men, which was filmed entirely along the coast from Waltonon-the-Naze to Jaywick, with the premiere hosted in the same region and supported by Tendring District Council.

The story of the Underdog Crew

Over the course of his career, Dominic has produced and self-funded three short and three feature films, two music videos and numerous other projects. A self-described autistic and mental health survivor living with PTSD, filmmaking is Dom’s passion.

Dominic said: “It’s about providing positivity and opportunity for young adults like myself who would otherwise not get the chance. Since I began professional film making in 2009 it has always been my intention to include marginalised teenagers in all my film making projects, focusing especially on those on the autistic spectrum and with mental health issues.”

Why the practitioner chose to partner with Essex County Council (ECC)

Dominic said: “As a Colchester resident, with close ties to our educational and filming work in the Clacton-on-Sea area, it was and is vital that we can work with local teenagers first and foremost.

“We chose ECC as we wished to continue to strengthen our links with both ECC and Tendring District Council. This provides easy access to finding teenagers who will benefit most from our training environment and by working with the council it enhances and strengthens our abilities to help those who need it most.”

How the ECC culture team responded

Underdog Studios application to the Arts and Cultural Fund clearly outlined the Essex residents it aimed to engage with via a programme of film and media as a fun and engaging way to benefit project participants.

The ECC culture team has supported the project via regular meetings and offering assistance wherever needed in terms of marketing, PR and general project advise.

The challenge comprises mainly of the lack of creative opportunities in the immediate area of the target group, namely Tendring District.

The project addresses this challenge by taking the skills and expertise of a professional film maker and a high caliber of associated professionals to the area and providing opportunities for the teenagers and young adults to engage and experience something that is not usually available to them.

The “Challenge” or “Opportunity”

The Results

Dominic commented: “To date, we have inspired over fifty young adults to pursue careers in the creative industry by bringing them into our own filmmaking projects and showing them a world driven by creative energy and passion.”

• One of our early interns is now team photographer for Ipswich Town football club.

• Another is a flourishing young filmmaker at the top of his college class.

• Our original ‘Underdog’ has just produced and directed his first music video.

Every intern who has spent time with the Underdog Crew has come away invigorated and inspired to ignore personal limitations and strive for their goals. The Underdog Crew aims to:

• Build confidence through teamwork.

• Provide a nurturing space to develop new creative ideas.

• Encourage, guide and signpost into further learning.

• Promote self-sufficiency and responsibility through simple activities like group. projects and cooking a daily rota’ d lunch.

• Encourage taking ownership of choices based around positive actions.

LATEST PRESS: https://pressat.co.uk/releases/luckyunderdog-teenagers-work-on-big-budget-zombiepirate-music-video-5141ad63f66b3fe0f3074f77e8 fb5ebf/

Testimonials:

Jamie wright, a 19-year-old founding Underdog Crew member, said: “When I was younger, I never really believed in myself, I never really had confidence in many things due to issues from my childhood.

“My parents suffer from mental illness, and it is really tough. I always felt like I couldn’t achieve anything, and I have nothing to show to the world. I had a dark stage in my life dealing with a lot of suicidal thoughts, but I overcame it. After dealing with a lot of stuff - and gradually picking myself up –I’ve found that this team has given me a sense of purpose and this experience has given me faith.”

Joseph Allison, a 25-year-old founding Underdog Crew member, added: “I have a disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis which is an inflammatory arthritis which affects my eyes and caused me to lose my sight in one eye.

“This resulted in a mental breakdown and multiple mental health issues that really affected my quality of life and wellbeing. It was around this time that I discovered DB Morgan and his Underdog Crew, we worked on a film called ‘Faith’ which has gone onto win awards all around the world.

“During my time on ‘Faith’ I explored my skill set and different roles onset. The Underdog Crew has been a fantastic experience because it takes people of all backgrounds and abilities and nurtures their skills and at the end of it you have new friends, a new potential career path and a film to be proud of.

“As an Underdog Crew film maker, DB Morgan took me on knowing nothing about me or what I was capable of but gave me a chance when I felt my most broken. Since then, we have gone onto make three feature films together and I’ve made some fantastic friends and connections along the way.”

Esme Appleyard, a student at Thomas Lord Audley school, added: “I absolutely loved going to St. Osyth to the set of a large barge to take part in the filming of an exciting new music video for ‘Forest of Fools’.

“The director talked me through how to use all the cameras and the lenses, which allowed me to learn about several parts of the camera and how to use it. Working behind the scenes helped to clarify my positive views about the film industry. Yesterday I filmed scenes for the actual video. Today I also very much enjoyed learning a lot about how prosthetics are painted and how they are put on people. I got to mix the solutions that create brilliant cuts and wounds. I was surprised how quickly it dried so they had to use it really fast.

“I do take a lot of interest in SFX make-up all the time anyway, as I find it amazing how they can make something so fake look so real. I have some stuff at home to practice with and I’ve created scars with it before too, but it’s so much harder than how the amazing make-up artists made it look. I really like that I got to see the inner workings of how things are done, and this will help me a great deal in the future with my own filmmaking.

“Thank you so much for this experience. I will really treasure it for the rest of my life and will remember all the new things I have learned throughout my time on set in the future.”

GETTING INVOLVED

CASE STUDY: We Are Music

Cultural Organisation Group: We Are Music

Sector: Music Education

Video: Simple Things Festival

Author: Culture team, Essex County Council

Delivery period of project: Spring 2022 – Spring 2023

The story of We Are Music

Introduction

We Are Music (WAM) - www.we-are-music.org.ukhave been operating in Tendring, the most deprived area in Essex, for 13 years and work with children and young people to help change lives through popular music. Over the years, WAM have provided in excess of 5,500 hours of tuition by working with over 700 young people. A 2019 survey revealed that over 23% were either playing music, performing in a band, enjoying further music education or were working with a portfolio career in the music industry.

There are three parts to the work:

Harwich Rock School provides regular rehearsal and learning sessions for young people, aged nine to 16-years-old.

Get Known provides activities and supports young people aged 16 to 25-years-old by helping them advance their careers into the music industry or further education. Providing live performance videos and studio single track recordings as well as performance opportunities.

Outreach Work including the Rock the Tower project in Jaywick.

WAM artists won the Music for Youth National Partnership Awards for Rock Pop and Urban in 2013 and 2014 and WAM bands played at the Music for Youth Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 2012, 2014, and 2016. In 2018, two WAM acts were invited to perform at ‘English Week’in Biberach Germany. Most of WAM recordings result in the artist being played on BBC Introducing radio.

The “Challenge” or “Opportunity”

The WAM Youth Council, comprising young people from Harwich and Jaywick, identified what was most important to them. Young people in the area revealed that music was essential to their wellbeing and mental health issues.

Key outcomes:

• A range of live performance opportunities and events, including two major annual events.

• Regular music sessions at WAM Harwich.

• Regular music sessions at WAM Jaywick to restart after a two-year break.

• Taster sessions for recruitment and “prospecting”fornewtalentedartists.

• Saturday “open house sessions”at WAM Harwich where young people could meet, jam, organise bands and gigs and just liaise with people with similar interests.

• Professional support to help talented young people into the music industry.

To increase wellbeing through performance was essential, so a request was submitted to the ECC Arts and Cultural Fund to run the Simple Things Festival and to restart WAM Jaywick.

The ECC Culture team had supported WAM previously in 2016 when they provided a grant to assist with the Landslide Festival in Brentwood, run by WAM and the young team.

ECC had also been involved alongside Essex Music Hub in funding the Rock the Tower sessions at Jaywick Martello Tower. Re-opening this was considered a high-priority and so funds were requested to run for 40 weeks (one year of term time sessions). Sessions started in June and will run through to April 2023. Previous WAM work at the centre had produced a girl band and encouraged an autistic young man to progress a career through music and to take a university degree.

How the ECC Culture team responded

WAM's application to the Arts and Cultural Fund clearly outlined the Tendring young residents it aimed to engage with via a programme of live music and teaching sessions and a festival, using music as a fun and exciting way to benefit project participants.

The ECC Culture team has supported the project via regular meetings and has offered assistance wherever needed in terms of marketing, PR and general project advice.

The results

The Simple Things Festival on Saturday 2 July 2022 attracted an audience of over 500 people, involved many local organisations, and returned £4,000 in funds. Outcomes included:

• Genuine feel-good factor for young people and the local community.

• Commitment from local community and supporters for a 2023 festival on Saturday 1 July.

• Youth Council of WAM working on the organisation.

• Invitation for acts to play the 2023 Clacton Beach festival

The success of this year has provided a real stimulus for the WAM Youth Council to get involved in organising a large event and has done much to improve the wellbeing of the young people involved.

Why the group or practitioner chose to partner with Essex County Council (ECC)

Jaywick Martello Tower WAM sessions

This project operates weekly sessions, providing full band teaching. ECC funding, along with the provision of the Martello Tower, has enabled them to support these sessions until May 2023. Since opening, the distribution of flyers and word-ofmouth has resulted in growing numbers each week. Young people from the Jaywick center were able to participate in the Simple Things Festival in June. Outcomes to date include:

• Two autistic brothers, who attend Market Field school, are learning guitar with a view to joining a band.

• A one-to-one session is being run with a young boy who cannot mix in a group environment.

• A young drummer from the Harwich operation is being trained to become an assistant music leader.

• One of the former Jaywick students, now 21 who is autistic, is helping with the training sessions.

• The WAM Youth Council, comprising young participants, who shape the direction of the charity, now includes three young people from Jaywick.

• The WAM Youth Council has established a Saturday open house session at Harwich to enable young artists to mix, jam, organise bands and events.

• Additional funding from Tendring District Council has been secured to enhance the Jaywick project and extend support beyond May 2023.

• The participants of WAM Jaywick played at The Harwich Kingsway Hall to an audience of over 200 people.

Additional Funding:

• In September 2022 the National Lottery Community Fund gave WAM a grant to support core community activities for three years to help talented young people into the industry. This excludes WAM Jaywick.

• In September 2022 Tendring District Council gave WAM a grant to continue the operation of Jaywick WAM in 2023.

• More plans are being developed for helping talented young people into the industry and more funding requests are being submitted in October 2022.

• An application to the 2023 Essex Arts and Cultural Fund will be submitted.