Here There Is Low Engagement with the Arts
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WITHOUT WALLS ASSOCIATE TOURING NETWORK 2013 - 2015 Engaging new audiences through Outdoor Arts ©Ashley Bird ©Ashley Foreword from Without Walls Being part of the Without Walls Associate Touring Network has been fundamental to the development of Derby Festé over the past three years. The programme has allowed for us not only to develop artistically but also to invest resources in audience development. Initiatives such as the Ambassadors Scheme has meant the festival has had significant Foreword from impact in areas of the city which have not previously engaged allowing Arts Council us to diversify our audience. Stephen Munn, Artistic Lead, Derby Festé England 2 Without Walls is a consortium of commissioning Without Walls team, the festival partners, the Foreword from festivals, dedicated to supporting inspirational artists, and countless festival volunteers, 1.3 new outdoor work. Since 2007, with the support million people from all backgrounds and walks Without Walls of Arts Council England and a range of other of life, have enjoyed free, high quality outdoor partners, we have supported over 80 new shows, performance in their local communities. of all scales and genres, transforming the landscape of outdoor arts in the UK. As we make plans for our continued development of the ATN, this document is The Without Walls Associate Touring Network created as a way of evidencing some of the (ATN), established in 2013 with support from achievements of this work as well as sharing the Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Funds, learning from the first three years of this project. has been a hugely successful extension of our It celebrates the inventiveness of the artists, the work, touring these shows to a wider network creativity of the festivals, and the diversity of the of festivals across the country accompanied audiences who enjoy this most democratic of by a range of creative audience development art forms. projects. Through the combined efforts of the Jo Burns, Chair of Without Walls The Without Walls Associate Touring Network they now have access to, but by the many Foreword from has played a significant part in Arts Council opportunities to learn, share and collaborate England’s continuing vision of great art and which the Network provides. We have also seen Arts Council culture for everyone. an increase in the opportunities for artists to present their work, connecting with new England Within the Outdoor Arts sector it has been at the audiences and new presenters, testing, learning forefront of connecting an ever increasing body and developing in varied environments across of artistic work with presenters keen to find work the length and breadth of England. of proven quality to present to audiences. These audiences have been growing year on year in As the Associate Touring Network moves into their number and in their appetite for work in the its next phase, introducing new partners and public realm which moves, challenges, excites, sharing the learning developed by the original and entertains. consortium, it is good to see this report reflecting on many of these successes and This audience growth has been evidenced by looking in detail at some of the learning. some of the research commissioned by the Network, and we have seen Festivals grow and develop too, supported not only by the work Jon Linstrum, Arts Council England 3 © JMA Photography 4 CONTENTS 1 The Without Walls Network p6 2 Growing an Experienced Network of Outdoor Promoters p8 3 Companies Touring to the ATN p10 4 Building New Relationships with Artists p12 5 Developing Audiences for Outdoor Arts p14 6 Ambassador Schemes p16 7 Ambassador Stories p18 8 Reaching Diverse Communities – Derby Festé p20 9 Reaching Diverse Communities – Birmingham Hippodrome p22 10 Creative Communities p24 11 Library Engagement Scheme p28 12 Enhancing Family Experience p30 13 Making Outdoor Arts Accessible p32 14 Broadcast and Social Media p34 15 Understanding Outdoor Arts Audiences p36 16 Creative Ways of Collecting Audience Feedback p38 5 The Without Walls consortium is a The Associate Touring Network (ATN) network of festivals in England, who is a group of festivals working commission and support artists to together to extend the reach and create and tour new and ambitious benefits of the Without Walls outdoor work. programme to areas where there is low engagement with the arts. Ageas Salisbury International Festival ATN partners, 2013-2015 Brighton Festival 1 1 Appetite, Stoke-on-Trent Greenwich+Docklands International Birmingham Hippodrome Festival 2 3 Bradford Festival Hat Fair, Winchester 4 Derby Festé Norfolk & Norwich Festival THE WITHOUT 5 Freedom Festival Hull Out There International Festival of Circus & Street Arts, Great Yarmouth 6 Fuse Medway Festival WALLS 7 LeftCoast, Blackpool Stockton International Riverside NETWORK Festival 8 Out There, Great Yarmouth 9 SO Festival, East Lindsey Affiliated members: Supported by Strategic Touring funds Showzam!, Blackpool from Arts Council England, member festivals have undertaken programmes Just So Festival, Cheshire of audience development over three years (2013-2015), with the aim of 101 Outdoor Arts Creation Space, engaging new audiences. Newbury 6 ASSOCIATE TOURING 7 5 NETWORK 3 PARTNERS 9 2013-2015 4 1 8 2 6 7 The partners that form the ATN are not all What’s Next: big established festivals, and many are pioneers within their region in presenting New Vic Theatre in Stoke-On-Trent has Outdoor Arts events and investing in the been awarded a £1 million Arts Council development of this work as a vehicle England grant to continue the Appetite for audience engagement; Outdoor Arts programme for a further three years being recognised for its ability to engage audiences who may not attend arts LeftCoast is now working with venues or buy tickets for theatre or SeaChange Arts to produce Showzam! performing arts events. Blackpool’s annual festival of circus and 2 performance The ATN has offered a valuable opportunity for less established festival Following a nationwide open call for promoters to learn from the more applications, Out There Festival and established festivals in the network and Showzam! have been invited to join the to gain access to new ambitious work Without Walls Consortium created by Without Walls. The project has GROWING AN provided an opportunity for the festivals With the support from Arts Council to be fast-tracked in their experience of England, Without Walls is continuing the presenting Outdoor work and delivering development of the ATN over the next 3 EXPERIENCED audience development initiatives, years (2016-2018), working with a new resulting in the development of a network set of partners: of experienced promoters of Outdoor NETWORK work in areas of low engagement across Right Up Our Street (Doncaster) the country. Leicester City Council Preston City Council OF OUTDOOR The investment of subsidy via the ATN Appetite (Stoke-on-Trent) project in programming and audience development has also enabled the Freedom Festival (Hull) PROMOTERS festivals to lever additional funds from Watermans (Hounslow) their local authority and other private Derby Festé and public sector partners in their region Peterborough Arts Festival - resulting in more financially stable Yorkshire Festival festivals and additional new investment in SO Festival, East Lindsey Outdoor Arts across the country. 8 ©LeftCoast LeftCoast is a new organisation running the Creative People and Places programme in Blackpool and Wyre... the opportunity to take risks and test out new ideas has been critical in helping us develop and build new audiences. Equally as important are the networking opportunities and new collaborations that being part of the network has provided. LeftCoast is now working with SeaChange Arts to produce one of its flagship festivals, Showzam! This relationship would not have developed without LeftCoast being part of the Associate Touring Network. Julia Turpin, Executive Director, LeftCoast Spare Parts, Blackpool 9 Most of the companies had never toured a film company to create short trailers to the ATN festivals before, so the featuring interviews with each of the 7 project provided an invaluable companies commissioned in 2014 and opportunity for the artists to build the 12 companies commissioned in 2015. relationships with a range of new This was a useful tool to help the ATN festivals. In some cases the partners festivals’ Ambassadors understand and became commissioners of new work; recommend these shows to their local Southpaw Dance Company were community groups. commissioned by SO Festival and Appetite (Stoke-on-Trent) to create 3 Carousel, whilst Wet Picnic were commissioned by Birmingham Hippodrome to create its new outdoor piece, Suitcases. Many Without Walls companies teamed with the festivals to offer workshops and BUILDING NEW deliver projects suitable for people of all ages and backgrounds. Amongst others, Kuljit Bhamra delivered dance RELATIONSHIPS workshops at Fuse Medway Festival, Mimbre delivered circus workshops in Skegness, Graeae Theatre Company ran WITH ARTISTS creative making workshops in libraries in Birmingham, and Prodigal Theatre delivered a series of parkour workshops in Blackpool. These opportunities enabled the artists to build their expertise in engagement techniques, whilst providing them with valuable ideas and resources that can be offered to festivals as part of their wider touring. In order to support the artists in touring their shows to the ATN and beyond, Without Walls commissioned Kuljit Bamhra,