NATIONAL PARK ACTION FUND Office use only Small Grants Application Form PF 12-13 To be used by applicants seeking less than £20,000 It is recommended that this form should only be completed on the advice of staff within Exmoor National Park Authority’s Sustainability and Economy team. Please use the ‘Guidance Notes for applicants – completing and submitting a small grants application’ when completing this form. Should you require further advice please contact the Sustainable Economy Officer on 01398 322234. A – PROJECT SUMMARY Project title Dark Starry Skies Brief project aim - Engage 1000+ residents and visitors on Exmoor in artist-led workshops and what do you hope community events that raise awareness of ENPA’s International Dark Sky your project will Reserve status and create a range of art works and resources that can be achieve? used to promote the designation to a wider audience. Project location Across Exmoor and neighbouring areas of West Somerset Project duration From: December 2013 To: December 2014 B – YOUR DETAILS B1 – Contact details Name of Applicant Tracey Roberts (ARTlife Coordinator) Name of West Somerset Arts Consortium (ARTlife) Organisation Contact Address C/o West Somerset Council. Killick Way, Williton, TA4 4QA Phone no. 01984 635300 or 01643 822124 Email [email protected] Website www.facebook.com/ARTlifeSomerset www.artlife-somerset.co.uk B2 - Type of Voluntary organisation or community group applicant (please Registered charity (Please provide charity no.) 1081924 mark all boxes that Private company apply) Public Sector Private individual Other (please specify below) B3 - Please briefly We devise, deliver and promote accessible arts and cultural activity across describe the aims Somerset, focusing on West Somerset. We run the local authority arts of your service on behalf of West Somerset Council; have recently completed a organisation (N/A for project with partners along the Somerset Coastal strip; and are delivering a Landscape Art project along the Coleridge Way and around Hinkley Point. individual applicants): - 1 - C – PROJECT DETAILS C1 - Please describe your project, why it is necessary and how you will achieve the aims & objectives. You should also detail how your project will meet the essential and desirable criteria of the fund as detailed in the guidance notes for applicants. You can attach further information such as plans or drawings to this form if needed. Overview An inclusive community arts project that reflects and promotes Exmoor’s status as Europe’s first Dark Sky Reserve. The project will, via a range of workshops, activities and commissioned artwork, investigate and celebrate our relationship with the night sky through the seasons. People of all cultures, beliefs, ages and eras have had a significant connection with our dark starry skies. In an age of increasing light pollution, areas like the moorland of Exmoor become important focal points in which to cherish the restorative tranquillity, and to learn about and celebrate this profoundly beautiful aspect of nature. The project is focused around our native storytelling tradition of local and national mythologies relating to the night sky, as well as drawing on the wealth of stories from other International Dark Sky Reserves: Mon Megantic in Quebec, Canada; Aoraki Mackenzie Maori, New Zealand; and Naumbrand Nature Reserve, Namibia. Why we want to do the project Achieving the Dark Sky Reserve status was a huge success for Exmoor National Park. This success can be built on and enhanced if more people (both locals and visitors) are given the chance to understand the designation at a community and a personal level. What does living in (or close to) a Dark Sky Reserve mean for communities? . How can individuals connect to the landscape of the night sky in a meaningful and safe way? . How does twenty-first century, twenty-four hour living relate to conserving the darkness of the night sky, especially in a tourist area? . How do we fit into the legacy of poets, painters, astronomers and philosophers who have interpreted the night sky of Exmoor over the centuries? . What do we want to pass on to future generations in terms of understanding and valuing the nighttime skyscape of the moor? The arts are a very direct and accessible way to engage people in thinking about their locality. The more people understand what is special about a place, the more connected they feel to it, and the greater advocates they become for telling others. This project will engage with 1000+ people who will share ideas, create and exhibit together on the theme of the Dark Sky Reserve status. We hope their art works will educate and inspire others, especially visitors, to come to Exmoor and experience the unique qualities of its night sky for themselves. Spreading the word about the designation will potentially assist both the National Park Authority and individual tourism businesses in attracting more Dark Sky visitors. The proposed work aims to directly contribute to some of the actions in ENPA’s Partnership Plan 2012-2017: Actions A1.12 (delivering dark skies events on Exmoor), A4.10 (promoting Exmoor’s culture and arts), B1.8 (supporting events on Exmoor) B1.13 (marketing Exmoor through its dark skies) and B3.6 (focusing on schools and communities in and near to the national park). We have already held a Pilot event for Somerset Art Weeks, 21st-29th September 2013, to test the project idea, which attracted 920 visitors (aged 5 to 95): 9 days of exhibiting/activity that celebrated our Dark Starry Skies and captured the public’s responses, thoughts and memories in connection with the night sky and Exmoor's Dark Sky Reserve status. The work included a film by the lead artist which responds to Coleridge’s Kubla Khan within the setting of night-time and dreaming, and a pop-up cafe with Dark Starry Sky stories and activities. There was an illustrated talk, "The Sublime and the Beautiful - Art, Literature and Landscape, Romanticism and its influences”, attended by 23 people. Artwork by members of the local community included starry night themed textiles, print and floral arrangements. Public response to the pilot exhibition will inform the delivery of the main project. See selection of visitors’ comments attached. To view the 8 minute Kubla Khan film made by Frances Harrison go to - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeC69DYjx6o - 2 - Our project aims . To increase awareness and understanding of Exmoor’s Dark Sky Reserve status amongst local communities (on and around the moor) and with visitors . To deliver professionally-run, high quality arts workshops and events that give people creative space to explore and interpret their relationship to the night sky in a safe and accessible way . To share the outputs of the workshops widely as a means to assist ENPA and tourism businesses in spreading the word about the designation . To celebrate the legacy of the Romantic poets and artists and the wider cultural heritage of Exmoor and the links to conservation and appreciation of the moorland . To promote the work alongside ARTlife’s Landscape Art programme creating new art works along the Coleridge Way, adding value to both projects Project objectives . To run 32 school and community workshops . To run 3 pop up storytelling cafes on and around Exmoor . To tour elements of the pilot event to other communities, alongside the pop up cafes – includes original stories, artworks, Kubla Khan film, Wordwall, talk on Romanticism and community textile pieces . To create a documentary film of participants’ interviews, stories and artists’ reflections . To offer this film as useful marketing material for the Dark Skies designation, for the tourism sector to use How we will achieve our aims and objectives We will run a year of activity with storytellers, artists and astronomers, engaging groups and individuals (locals and visitors, of all ages) to experience and re-kindle feelings of awe, mystery and wonder when encountering the moorland landscape of Exmoor and its dark starry skies through the four seasons. A target of 1000+ participants will engage in storytelling sessions, guided story walks, contribute to a community film and join in storytelling pop-up cafes and educational talks, where they will share memories, observations and ideas and develop creative responses. This live/direct audience for the work does not include the potentially huge online audience viewing the film via YouTube and via ARTlife’s Coleridge Way projects blog. Filming will happen alongside and sometimes as part of the storytelling activities and be a joint creation of the project participants and the lead artist/filmmaker Frances Harrison. The project will link with ARTlife’s work with the Coleridge Way and will use as a framework the poetry of Coleridge and the philosophy of the Romantic movement with its focus on the Sublime in nature and the importance of a moral, mindful and respectful relationship with nature in all its manifestations. The work responds to rising interest in astronomy amongst local communities and especially visitors, and will encourage participants/audiences to value, protect and celebrate the nighttime landscape. The outcomes of the project (e.g. broadcasting the film on YouTube) will be shared widely, helping to promote Exmoor and contributing to the long term economic potential of its Dark Sky Reserve status. Made, printed, filmed and online artworks/archives will serve as physical legacies of the project. Awareness raising, education and inspiring creativity amongst participants will be the qualitative outcomes. How the project specifically meets the Fund Criteria - Project outputs and outcomes Economic: 1. 58 days work for West Somerset-based artists 2. 1 new film focusing on the designation that can be used by ENPA, Visit Exmoor and tourism businesses (linking via YouTube) 3. Touring the pilot exhibition elements – storytelling café, Kubla Khan film, Wonderwall, talk on Romanticism, community textile pieces – to raise awareness of the designation 4.