To receive a presentation from Mr. Tony McGovern, Extended Service Partnership Manager on the activities and working arrangements of the Rushmoor Arts Hub.
Minutes:
The Panel welcomed Mr. Tony McGovern, Rushmoor Arts Hub (RAH) Project
Manager, and Mr. Barney Jeavons, Hampshire Cultural
Trust (HCT), RAH Steering Group Chair who attended the meeting to give a
presentation on the work carried out so far on the project.
The Panel noted the background to the project. It was
advised that Rushmoor had been listed in the bottom 20% of areas in the
country for arts, making it eligible for funding from Arts Council England
(ACE). In 2012, an unsuccessful bid had been submitted to the ACE South-east; however, after geographical changes within the
ACE, this was followed in 2013 by a visit from ACE South-west. A consultation,
carried out locally for ACE South-west, took place during 2014 to establish who
required help and what help was needed in the area.
The consultation findings had led to funds in excess of £39,000 being granted in spring 2015, to the Council and the HCT.
The consultation highlighted that 78% of respondents would like more
arts provision in Rushmoor and 42% had stated that they would like to help
develop it. Others identified that their organisation would benefit from a
dedicated Rushmoor arts website and networking opportunities, and visits from
high quality arts organisations.
A Steering Group had been established involving Mr. Jeavons
from the HCT, the SoCo music project, First Wessex
Housing Association, the Council and Rushmoor Voluntary Services with Rushmoor
Schools Plus who had taken the role of co-ordinating the project. The Group met
monthly and had established terms of reference and an action plan; it was noted that Mr. McGovern dedicated 10 hours per week of
his time to the project. The Group were also supported by a
mentor from ACE South-west.
The Panel was then advised of the project
activities, including: the provision of inspirational training and development
opportunities; the delivery of a website and regular e-newsletters; the hosting
of network events; and, the creation of a grant scheme for young people to
develop their own skills.
It was explained that a number of learning
visits had taken place, Mr. McGovern and Mr. Jeavons
had made trips to Bristol, Basingstoke, Farnham, Eastleigh, Exeter, Torbay and
Plymouth to experience their creative spaces and how the arts sat within a
borough/district. The majority of these places were more
established with the arts as part of their communities and the trips had
been a productive insight into how the arts could become embedded in local
society.
A number of training and development activities had also taken place, including mystery shoppers at the West End Centre and
Princes Hall and West End Centre staff development through “learning as the
customer”. This had
been achieved by visiting venues and a planned visit for some staff
members to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
It was reported that a RAH website was currently being developed and a
Facebook and Twitter page had been established. The website would have
information about arts organisations and events in Rushmoor and would give
visitors to the site the opportunity to chat with each other, creating an
online forum/networking facility. It was advised that
the sites’ content would be closely monitored. A networking session had taken
place in March 2016, to which 54 organisations had been invited
to attend but only fifteen had attended. Mr McGovern advised that it had proven
difficult to get organisations involved in the project and a decision had been
made that the next networking session, in September, would be opened up to a
wider audience.
The Panel was informed of the Young Peoples
Arts Grant. Grants of between £50 and £1,000 were available to young people
between the ages of 13-25 who lived or studied in Rushmoor. The scheme had been promoted in the Arena magazine and the children of Fernhill
School, poet Chris Redmond and Whitestone Media, had produced a promotional
video. To date, five applications had been successful, with awards of between
£350 and £950 to two animators, a filmmaker, a dancer and a drummer.
It was reported that the Arts Council had been
provided with an interim report on the progress of
the project and had stated that Rushmoor was now on the Arts Council’s radar.
The next stage would be to get together with the stakeholders to talk about the
future of the project to determine how it could be developed.
The Panel discussed the possibility of partnership working with the
University College of Arts (UCA), Farnham, which in the past had exhibited at the West
End Centre. It was thought that this project might
assist in creating a partnership between RAH and UCA. In addition, it was advised that the Sixth Form College held an art
exhibition annually of works created by the students. It was
noted that, due to cutbacks, funding was tight and the exhibition might
need to be stopped in the future. It was suggested that a grant could be given to the college to
enable the exhibition to continue.
A discussion was then held on embedding the
arts in every part of the strategic plan and policy. It was felt important to
encourage arts in schools and the possibility of utilising empty shop spaces to
display art work could be investigated. It was also suggested that a Member of the Panel could be
invited to join a stakeholder meeting.
The Panel ENDORSED the
Rushmoor Arts Hub and requested an update on the project at a future meeting.