“I just want to do our school trip over. The teachers were so nice to set up a trip like that- it was the best. My favourite part was Levity Luminarium – it was a blast.”
ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2003 – 2004
YOUNG AT ART LTD Room D105, Central Building Stranmillis University College BELFAST BT9 5DY
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION PAGE 3
FESTIVAL 2003 PAGE 5
Programme Accessibility Audience & Participants Partnerships
DEVELOPMENT & OUTREACH PAGE 9
Festival Outreach Sure Start Inner East Image Theatre Project The Storyshapers School Friends Festival on Tour Toolbox for Teachers Image & Imagination C-TEXT Other Discrete Partnerships
MARKETING, PROFILE & PUBLICITY PAGE 16
Promotion of Festival 2003 Promotion of the year-round programme General company profile
THE YOUNG AT ART TEAM PAGE 20
Board of Directors Core Staffing Festival Staffing Volunteers Project Staffing
CONSOLIDATION PLAN PAGE 24
Summary Background to the Consolidation Plan Consolidation Plan
FUNDING & FINANCE PAGE 26
Core & Public Support Trusts & Foundations Sponsorship Earned & Partnership Income Finance
APPENDICES PAGE 27
Event-by-event summary of the festival Analysis of Festival Audiences/Participants Analysis of Development & Outreach Audiences/Participants Media Coverage for the year
2
INTRODUCTION
So much has happened in a short twelve-month period it is difficult to know where to begin.
The best area to start with is the highlights, the purpose of Young at Art. In 2003 – 2004, Young at Art entertained inspired and enabled nearly 16,000 children and young people, their teachers, youth leaders and parents to be creative and play a role in the cultural life of Northern Ireland.
Events took place all over Belfast as part of an international festival, bringing Europe to Northern Ireland and hopefully sending a positive image of this place back in the memories and experiences of the visiting artists. Work from the Festival also traveled throughout Northern Ireland, reaching new audiences with new and vibrant creative opportunities.
Indigenous artists were supported and encouraged to make work, both for themselves and for young audiences and participants, providing possibility for everyone involved – the possibility that artists can create high quality work for young people as a professional career and the possibility for young people that people just like them can be artists.
Young at Art also engaged with large numbers of young people who, for one reason or another, had been pushed to the edges of provision and marginalised. A highlight of these encounters was the exercise in image theatre with young mothers from East Belfast when, in response to an image created by two of the young parents, another participant responded, “I saw children”. Young women moved from hiding their faces to sprawling on a floor, comfortable, relaxed and singing at the top of their voices - as an inspiration for future work, what could be better than that!
The year has also had its sadder moments. The departure of Programme Manager Rebecca Hunter and Outreach Officer Suzanne Marner left two gaps that we do not attempt to fill. Their legacy however, has been harnessed, and the organisation continues to grow and develop with the vibrancy and passion they contributed. Ophelia Byrne’s role as Director from August – November 2003 was a catalyst for the consolidation process Young at Art embarked upon in 2003 – 2004. Young at Art should also acknowledge the contribution of Dr Hamish Fyfe who left the Board this year. Few organisations find staff or strategic change easy and to encounter both simultaneously has put a large strain on all the staff this year. A final acknowledgment should be given to Alice Jackson who joined Young at Art shortly before the year started and has worked closely with the rest of team with imagination, dedication and initiative.
After the stresses of the year, the year ended with a new beginning, the planning of the next festival (and the next) and a range of other projects, the securing of new funding for the coming year and planning for new staff recruitment. Thanks must be given to those who supported Young at Art to complete its programme this year, reach ever-increasing numbers of young people and look to the future. To the government departments and public agencies who funded the organisation and its projects and gave advice and information; to the trusts and foundations who have been supporting the festival since it was a good idea back in 1998 and also to those who invested in it this year; to the sponsors who worked with us to give something back into the local community; to the small local businesses and individual entrepreneurs who for nothing other than philanthropy, agreed to do more for less; and to the artists whose imagination, professionalism, sensitivity and enthusiasm still leaves us speechless, Young at Art says a wholehearted thank you and see you next year.
Ali FitzGibbon
Director
3
‘Superb! One of the best children’s events ever in N Ireland.’
‘Thought it was wonderful. Plenty to see and do and something for everyone.’
‘Good stuff, not too expensive.’
4
THE FESTIVAL IN 2003 A FESTIVAL OF DREAMS
PROGRAMME
The Young at Art festival ran from 22 – 28 May, straddling the second bank holiday in May and running for a total of 8 days. The theme of dreams was reflected through an imaginative, original and coherent programme, featuring international and local artists and a wide variety of art forms. The festival successfully struck a balance between participatory and performance events and included events bridging these definitions as well as crossing art forms. Many events were open to all ages with babes in arms and octogenarians attending and over 11,000 people took part.
Programme Manager Rebecca Hunter acting as Director completed the festival programming with great success. She drew together an exceptional programme, supporting the organisation’s objectives, stimulating its audiences and contributing to the ongoing growth of a local community of professional artists working for and with young people. In addition, the programming of the festival in 2003 reinforced its identity as an annual event with a reputation for high quality and quirky innovation.
The festival programme continued Young at Art’s international commitment with artists from Switzerland, Germany, and also a large presence from the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. For a number of these artists (even those from Britain and Ireland) it was their first experience working in or visiting Northern Ireland. The festival also hosted Vicky Ireland, member of the ASSITEJ (Assoc International pour le Theatre et Jeunes) World Executive and former Artistic Director of Polka Theatre, in its annual Open Space forum. Creating a two-way introduction between artists from outside Northern Ireland and the audiences within remains a core element of the festival’s artistic policy. The high attendances at all the festival events, including the international work, demonstrate that the festival’s audience is keen to see new work and willing to take a risk. It also suggests that the Young at Art brand is recognised and trusted as a symbol of quality by local families, schools and youth groups. The return of world famous attraction the Levity Luminarium demonstrates the growing reputation of Young at Art on the international touring circuit.
Young at Art also continued its commitment to indigenous artists, programming and commissioning a wide variety of local work. A new production Chilly in the Dark Times was commissioned from local company Monkeyshine (now Theatre Oomf). Paul Marshall, Amanda Montgomery and Angela George were commissioned in a partnership with the Lyric Theatre to complete the final phase of the Sonic Sculpture Garden on the Stranmillis Embankment. Fermanagh- based design team Genevieve and Jon Designs were commissioned to produce a giant Dream Machine installation with accompanying workshops. Including its own new commission, Young at Art presented 3 local productions, something that was impossible to imagine in its early festivals. Other events included workshops and an installation by Sticky Fingers, the launch of Replay Productions’ new writing project, animation workshops by Dream Ireland, giant Kaleidoscopes, teaching resource and DVD launches, and dream catcher workshops. Prevailing weather conditions resulted in the cancellation of only one event during the entire festival – Hot Air Balloon rides over Belfast.
The third element of the programme was the showcasing of young talent and creativity. Once again Young at Art worked in partnership with the BIFHE Centre for Performing Arts showcasing its students’ end of year production of Animal Farm and providing theatre performances in the east of the city. The festival collaborated with the National Youth Music Theatre (shortly before its demise) in a musical theatre outreach project working with boys aged 10 – 19 in East Belfast. The work of Share Arts – its Zoetrope and the films it produced with Cardboard Technology Films – appeared at the Waterfront and OMAC, while the Big Bed installation created by Sticky Fingers and pre-school play groups in Belfast and Derry, were also displayed at the Ulster Museum.
Details of the Festival programme and some analysis of attendances is included in the Appendix, along with a final account of the festival budget.
ACCESSIBILITY
The festival’s presence in Belfast as a citywide and accessible event stood out in 2003, with performances and workshops in unusual locations and also many non-arts locations in north, south, east and west of the city. Young at Art experimented with moving events around the city and out of traditional arts venues. Theatre Sgaramusch performed Snow White in the Old Museum Arts Centre, New Hill Youth Club, Black Mountain PS and Malvern PS, while the Whalley Range All Stars took their incredible performance/installation PIG to the Waterfront Hall, the grounds of Stormont, Belfast Castle Parklands and An Culturlann. Dream Ireland ran workshops in the Kennedy Centre. Other festival events took place in geographically central venues such as the Waterfront Hall, the Linen Hall Library and the Old Museum arts centre. The festival also made use of public parks, hosting a number of events in the Botanic Gardens – in the grounds, the Palm House, the Little Pavilion, and in the neighbouring Ulster Museum.
Once again, Young at Art explored ways in which its work might be made more accessible to groups of young people with physical or learning disabilities. A number of events – most notably the Luminarium, and the Kaleidoscope
5 workshops – were programmed for this specific purpose while awareness at the box office of the needs of young people with disabilities helped. A large number of venues, the Waterfront Hall, An Culturlann, Tower St Theatre, Lyric Theatre and the Ulster Museum offered high levels of physical access with ramp access, loop systems and toilet facilities while others also offered minicom services through their box office. Due to budget restrictions, sign- interpreted performances or other aids could not be offered.
Affordable pricing has long underpinned Young at Art’s access policy with many free events and most tickets priced at £1 and £3. The most expensive ticket in 2003 was £6 and Young at Art also offered group and school discounts and no charge for babes in arms. In addition, the organisation created special support and outreach packages for disadvantaged schools and groups, through its own programmes and in partnership with other organisations, such as New Belfast Community Arts Initiative and Belfast Festival at Queen’s. While attendance was very good with an average of 84% (up 20% from the festival in 2002), these admission charges had remained largely unchanged since the first festival six years before despite changes in costs and inflation. An analysis of ticket sales showed that there was little difference between attendances at the most and least expensive events in 2003 and so the organisation has embarked on a review of its pricing policy, maintaining affordability while more accurately reflecting the cost of the activities.
The promotion of the festival sought to reach a wide spread of the population and promotions were held in shopping centres and outside other family events (including non-art events) while the organisation continued its free mailing list for families, youth groups and schools. A special preview of the festival with relevant information for teachers was circulated prior to the launch of the brochure to make it easier for schools to use festival events within their programmes of study and as part of their arts provision.
The appropriateness and accessibility of art forms and types of activity, the timing and location of events, and the flexibility to bring large or small groups of differing ages, are all factors in making the festival an open resource for use by communities throughout the city and throughout Northern Ireland. As an annual festival, Young at Art has trialed new initiatives each year, e.g. moving events around the city, introducing the play zones, etc with considerable success in generating new audiences. Partnerships such as those it developed with Westbourne Presbyterian Church, An Culturlann, Dream Ireland or Sticky Fingers are crucial in developing links with new families, schools and groups.
As a children’s festival, Young at Art’s work in building its audiences in new areas and among new groups is ongoing and its growing audiences have benefited from an integrated approach to festival programming in which its festival and its outreach work become indistinguishable. For a number of years, the Outreach Officer has developed links with schools, groups and key organisations and agencies to build relationships with marginalised groups and raise awareness of the role arts can play. The introduction to the team of an Audience Development Officer in early 2003 supported how the outreach initiatives could be translated into ongoing strands of activity, improved communication with potential audiences and participants, and continued growth of an accessible annual festival for all communities.
AUDIENCE AND PARTICIPANTS
Over 11,000 children, young people and adults attended 43 shows, 26 other events, and 6 installations during the festival, with an estimated 2,000 attending its Festival in a Day celebrations at the Waterfront Hall. This includes those who attended as part of a Young at Art Outreach initiative. As might be expected, attendance is split between schools, families and youth/community groups. As in previous years, Young at Art used data from its box office figures and short post-event questionnaires to draw up a profile of its audience and participants. The questionnaire included qualitative assessment of the event, awareness of the festival, and some marketing information. Although the return rate of these questionnaires was very low, those that were returned were extremely positive. In addition, the organisation possessed a limited ability to extract good audience information from its manual booking system, a situation which will change in 2004 but in 2003 – 2004 has left the organisation with gaps in its knowledge of its audiences.
Issues around the gathering of box office information (other than the limits of a manual paper system) also include a substantial number of door or ‘walk-up’ sales, leaving no customer details, and also the restriction of access to venues’ box office data due to confusions around the Data Protection Act. However, a postcode analysis of the 2003 box office information and figures from the outreach and audience development initiatives provided valuable information on the origin of its audiences. Audience and participants at Young at Art events during the year were drawn from 41 of the 50 Belfast City Council wards (from the 1993 ward distinctions) and from 24 of the 26 local authority areas. It is probable that the audience came from all 50 wards as many of the wards with no attendances fall into the catchment area of venues where events took place or schools who attended the festival.
Exactly half of Young at Art’s audience this year were new comers to the festival, an increase of 13% from 2002, demonstrating that Young at Art is attracting more new audiences than ever but also that as a children’s festival there is a new audience for its work growing up every year. 12% of the audience recorded that they had attended 4 or 5 festivals in the past, showing a loyal following. Feedback from this year’s festival was extremely good, which can be seen in the Audience responses.
6 PARTNERSHIPS
As the festival originated in a partnership consortium between Wheelworks, Belfast Festival at Queen’s and the Old Museum arts centre, it is appropriate that the spirit of collaboration carried through its programme. During the festival in 2003, the organisation benefited enormously from shared resources and objectives with a wide range of artists and agencies.
Young at Art continued its existing relationships with a range of venues - the Old Museum Arts Centre, Lyric Theatre, Linen Hall Library, Waterfront Hall and Tower Street Theatre – not only hosting events at these venues but also involving them in the festival programme, e.g. the hosting of Festival in a Day at the Waterfront Hall. It also established new relationships with the Westbourne Presbyterian Church and ITXP in the Kennedy Centre. Its relationship with Belfast City Council Parks Department enabled its ongoing provision of outdoor events and the use of the city’s public parks for cultural events.
The festival’s role in showcasing the work of local arts organisations and artists was successfully developed through engaging with Sticky Fingers, Cahoots, Kernal Trapps and Dream Ireland, while ‘behind the scenes’ and informal collaboration with organisations like Children’s Express and New Belfast Community Arts Initiative supported the delivery of an international festival. In addition, the festival would not have been possible without the involvement of commercial businesses such as 3rd Source Media who sponsored all of its technical services and Tonic Design, who produced the unique brochure.
7
“The project had made a huge difference in Agnes confidence- wise. She looked forward to every practice.” Patricia Tucker, Parent St Colman’s PS, Annaclone
“I thought Liz was brilliant, and her stories were exquisite. Orla was fantastic. Nicola was incredible to me and you all put a lot of confidence in me.” Agnes Tucker
St Colman’s PS, Annaclone
8
DEVELOPMENT & OUTREACH
Alongside the Festival in 2003, Young at Art engaged in a year-round programme of creative activity, designed to promote awareness of, and access to, high quality arts for children and young people throughout Northern Ireland. Overseen by the Outreach and Audience Development Officers, these initiatives also benefited from the input of Rebecca Hunter and Janice Hoadley (as editor of Image & Imagination). Outside of the festival and its accompanying outreach work, over 4,000 people, mostly children took part in or attended a Young at Art activity. A number of strands of work in this area faltered during the year, due to lack of staff and difficulties with funding, most notably the work being delivered through the Audience Development Programme. However, by March 2004 all projects had been completed successfully or the delivery timetable had been revised. It is exceptional when reviewing the detail of projects undertaken that this programme of work was completed with just 2 fulltime staff for most of the year and alongside the delivery of an international festival. Details of participant numbers, groups involved, etc are listed in the Appendix
FESTIVAL OUTREACH May 2003
The range and scope of the festival outreach work in 2003 was immense, complementing and expanding the festival programme and introducing many marginalised groups to both the festival and the arts in general. During festival 2003, Young at Art reached 56 school and community groups, demonstrating once again an increase from 2002. The Outreach Officer took a prominent role in circulating information about the festival to teachers and group leaders, providing additional information on curriculum links and supporting the booking and planning process. Special programmes were offered to rural schools and links developed with Belfast’s Gaelscoils through An Culturlann.
The work presented and produced in this year’s Young at Art festival was met with the highest level of school and community group involvement ever. Working with organizations like New Belfast Community Arts Initiative ensured that community arts groups got the opportunity to engage with international art work being presented in their city, bringing an awareness of other cultures, identities and artistic expressions to areas of social need within Belfast. Through its commitment to providing a balanced programme of performance and participatory activity for young people, Young at Art has delivered a remarkable programme of arts activities for school and community groups this year. Exposure to high quality international artwork has brought different cultures and perspectives to its outreach audience, and has allowed the audience to reflect and look with fresh eyes at their own identity and culture. Participation in art workshops, not only allows young people the opportunity to explore their identity through the arts, but also allows them to expand their understanding of who they are. This year through its high quality programme and newly formed partnerships, Young at Art has provided a range of unique arts experiences for young people from a variety of social backgrounds across Belfast and Northern Ireland.
Day Out at the Waterfront Hall Young at Art offered six schools from across Northern Ireland (Limavady, Coleraine, Swatragh and Ballymoney) the opportunity to spend an entire school day at the Waterfront Hall. Key to its success was the wholehearted support of the Waterfront Hall and the support of the Arts & Kids Visits Programme. 162 young people and carers took part attending a performance of A Fairy’s Tale by Cahoots NI, taking part in a Dream Machine workshop led by Genevieve and Jon Designs and dropping into the Dream catcher Workshops led by local artist Alacoque Davey. All the schools involved worked with a partner school from another community to take part in the event. The children had a full and rewarding day, creating two pieces of art, and seeing a unique piece of theatre.
Nearly all of the teachers commented that most of their students had never been to the Waterfront Hall before, and that their young people had little exposure to good quality children’s artwork. Different elements of the programme appealed to different young people, and this was seen from evaluation forms, with some enjoying ‘doing’ more than ‘seeing’. The programme was high quality, well staffed, and remained flexible to suit the needs of the young people attending events, with Waterfront staff doing impromptu tours of the building as they were needed. The Day Out acted as many of the schools’ end of term trip, and the office was inundated with calls from interested schools within minutes of the school programme reaching teachers’ desks. The trip acted as an EMU project for the schools, and allowed the groups to meet and play with each other on the day. Many teachers commented that they would have liked more mixing between the groups of young people. The cost of transport to a venue is most often the reason that a school will not engage in arts events. This programme made it possible for schools to access this work.
Sonic Sculpture Garden Workshops The creation of The Sonic Sculpture Garden began in festival 2002 and was completed this year. Artist Amanda Montgomery and sound artist Paul Marshall added two new pieces to the Sonic Sculpture Garden in the grounds of the Lyric. Paul Marshall created ‘The Whaleback’, a sonic sculpture resembling the back of a whale rising out of seawater, using rods and rocks collected from the shore. Technology students from St Joseph’s College helped create it, carefully drilling and gluing the rods and rocks, and looking at the overall and design of the piece.
Amanda Montgomery’s striking sculpture of a harp was created from green granite and limestone, inset with bronze twigs. The centre of the harp has a glass etching of an eye within the sun and the pupil of the eye has the birth/death Newgrange symbol, in keeping with the Lyric’s themes adopted from the Yeats’s poem To a Wealthy Man.
9 The foundation stone for the Lyric is the portal over the main entrance, and carries the quote ‘Look Up in the Sun’s Eye’. Amanda’s piece symbolizes the notion of musicality, and ties in with the themes from Yeats’ poetry and of Celtic mythology already working within the garden. All of the pieces within the garden, both from this year and last year, work very much in harmony with the environment, and look as though they have naturally grown from the ground. The chimes in the garden sing in the wind, and the other pieces have made the glade in the Lyric a more creative environment.
Festival in the Community As part of the festival, 3 performances of Snow White by Theatre Sgaramusch were performed in New Hill Youth Club, Black Mountain PS and Malvern PS. This was a development of previous relationships with two of the groups, while the third, Malvern PS, was engaged in a development project with New Belfast Community Arts Initiative, who collaborated on the visit. All groups were in disadvantaged areas, and in the case of Malvern PS, the visit took place shortly after a period of turmoil in the area.
Snow White was a piece of theatre performed by three actors armed only with their musical instruments. This was a simple and slightly abstract version of the traditional tale that met with different reactions in the various groups. Many children expected Walt Disney’s version of the tale, and found the actors jumping in and out of different characters to be slightly confusing. In Black Mountain PS and in Malvern PS, the performance was introduced as being a different interpretation of the traditional tale, and the young people and actors were invited to take part in a question and answer session after the performance. Some questions were about the instruments and where the performers were from, others more in depth questions about the performance. Both the performers and the audiences found these sessions very useful. The Swiss performers got to know what children of this age in Northern Ireland expect of live performances and the young people learned that it is all right to ask questions about more abstract pieces of theatre, and that sometimes there is no one correct answer. The Q&A session made sure that the young people got the most out of the experience, and did not feel alienated by the abstract nature of the piece.
Illustration and Storytelling workshops Artist and animator Corrina Askin and storyteller Catherine Ann Cullen delivered illustration and storytelling workshops to groups of early years school children in Londonderry and Belfast in the run up to the festival this year. Catherine read stories from children’s books that she has written, and Corrina encouraged the children to create their own illustrations inspired by the stories. The sessions went well, with children and staff enjoying the workshops.
SURESTART INNER EAST IMAGE THEATRE PROJECT April – May 2003
As a result of the Creativity in the Community pilot project, Young at Art was approached by Surestart Inner East to deliver a creative project with a group of their teenage mothers. Young at Art invited two representatives from Surestart Inner East, a group leader and a group member, to attend the 2002 Making Space conference to inform their decision about what sort of arts project their group would potentially like to engage with. Local theatre practitioner and drama therapist Orla McKeagney was invited to run the project and paired with Ali Campbell, an exponent of Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. McKeagney led a three-week programme exploring self and identity with the young women, while Campbell joined her at the group’s annual residential at Corrymeela. The focus of the residential was image theatre and the intensive weekend produced a promenade performance around the site. This powerful medium of expression worked well with the group, being accessible to people of every level of ability. Image theatre work harnesses the non-verbal, and focuses the attention of the audience on what others are saying through the images they are creating in a way that few other mediums can. The group felt comfortable to show more about themselves than they were ever likely to articulate verbally.
At the residential Ali invited the group to go out around the site and make short performances playing around the natural environment. The entire group moved around the site, watching each other’s piece, and were then asked to respond to what they had seen using a sentence beginning with ‘I saw…’. Two young women had made one piece playing in and out of tyres in a swing park. One group member’s response to this particular piece was ‘I saw children playing’. Each pair showed what they had made, and the rest of the group interpreted what they had seen in these cameo performances, and their responses were written on ribbons of paper and installed in trees on site, becoming part of the final performance. The final performance incorporated singing and walking through a labyrinth created by the group with an invited audience of the other Corrymeela residents.
The group dynamic changed markedly, as did the group’s confidence. Self-esteem grew visibly from the initial workshops in Belfast with Orla McKeagney. One young woman’s body language had changed dramatically throughout the project, from hiding beneath her jacket in the preliminary workshops, to lying sprawled across the floor singing at the residential. The leader of the group, Michelle Thompson, commented that having the opportunity to play in this way would have a huge and positive effect on their parenting skills. The Image Theatre Project was an excellent model of how arts and health organisations can work together to share resources and expertise, providing new skills and opening up new possibilities to their young people. The project showed how play and experimenting with artistic forms could empower young people, build self-esteem and well-being, and consequently improve social skills. The legacy of the project is manifold, and it will have positive, long lasting effects on the group members and the group leaders in years to come. As an added benefit, bringing together local and international practitioners Orla McKeagney and Ali Campbell had a great effect on both and they have remained in contact. This collaboration enhanced the existing skills base within Northern Ireland, paving the way for future work in image theatre with other groups.
10
THE STORYSHAPERS Dec 2003 – Feb 2004
The aims of The Storyshapers were to provide a case study of creative partnerships that can be formed between schools and arts organisations; to explore creative partnerships between artists of different disciplines; to deliver a multi-arts school residency to a group of rurally disadvantaged young people in Northern Ireland. This was one of the most successful outreach projects delivered by Young at Art to date and greatly informed the organisation’s concepts of working with young people through creative methods.
The Storyshapers arose from the five pilot projects run by Young at Art on behalf of DCAL in 2002, two of which explored storytelling and contemporary dance for children in Key Stage 2. One school in particular, Drumadonnell PS and its Key Stage 2 teacher Jaine Minnis was particularly keen to develop the work further in both literacy and dance. Encouraged by the SELB Creative and Expressive Studies Advisors, Young at Art returned, this time with a particular emphasis in using creativity in cross-curricular study.
This project allowed children to experience different artistic forms, discovering their ability and interest in more than one discipline. It also developed their storytelling skills, making links with the literacy curriculum, and enabling them to translate their stories into dance theatre. The residency culminated in an informal performance for parents and teachers in both schools, devised and performed by the children. The Story Shapers made high quality, participatory arts accessible to children from a rural part of Northern Ireland. The project also introduced children and teachers who would not normally engage in the arts to the value of creative learning methods, and built their confidence and collaborative skills.
From December 2003 – February 2004, 2 primary schools – Drumadonnell PS and St Colman’s PS - from different communities in the SELB area of Rathfriland were involved in a mini-arts residency. Young at Art invited storyteller Liz Weir, theatre practitioner Orla McKeagney and dancer Nicola Curry to work on the project and the residency was overseen by Young at Art’s Outreach Officer Suzanne Marner. The inspiration for Story Shapers came from storyteller Pat Ryan and his use of a story game called ‘The Circle Story’ devised by June Counsel. In this children shared out phrases of a story with other children in the group adding punctuation, giving a sense of rhythm to the narrative.
Before the workshops began, Liz Weir met with the teachers to discuss potential themes and interests. Drumadonnell PS’ teacher wanted to explore the environment and ‘litter’. Students at St Colman’s PS selected their theme as ‘unfinished business’, the topic coming from one of the group who knew many ghost stories. Stage 1 of the project introduced the children to storytelling. Liz encouraged the children to set their story in their local area. In Drumadonnell PS the children looked at the damage that litter could do. In St Colman’s PS they thought about the local place names in the area, and began discussing how Katesbridge got its name. The children developed a rough draft and were left with this and ten tasks to use as a group in storyboarding their tales.
In Stage 2 storyteller, dancer and theatre practitioner joined together for one session to see the game used by Pat Ryan. The session was led by Suzanne Marner and was attended by DENI inspector Arline Balmer. This exercise closely linked both storytelling and dance, illustrating the huge potential of ‘cross-fertilization’. The inspector commented that this was a rare and truly collaborative project, connecting with many different areas of the curriculum. She particularly noted the spirit of sharing between artists.
Stage 3 involved the dancer and theatre practitioner who worked with the children to ‘put the story on its feet’. The groups were encouraged to think about their story differently, using pictures instead of words. Movement and soundscapes enhanced the two atmospheric stories, their mood and pace. The use of dance and theatre particularly benefited less academic children in the class, and those with short attention spans or low confidence. Teachers and parents commented that the project had profound effects on particular children.
The final stage was a celebration of the work and the performances reflected the organic nature of the entire process. The setting was informal and supported the process-based approach to the project, while providing a focus for the work and achievements of the groups and a time for all involved – children, teachers and artists – to reflect on the project. It had been hoped that the schools would visit each other for their performances; however there remains an amount of cross-community work to be done in the area and this did not prove possible. Efforts were made to inform the students and the school about the other’s work and a video of both performances was given to both schools.
The Story Shapers project was a model of best practice. Feedback was extremely positive and the relationship between teachers, students and artists was very productive. Of particular interest was the legacy the teachers hoped the project would leave, in the children’s new skills and the impact of the final performance on parents, as well as new working methods for the teachers. For Young at Art it was an exploration of the factors that influence a successful collaboration within education, and the forging of links with these two communities. It was also a valuable experiment in inter-disciplinary artwork, one that was of great benefit for all, including the artists, and will hopefully be repeated in the future.
11 SCHOOL FRIENDS April 2003 – March 2004
The School Friends programme was designed as part of the Audience Development Programme “to instil a sense of ownership and knowledge about the arts in such a way that being an audience member or participant becomes a natural part of cultural life”. The intention was to offer a programme of arts activities (a sample of what the Festival offers) to twelve schools across Northern Ireland each year, and particularly outside the greater Belfast area. It was also intended that the programme would support schools, children and families in regional and rural areas develop relationships with their local arts venues, helping them become regular and autonomous attendees and participants in the artistic wealth of Northern Ireland.
Recruitment for the School Friends Year 1 programme began in March 2003 when every primary school in Northern Ireland was notified. Places were allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, while maintaining a balance of controlled and maintained schools. Each school was affiliated for a year and received a package of two workshops delivered in- school and tickets and transport to see a performance at a local venue all aimed at Key Stage 2 pupils. One class group was chosen to take part while additional pupils were able to attend both the second workshop and the performance.
The first workshop was a reviewing workshop for up to 30 children (or one class) delivered by Young at Art in conjunction with Children’s Express. It explored the emotional and intellectual impact of the arts and encouraged the children to articulate responses to styles of performance, developing their critical faculties. A documentary of Festival 2002 made by young people was also shown to the children, both as an introduction to the scope of creative opportunities and as a practical exercise in applying their new reviewing skills. This explored the children’s knowledge of the arts and gave them the opportunity to ‘claim’ the arts simply by being an active audience. For example, the children were asked to close their eyes and listen to different styles of music. When played a piece of Bach, their appreciation was refreshingly natural and enthusiastic. It was as if they had taken ownership of the music just by their unselfconscious response, without knowing where it had come from or having any sense of how they should respond.
In May a second workshop, led by musician Nico Brown, was toured to all twelve schools. It was delivered to up to 60 children in each school - those who had participated in the first workshop plus a younger class. Entitled SeaShoreShow, the workshop explored a sea theme through rhythm, songs, music and storytelling. These workshops were immensely popular and Nico maintained his energy and enthusiasm throughout a fairly punishing schedule. In some schools, the workshops inspired teachers to devise lesson plans on a theme of sea and related conservation issues.
Young at Art intended to document and evaluate the project using video feedback after each stage of the project, gathered by New Belfast Community Arts Initiative and their Video Kiosk. This footage would be used to provide inspirational content for the planned Toolbox (see below) and give young people a say in future programming. It was also intended that the children would edit the footage in editing software workshops. Practical implications and changes in the programme made the full realisation of this impossible. The Toolbox was delayed while the time and budget available was insufficient to run a workshop, gather and edit the footage while assembling and disassembling the Video Kiosk. In the end six schools were introduced to the Video Kiosk straight after the SeaShoreShow workshop with mixed results. Many children found it difficult to respond on camera and were uncomfortable with being interviewed. However, the filming of the workshop itself captures their enthusiastic involvement and spontaneous responses. The final footage may be used at a later stage within the Toolbox or as promotional material while other evaluation systems are being explored for the next School Friends.
The final stage of the School Friends Year 1 Programme was a trip to a performance at a local venue. Due to staffing, budgets and artists’ availability, the proposed Festival on Tour show was delayed until Spring 2004. However, this rounded off the programme well for the schools, ending their involvement with a day trip. Chilly in the Dark Times, Young at Art’s festival commission toured six venues in Newcastle, Enniskillen, Armagh, Derry, Coleraine and Cookstown in February 2004. All twelve School Friends attended performances bringing 542 children in all. As an added bonus, Young at Art also provided the schools with free transport to attend its other Festival on Tour show – storyteller Daniel Morden – with tickets being offered at each venue’s usual charge of £1 - £3. This offer was taken up by 7 of the 12 School Friends (although one had to cancel at the last minute) and 239 children attended another arts event.
The School Friends scheme can be considered a success, demonstrated by positive postal evaluation and also the return bookings of 7 School Friends to a paying event. As there has yet to be another Festival or Festival on Tour, it has not yet been possible to measure the long-term impact of the project. Teething problems in the first year included the timing of Year 1 which crossed two academic years, causing difficulties for the school, changes in the contact teacher and also a long delay between the different programme elements. The reviewing workshop was not paired with an arts activity immediately afterwards and so its impact was diminished. Funding uncertainty delayed a lot of forward planning for this and the Festival on Tour programme. However, the end result was that 12 schools explored a programme of work they might not otherwise have experienced and the second year of the programme is continuing with a number of changes to the timetable and format to improve it further.
12 FESTIVAL ON TOUR January – March 2004
Young at Art is committed to providing opportunities for creative experiences throughout Northern Ireland and part of its role is to build capacity and audiences for arts for children and young people. In addition to a range of outreach projects over the years, the organisation has taken a range of festival projects, mostly performances of theatre and storytelling on mini-tours to venues and arts centres across Northern Ireland. This has brought high quality work (both indigenous and international) to children outside Belfast and to venues that might not otherwise be able to afford it or be aware of what children’s work is available. The long term impact will be to generate greater sustainability, collaborating with regional venues to bring in work from the UK, the Republic of Ireland and overseas for touring, and also developing a continuous programme of arts opportunities for young people, growing audiences still further.
Planning for Festival on Tour in 2003 – 2004 began with research and meetings with the programmers and marketing staff of regional and local authority venues. Originally it was planned that the Festival commission Chilly in the Dark Times would tour in June 2003 with storyteller Daniel Morden touring in Spring 2004. However, artist availability and the availability of dates within the June period meant that both tours happened in Spring 2004.
The first tour of Chilly in the Dark Times by Monkeyshine Theatre Company took place from 26 January – 13 February 2004 with 11 performances in six venues. This required a re-rehearsal period for Monkeyshine and as they had no permanent company or legal status, Young at Art again took on a producing role, issuing all contracts, booking rehearsal space, overseeing the production and technical management and managing the tour. Responses to the production were largely positive. It was a short non-verbal performance incorporating elements of dance, visual illusion and puppetry, performed by Helene Hugel and Kareen Pennefather. Each performance was followed up by a short Q&A session, which was very successful, particularly for schools with little or no experience of theatre. Each member of the company including the stage and technical managers explained their role and the children were then able to ask questions and in some cases come onto the stage to see the set. Attendances were good and included all the School Friends for Year 1 and the tour ran smoothly with the exception of one mix-up over transport and some technical difficulties around the get-in and performances in Derry. The venues were pleased with the production and it was noted that although young and quite inexperienced this was an enthusiastic and dedicated company.
The second tour was A Ship of Fools performed by storyteller Daniel Morden and fiddler Oliver Wilson-Dickson which ran from 23 – 31 March. Again this appeared in the six venues for a total of 11 performances. In addition, the storyteller returned to the Old Museum arts centre in Belfast for 2 extra performances of another show The Luck Child. Again the performances were attended by many of the School Friends and were very well attended by schools from each local area. Problems again surfaced with the venue in Derry, with a double booking of the performance space and also a lack of communication with local schools.
The Festival on Tour programme had a number of successful elements – developing and building audiences as well as working with venues and local authorities to reinforce the infrastructure that supports arts opportunities for young people. During the two tours, Young at Art experienced quite a wide disparity between the venues in their communication (both internal and external), technical support and particularly their relationship/experience with presenting performances for young audiences. The venues that benefited most were those that already had an established relationship with their local schools while those less developed venues appeared to care little about the success of the performances they were hosting. Other issues that have been raised are whether the Festival on Tour strand should encourage programming for performances at times other than school matinee times (to build family audiences) and also the ticket pricing of children’s events in regional venues.
Detailed planning and regular correspondence with the venues was undertaken before and during the tour and collaborative marketing using venue brochures, a tour leaflet and press opportunities made both tours a success with a strong desire on the part of the venues to continue the relationship. A follow-up postal evaluation was circulated to schools that attended, while the School Friends also gave feedback on the performance they attended as part of their programme. Verbal feedback on both tours and the general management of the project was gathered by phone from the various venue managers and will inform future touring projects. Festival on Tour is of key importance to Young at Art’s province-wide provision and will generate increased awareness not only of the festival but also of arts for young people in general.
TOOLBOX FOR TEACHERS
This primary school resource aimed at teachers in Key Stage 2 was intended to partner the School Friends programme and the intention had been to produce it prior to the start of the visits. However, delays in the recruitment of an Audience Development Officer and subsequent uncertainty about funding, delayed it first until Autumn 2003 and then still further into 2004. The Toolbox is now on track for launch in December 2004/January 2005.
13 IMAGE & IMAGINATION June 2003
Launched on the 19th June 2003 in the Linen Hall Library, the Image and Imagination publication was a collection of essays, stories and case studies about working through creative methods with young people, written by delegates at the Making Space Conference. Image and Imagination is in part a reflection on the Making Space Conference held in September 2002, on the group of people who came together for it - artists, educators, arts organisations or policymakers - and what connected them – working through the arts with children and young people.
The book contains proceedings from the symposium that opened the Making Space Conference, Creative Dialogues, an afternoon of speeches and discussion on the policies and practices of creativity in the devolved governments of the UK and Ireland. It was edited by Janice Hoadley (who had worked on the conference) and designed by Fishbone Design. Other essays in the book mirror the vast range of experience of the conference delegates and participants. Addresses were made by Ken Robinson, Senior Advisor on Education to the Getty Trust; Gerri Moriarty, an international community artist; Miriam Flaherty of the Wolf Trap Foundation for Performing Arts; and Shirley Brice Heath, linguistic anthropologist at Stanford University.
It is hoped the book will help inform creative work happening for and with young people in countries throughout the world. The publication was distributed to all of the conference delegates and their libraries in 30 countries across the globe, and has already helped inform the work of Creative Partnerships in England. As Shirley Brice Heath says in her foreword, “This volume should make readers stop and think about the arts as one of the most demonstrable forms of positive evidence of creativity, creative spaces and malleable time frames. But far more than this realization about the arts, this volume can carry us deeper in our own thinking about how creativity generates ideas, tests propositions, examines possibilities and ultimately builds toward probabilities of peace, social justice and communities of learning.”
C-TEXT November 2003
Young at Art teamed up with Media Lab Europe and BBC Blast in the delivery of another initiative to encourage participation in the arts by groups of young people in community contexts. C-TEXT was a technology and art project, using SMS messaging and digital photography, which took place over 3 weeks at The Bridge Youth Project in Kilkeel. It involved 16-19 year olds from a marginalised community and took as its theme “A day in my life”. During this intensive project, 12 young people and their fiercely committed youth leader explored image appraisal and construction, and the mechanics of photography working with a local photographer and media specialist from Media Lab Europe. The group developed and then selected a series of images, reflecting their impression of their own community context and lives. These were then broadcast on a large siding in Kilkeel town centre in late November. Members of the public were able to send short text messages which then appeared alongside the images. Comments were sent about the images and also in response to other messages. This was an intensive project made possible by the technical support and imagination of Media Lab Europe. The young people developed a range of critical skills and also increased their confidence in their own viewpoints, particularly within the local community.
Bridge Youth Project had been the winners of a competition for youth groups to win a hot air balloon ride as part of Festival 2003. All entries were invited to make a hot air balloon model, all of which were then exhibited at the Old Museum arts centre during the festival. Unfortunately after repeated attempts thwarted by the weather, the hot air balloon trip was cancelled. Instead the groups got a demonstration of the mechanism of a hot air balloon and free tickets to a Young at Art event. However the competition did generate important relationships, establishing a communication with a range of youth groups around Belfast and beyond, and the resulting collaboration with Bridge Youth Project on C-TEXT was a direct result.
OTHER DISCRETE PARTNERSHIPS
The Festival in 2003 and its year-round programme demonstrated Young at Art’s commitment to working in partnerships with a range of agencies, other arts organisations and artists. Alongside these, however there exists an element of collaboration that has been less visible and will in future become a growing part of its activities. As the leading children’s festival in Northern Ireland, Young at Art has worked with other festivals in the promotion of family friendly and youth events, assisting the Cathedral Quarter Festival in its promotion of stand-up comedian for children James Campbell, and performance poet Benjamin Zephaniah in April/May 2003.
Its ongoing relationship with Belfast Festival at Queen’s (one of its original founders), led to the two organisations working on a new family initiative where members of the Belfast Festival’s family focus group attended events in the Young at Art Festival. The two festivals also collaborated on programming, with Young at Art supporting new company Kernal Trapps in their new production of The Teller’s House, a site specific performance in the grounds of Stranmillis College. Other examples of these collaborations include joint mailings with Queen’s Film Theatre, and the involvement through its staff in a range of membership organisations, consortia and boards.
14
“The publication [Image & Imagination] reflects the richness and variety of the Arts across all borders imagined or otherwise. I felt that the articles inspired, challenged and liberated, that the authors spoke with authority, conviction and realism. As we develop 'creativity' in N. Ireland, and release the richness that lies within this society, I feel that this publication will be a touchstone for all of us, even when, especially when, the going gets tough.”
Walker Ewart Education Training Unit, DENI Inspectorate, NI
15
MARKETING, PROFILE AND PUBLICITY
The overall promotion and marketing of Young at Art fell into three overlapping areas in 2003 – 2004: Promotion of Festival 2003 Promotion of the year-round programme General company profile
The organisation managed to gain significant media coverage and hosted a number of profile-raising events during the course of the year, maintaining a presence year-round in the media, with the general public, in schools and with key decision-makers.
PROMOTION OF FESTIVAL 2003
The Festival in 2003 benefited from the experience and skills of a dedicated Audience Development Officer Alice Jackson who carried out a detailed marketing campaign for the festival; and a temporary Communications Officer, Lizzie Agnew, whose main role was to handle media coverage.
Festival Marketing The marketing campaign focused on retaining and growing the festival’s core audience with initiatives to develop new audiences. Particular emphasis was given on initiatives to reach audiences in historically under-represented areas. From February 2003, Young at Art undertook shopping centre promotions distributing programmes and free balloons, circulation of the brochure and schools previews direct to every school in Northern Ireland, the direct promotion of the festival to schools and groups who had previously participated in other projects, and direct mailing to the organisation’s core family mailing list of 1,200. Where possible, the organisation maximised its limited marketing budget through use of free distribution and mailing services (through DENI, Central Library and Belfast City Council’s Leisure Services Dept). In addition, the distribution of brochures was extended and targeted to include special emphasis on doctors’ surgeries, crèches, health centres and leisure centres as well as libraries, arts venues, bus/train stations and community venues in a deliberate attempt to reach new audiences. Exit leafleting was completed at a range of arts and non-arts family events. Audience evaluation shows that 50% of the festival’s audiences were first time attendees.
Festival Press Launch & Coverage In April 2003, Young at Art launched its festival brochure at the Palm House in Botanic Gardens. The festival launch has become a signature of the festival, taking each year’s theme as its inspiration. Reflecting the Festival of Dreams, handmade invitations with wings and fairy dust were circulated and the launch was attended by characters in pyjamas like Wee Willie Winky (complete with nightcap and candle), and fairy creatures moving around the palm house and gardens and occasionally drifting off to sleep. Festival artist Alacoque Davey worked with groups of children on a dream catcher workshop, which would be part of the festival. Press coverage of the event was good although the organisation was disappointed by the lack of television coverage.
While public awareness seemed to increase in 2003, press and media coverage overall appeared static. All the main newspapers, including regionals and weeklies, and the main magazines previewed the festival and events such as the Luminarium generated significant photo opportunities. However, reporting during the festival was low, reflecting a general difficulty across all the arts in generating coverage and critical appraisal of work. While Children’s Express produced 2 reviews, there were few others and sustaining a level of media profile during the week was difficult. Budget restrictions and under-staffing meant that the Communications Officer was brought in very close to the launch date and could only be employed on a freelance part-time basis after that. However, throughout the remainder of the year the organisation worked hard to increase its profile for other projects, generating quite a large body of press coverage for both C-TEXT and Festival on Tour.
Festival Print and Advertising Since its early years, each festival has been themed and 2003’s Festival of Dreams saw Young at Art’s most coherent and eye-catching festival identity to date. Local graphic design company Tonic Design worked with illustrator/artist Miriam de Burca to produce a beautiful 32-page brochure with individual illustrations for each event. The quality of this print and its visual impact on posters, Adshels, 48-sheets on key arterial routes into the city and free postcards drew an unprecedented level of public interest, encouraging members of the public to pick up the programme and get involved in the festival. The brochure received a nomination in the NICVA Scope Awards in June 2004. For the large- scale Festival in a Day, Young at Art collaborated with the Waterfront Hall to promote the event to the local community in the Markets, Short Strand, and the lower ends of the Ravenhill, Albertbridge, Woodstock and Newtownards Roads, while also benefiting from media sponsorship through the Waterfront on Cool FM and Citybeat. In addition, the festival benefited from a range of direct marketing and distribution arrangements of its partner venues, including the Waterfront Hall, Lyric Theatre and Old Museum Arts Centre.
16 The total print and advertising capacity of the Festival in 2003: 30,000 full colour brochures 15,000 Festival in a Day postcards 10,000 Festival postcards 2,000 full colour posters Balloons 20 Adshels 6 48-sheets Colour adverts were placed in NI4Kids and Early Years magazine Black and white panel ads ran in the Belfast Telegraph. Adverts on Citybeat and Cool FM for Festival in a Day in the week leading up to the event 2 generic full colour Young at Art penguin stands were produced for display at venues and other events. This does not include free listings or inclusion in venue brochures for the Lyric Theatre, Old Museum arts centre, Waterfront Hall, Linen Hall Library and Ulster Museum.
PROMOTION OF THE YEAR-ROUND PROGRAMME
Traditionally, Young at Art has concentrated its media efforts and promotional work on the festival, with the other exciting aspects of its programme being under-represented. Consequently, the volume and range of its work across Northern Ireland is little known by both the general public and the agencies on which it depends for advice and resources. While offset by the passionate support of those that have come into contact with the festival, either as partner organisations, artists or participants, this is an area in which the organisation has begun making efforts to communicate its work better to a wider range of people.
Marketing 2003 – 2004 saw Young at Art begin to map out a strategic approach to its promotion and marketing. The first stage of this was the collation and merging of various community, school and family mailing list databases. From the Festival 2003 box office information and the various outreach initiatives in the previous number of years, the organisation began to draw together contacts in a range of schools and youth groups. The updating and addition of new contacts to Young at Art’s mailing lists has been formalised and, before the end of March 2004, EVS volunteer Rita Kardos had initiated a review of youth groups in the greater Belfast area, updating records and compiling profiles on their needs and interests. These details will help the organisation target its information and services better and will hopefully form the beginning of a two-way dialogue influencing future festival programming and outreach work.
For Festival on Tour, Young at Art staff liaised regularly with all the venues, identifying which events or performances needed particular promotion, handling print distribution direct to schools and giving each venue and event one-to-one attention. The benefits of this were evident in the attendance figures as well as the goodwill and partnership generated within each host venue. Young at Art also benefited from the information gathered through post- performance feedback and box office information.
Press and Media Coverage Following the Festival in May 2003, the next big event for the organisation was the launch of the Image and Imagination publication in the Linen Hall Library. The event was well attended and the publication gained Young at Art a large amount of international comment, from its contributors and from institutions and artists worldwide who bought copies. However, there was little or no local coverage and little opportunity for staff to spend time generating publicity, coming as it did in the aftermath of both the festival and the recruitment of a new Director.
For C-TEXT in November 2003, Young at Art worked with its partners BBC Blast to generate public profile for the project, resulting in a feature on BBC Newsline and general reporting in the local press. The next opportunity to raise awareness about the festival was in the period around the two Festival on Tour projects in late January/February and March. In partnership with the local venues and with the involvement of its transport sponsor Translink, Young at Art co-ordinated a number of press and photo opportunities, featuring the performers alongside children from a number of attending schools, venue staff and members of Translink’s regional management teams. Press releases were circulated widely while the Audience Development Officer worked hard to develop local angles and work with a wide variety of regional papers.
Before the end of March, Young at Art began its campaign to recruit a second year of School Friends. A press release was circulated widely and reproduced in a wide range of regional papers. In the coming year, raising the profile of its entire programme will be addressed through the strategic distribution of project reports and also the plotting of an annual promotional timetable.
17 Print Following the Festival brochure and the Image & Imagination publication, the only other print in 2003 – 04 was the touring leaflet for Festival on Tour. Although dense with booking information (it promoted both tours), it continued the organisation’s house style to use high quality artwork and illustrations. A professional illustrator Kaisermouse Studio agreed to produce these at a heavily discounted rate and the end results were exquisite. For the promotion of the School Friends Year 2 recruitment and all other mail outs, the organisation produced all print in-house.
Young at Art’s total print outside of the Festival in 2003 – 2004 was: 14,000 venue leaflets Inclusion in a range of venue brochure and free listings
GENERAL COMPANY PROFILE
It has already been noted that Young at Art has for some time concentrated its promotional efforts on the Festival while working on its own public profile or that of its year-round programme had taken a step back. Before March 2004, the organisation had begun a review of how it might better promote its work and vision however, with a number of other issues pressing such as fundraising; this aspect of its consolidation plan did not get fully underway until April 2004. A number of changes and improvements did take place.
Logo The current Young at Art logo was developed for the first festival by Lesley Stannage design and has been used both in full colour and black and white since then. It has however, not been used consistently appearing sometimes with or without the background wash, being transformed into a constellation for the Festival 2002 Stars and Space Festival and becoming so small on its 2003 brochure that many people thought the festival was called the Festival of Dreams and not the Young at Art Festival. To redress this, the logo was given prominence on the Festival on Tour leaflet, however it has proven to be difficult to reproduce both on the organisation’s own print, or the print of other organisations. In Spring 2004, with the arrival of a new Director, this issue was brought into the consolidation process and the organisation agreed to stick with the basic black and white logo for company stationery until the strategic development and planning process could inform a re-branding.
Website The Young at Art website was developed extensively to accompany the festival in 2002 and reflected the look and feel of the festival which was themed on Stars and Space. In 2003, the Audience Development Officer worked with the website developer to update the site with information on the festival in 2003 as well as a number of other areas – e.g. the sale of publications including Image & Imagination, the Young Review, and the competition for youth groups. Plans to redevelop the look and content of the site entirely will be informed by the strategic development process. The website remained the same until a holding page was put into place in early summer 2004.
General Profile The increase in the strategic promotion of the organisation and its year-round programme boosted awareness of its work in the latter half of the year. During Spring 2004, the organisation worked hard to promote Young at Art as widely as possible. Some media interest was generated by the arrival of new Director Ali FitzGibbon, resulting in press coverage later in spring. The Director’s new arrival also invited a series of introductory meetings to take place with agencies and other organisations, giving staff an opportunity to disseminate information about future plans. The advocacy role of the organisation’s staff and board and its representation in various public fora will play an important in its next stage of development. Young at Art is also committed to raising awareness of its work among a range of potential supporters and funders, such as government departments and agencies and private businesses.
18
“I enjoyed myself at Corrymeela and meeting other people. At Maysfield I was shy, but I enjoyed myself there too. I liked singing with other people and learning other things. I learned how to be someone that I didn’t know that I was.”
Teenage Mother
Surestart Inner East, Belfast
19 THE YOUNG AT ART TEAM
In a year that saw an international festival attracting over 11,000 visitors and outreach and development across Northern Ireland involving over 4,000 more, tribute must be paid to the staff that undertook this intense and demanding workload.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
In 2003 – 2004, Board membership remained largely the same, representing youth, arts, education, business and voluntary sectors. One resignation was received in June 2003 from Dr Hamish Fyfe who left Northern Ireland to take up a new post at the University of Glamorgan. Hamish played an enormous role in the establishment of Young at Art’s partnerships with academic institutions such as Stranmillis College and the development of its portfolio of publications.
Anne McReynolds - Chair Carmel Heaney Malcolm Smith - Treasurer Rita Duffy Stella Hall Lizzie Devlin Philip Morrow Paula Spence
The Board undertook a significant role during the consultation with both Ophelia Byrne and key funders in the development of a consolidation plan, in particular Anne McReynolds and Stella Hall.
CORE STAFFING
The year began in April 2003 with a core team of 3:
Rebecca Hunter – part-time Programme Manager (freelance) up to August 2003 Suzanne Marner – fulltime Outreach Officer up to March 2004 Alice Jackson – fulltime Audience Development Officer since February 2003
Both Rebecca and Suzanne had been with Young at Art for over three years while Alice joined the organisation in February 2003. Both the Officers’ posts were funded through multi-annual grants from the National Lottery Fund through ACNI. Rebecca undertook the programming of the festival and the general management of the organisation. Suzanne devised and implemented the various outreach programmes and maintained successful links with schools and community groups. Alice undertook new initiatives in audience development and marketing. All staff worked in additional roles during the festival and throughout the year while Harbinson & Mulholland, the company’s auditors, provided a payroll service. There was no Director in post (full or part time) from June 2002 until August 2003.
The year saw immense change in Young at Art’s staffing not only in its makeup but also its resourcing and structure. In April, Young at Art secured funding to recruit a fulltime Director:
Ophelia Byrne - fulltime Director August – November 2003 Ali FitzGibbon - fulltime Director since January 2004
Following recruitment in May/June 2003, new Director Ophelia Byrne completed a handover period with Rebecca Hunter in August. Rebecca relocated to London to take up a post with Creative Partnerships. Ophelia joined the organisation just as a number of ongoing difficulties finally caught up with Young at Art - a programme of activity and growth failing to be matched by commensurate support, as well as the long absence of a fulltime Director or Manager. She remained with Young at Art until November 2003, seeing through the appointment of the Festival’s third Director in two years Ali FitzGibbon, and overseeing the preparation of two very successful core funding applications and a strategic consolidation plan for the organisation in 2004 – 2005. Ali FitzGibbon liaised with Ophelia Byrne from October 2003. She began the post fulltime in January 2004 and began the process of restructuring Young at Art and moving it on to its next stage of development.
Suzanne Marner completed her third and most successful Outreach project with the organisation in February 2004 and completed her contract in March. After four and a half years with the organisation and a contribution that extended far beyond her job description, she left in order to re-train as a primary school teacher.
Changing even one member of staff in such a small organisation is difficult and credit must be given to the commitment, additional workload and professionalism of the Young at Art team, those who moved on and those who remain. This period required everyone to work outside each individual’s role and with fierce dedication. Special credit should be given to Rebecca Hunter who undertook the management duties of a Director following the departure of Anna Cutler in June 2002, steering the organisation through a year of uncertainty and hardship.
20 FESTIVAL STAFFING
In addition to the core staff detailed above and the artists featured in the festival programme, Young at Art recruited a number of staff on a short-term freelance basis for the festival period. These were:
Laurence Bernard Scott - - Box Office Manager March – May 2003 Lizzie Agnew - Press Officer April – May 2003 Monica Callan - Festival Assistant May 2003 3rd Source Media - Production Management February – May 2003
Of these, only the Box Office Manager was engaged on a full-time basis. 3rd Source Media are a freelance production company; one of whose partners Connor Kane was previously the Festival Production Manager.
All the festival team made a great contribution to the festival and deserve an acknowledgment in its success. Recommendations following a post-festival internal evaluation included the recruitment of a box office assistant and an increase of time allowed for a press/communications officer. It was felt these would alleviate the strain on the core staff and box office manager while also maximising opportunities for promotional coverage, particularly around the festival launch. It was also noted that the burden of the customer care had in Festival 2003 fallen to its volunteer teams, who although experienced sometimes lacked the necessary authority to make decisions. In other instances, the festival staff had run the events themselves, reducing their availability for dealing with any immediate issues arising elsewhere.
With the introduction of a computerised box office at Queen’s University, Young at Art agreed in Spring 2004 to contract out its box office for the Festival in October 2004 to the main Belfast Festival at Queen’s box office. In addition the organisation began the process of devising a job description and recruiting for an additional member of staff to take on the day-to-day finance and operational management and assist in fundraising and forward planning.
VOLUNTEERS
Young at Art has benefited from the involvement of volunteers at every festival, recruiting from interested individuals and also attracting arts students, particularly from the two performing arts courses in Belfast. Roles vary from year to year with most volunteers taking part as front of house staff, workshop assistants, manning the play zones and assisting backstage at live events. This year was no different and the festival assistant undertook the role of co- ordinating the volunteers. Induction in basic child protection, health and safety and customer care was provided and all volunteers who requested it were reimbursed for travel expenses.
Over 35 volunteers took part in the festival, ranging in their commitment from 3 – 4 days to an afternoon. During the week of the festival, a number of people phoned asking to volunteer and where possible, these were accommodated following one-to-one induction. All volunteers received an eye-catching festival t-shirt and were invited to a festival party with the visiting and local artists on the Sunday night. As part of the strategic review process Young at Art undertook research with a range of voluntary agencies in February and March 2004 to support best practice in its volunteer recruitment and induction.
In January 2004, Rita Kardos, an EVS international volunteer from Hungary, joined the organisation. Rita undertook the role of Outreach Assistant, assisting Suzanne Marner in The Storyshapers project and also worked for first one and then two days a week in the Young at Art office. She became an important member of the team and before March 2004 had initiated discussions to develop a youth project in North Belfast and had undertaken a review of youth groups in the Belfast area.
Rita Kardos - part-time Outreach Assistant January – June 2004
PROJECT STAFFING
During the year, the organisation engaged a number of people to complete its projects, all on a freelance and short- term basis. Their role in delivering the organisation’s objectives was vital. Before March 2004, Young at Art had begun to explore ways of tracking its impact as an employer and also the development of an in-house register of freelance project co-ordinators and artists to encourage new people to work with the organisation.
Festival 2003 featured a range of individual artists – Monkeyshine Theatre Co (Kareen Pennefather, Helen Hugel and their production team); Alacoque Davey; Paul Marshal; Amanda Montgomery; Genevieve & Jon Designs; Paul Currie and Michael McNulty of Kernal Trapps. These artists are listed in the Festival summary.
Image & Imagination Janice Hoadley - parttime Publication Editor October 2002- June 2003
Festival On Tour - Chilly in the Dark Times Jennifer Jordan - Director (freelance) January 2004 Kareen Pennefather - Monkeyshine Theatre Co January – February 2004 21 Helene Hugel (performers, writers, etc) Patrick Sanders - Stage Manager January – February 2004 Stephen Aspley - Technical Manager January – February 2004 Edele Magill - Technical Advisor January 2004
Festival On Tour – Daniel Morden Daniel Morden - Performer March 2004 Oliver Wilson-Dickson - Musician March 2004 Val Bainbridge - Tour Manager March 2004
22
“To all at Young at Art, Thanks for a week of seamless organisation, fine navigation & good conversation and for all your help with SeaShoreShow.”
Nico Brown, Artist Ireland
“Dear All, Thanks for a marvellous tour! We’d come back at the drop of a hat!”
Daniel Morden and Oliver Wilson Dickson
Wales
23
CONSOLIDATION PLAN
SUMMARY
2003 – 2004 was a year of mixed fortunes for Young at Art. The organisation successfully secured a substantial increase in support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, doubling its revenue funding and enabling the recruitment of a fulltime Director. It was again successful in attracting and developing relationships with a range of supporters, amassing a portfolio of funding and in-kind sponsorship, including multi-annual funding for two strands of its work. This public and private support was invested in a wide range of activities of universally high quality, benefiting over 14,000 children, young people, their families and guardians in just twelve months. The organisation produced and distributed a publication, reinforcing international recognition for arts work with young people in Northern Ireland and the work of the organisation following its successful 2002 Making Space Conference.
However, the need for a fulltime Director was underlined when in this same successful year, the last minute rejection from just one potential funder for the Festival 2003 left the organisation with significant cashflow problems and no executive staff member with the responsibility or authority to redress the situation. The absence of a Director from June 2002 had also left a gap in aspects of the organisation’s cashflow management, its internal systems, its forward planning and also the more long-term advocacy and lobbying activities.
The crunch came in autumn 2003 when as the new Director from August to November, Ophelia Byrne set about untangling the complicated history of Young at Art’s funding patterns and producing a needs analysis. In partnership with the Board of Directors and incoming Director Ali FitzGibbon, prepared a consolidation plan to redress the gap between Young at Art’s planning, its delivery of activities, and its systems and resources.
BACKGROUND
Following substantial investment in its early years from the Northern Ireland Events Company, Young at Art had not been successful in securing significant levels of core support (i.e. enough to sustain at least one fulltime staff member) until 2003 - 2004. Its ability to generate income through ticket sales had been limited and lack of staffing left little opportunity to pursue other earned income such as sponsorship. Internally an ethos or belief in the value of its work meant that core elements such as staffing and overheads were often sacrificed to the needs of the festival programme or other projects or given priority in fundraising.
While the support of Belfast City Council and ACNI had increased over these years, it had not kept pace with the growth in activities. These had grown very quickly from an annual international festival to include at different stages a year-round outreach and development programme including pilot projects for the Dept of Culture Arts & Leisure; a regional and international theatre producing and touring programme; a discussion forum for youth arts practitioners; an international conference; and a series of academic publications. Furthermore, in undertaking these other activities, the organisation had grown away from its core function – the delivery of an international festival – while also failing to draw all these elements together as one coherent body of work. Each strand of activity was successful in itself but it was not unusual for participants in one aspect of Young at Art’s work to be unaware of any other.
During its growth from an annual event to a year-round organisation with a wide range of activities, Young at Art like many new organisations had little or no capacity to employ any fulltime staff and this led to a continuous state of managing the project in hand and little opportunity for forward planning. Like a swan gliding beautifully above the water but paddling furiously below, Young at Art had engaged in a range of exceptional activities and helped bring about significant improvements to the youth arts infrastructure in Northern Ireland, all the time lacking the internal mechanisms to secure its own sustainability and future.
CONSOLIDATION PLAN
In October 2003, the Board of Directors approached both its core funders ACNI and Belfast City Council to discuss its financial position within this year and the need to undertake a strategic re-focus of all its activities in order to ensure its future success. Both agencies were extremely sympathetic and gave significant time and advice to assist Young at Art during this period. The main impact of the resulting plan takes place in 2004 – 05 but it is worth noting the key elements here: A comprehensive review and development of the organisation’s internal systems The development of a company strategy to include the review of its core activities and objectives The development of a fundraising strategy to match its future programme and vision The deferral of the Festival in May 2004 to a reduced festival in October, returning to May in 2005 The restructuring of its 3-year Audience Development programme (supported by the Lottery Fund through ACNI) An appeal for special support was made to ACNI to assist its existing cashflow difficulties Young at Art’s withdrawal from coordinating an International Summer School in summer 2004 in order to focus on the consolidation process 24
“I would not change anything (about the project) because it is good fun, if you changed it it would be still good fun.”
Nathan Drumadonnell PS, Ballyroney
25
“The project has changed the group dynamic in the class. Although our children would normally pull together, the project has brought them even closer. Mark McIlroy (the hero) has certainly come on self- confidence wise, and others. This was probably been the most enjoyable and educational project I have ever been involved in! I would be happy to go with any arts project promoted by Young at Art – all the personnel involved were of the highest calibre.”
Donal McCaul, Principal St Colman’s PS, Annaclone
26
APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: EVENT-BY-EVENT SUMMARY OF FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES
Performance Events
Event: Chilly in the Dark Times Chilly in the Dark Times was commissioned especially for festival 2003 Artist: Monkeyshine Theatre Co (NI) as part of Young at Art’s commitment to capacity building within the Venue: Old Museum arts centre arts community in Belfast. This was an exquisite non- verbal Age: 5-10yrs performance that involved puppetry, clowning and movement. While No of Perfs: 4 performances hampered by a limited production budget, the end result was original and well constructed. This piece went on to tour to regional theatres throughout Northern Ireland as part of Young at Art’s Audience Development Programme in January 2004.
Event: Snow White Snow White was a sophisticated, contemporary retelling of the classic Artist: Theatre Sgaramusch (Switzerland) tale, performed by only three actors armed with only their musical Venue: Old Museum arts centre, New instruments. This piece was extremely easy to tour, and travelled to Hill Youth Club, Black Mountain PS & youth groups and schools throughout Belfast after performing in OMAC. Malvern PS A Q&A to allow the children to ask questions about the actors and the Age: 10+yrs piece followed performances. This turned into a unique cultural and No of Perfs: 6 performances educational experience for the groups involved.
Event: The Workshop of the Butterflies The Workshop of the Butterflies was a beautiful two-man show Artist: Puppentheater Der Stadt Halle performed by German company Puppentheater Der Stadt Halle, a (Germany) company that specialises in returning traditional theatre forms to the Venue: Old Museum arts centre stage. This was a story of two creators who made everything on earth Age: 5+yrs sculpting the characters from paper as the story progressed. This was a No of Perfs: 6 performances simple, and slightly abstract show for younger children that added a more challenging piece for this age group. This piece was of an extremely high quality, and raising the standard of this year’s programme.
Event: The Anatomist Young at Art worked with Kernal Trapps Puppets during festival 2003, Artist: Kernal Trapps Puppets (NI) when they transformed The Little Pavilion in Botanic Gardens into the Venue: Little Pavilion setting for The Anatomist. The company created a truly magical Age: 10+yrs installation and performance in this unusual space. It involved the No of Perfs: 3 performances audience ‘scrubbing up’ before they entered into the scene of the operation – a live dissection of a puppet to determine whether puppets do have souls. The company changed the outside and inside of the building for the performances. Subtle changes made to the outside of the building generated curiosity about what was happening inside, and encouraged people who would not traditionally attend arts events to get involved in festival.
Event: Robin Hood Robin Hood was performed by Ophaboom, England’s only professional Artist: Ophaboom (England) Commedia dell’arte company, using medieval song, slapstick comedy Venue: Lyric Theatre and half masks. The production was perfectly paced for family Age: 6+yrs audiences, and was a rare chance for older students to see this unique No of Perfs: 4 performances style of theatre. Although less polished than some of the other work on offer, Robin Hood was fast moving, hugely entertaining had a broad appeal bringing many first time theatre attendees to festival.
Event: A Fairy’s Tale This year Young at Art presented Cahoots NI’s A Fairy’s Tale, creators of Artist: Cahoots NI the festival hit Buster in 2002. A Fairy’s Tale was inspired on the work Venue: Waterfront Hall of Czech poet Miroslav Holub. Two fairies’ that live in a doll’s house Age: 5+yrs come to life to brighten up the life of a shopkeeper. This interpretation No of Perfs: 5 performances of the story had few words, using circus and magic to draw out a traditional and entertaining tale of humans, fairies and ancient curses.
Event: Pig Pig was a 30-foot inflatable pig that ‘flew’ around Belfast during the Artist: Whalley Range All Stars (England) first four days of festival. There were holes in the side of the Pig that Venue: Stormont Estate, An Culturlann, an audience of ten could peer through and watch a short, wordless Belfast Castle Parklands, & Waterfront performance happen inside. The flying pig created quite a stir in Hall Belfast during festival, its quirkiness appealing to Belfast audiences and
27 Age: All Ages generating a festival atmosphere in the city. No of Perfs: 4 days (64 x 10 minute perfs) Pig worked extremely well in An Culturlann, where the venue programmed other arts events for school children to take part in when each group of ten were seeing Pig. Here the children got the opportunity to make a paper pig to take home with them, had a short storytelling session, and watched a piece of Irish Language animation. The event was attended by Irish Medium Schools and was thoroughly enjoyed by both students and teachers.
Interactive/Participatory Events
Event: Levity Luminarium The Architects of Air returned to festival this year with Levity Artist: Architects of Air (England) Luminarium , a huge inflatable sculpture exhibited in the Botanic Venue: Botanic Gardens Gardens throughout the festival. This impressive otherworldly structure Age: All Ages was an interactive exhibition with ambient music and chambers of Open 11am – 6pm for 6 days colour and light which visitors could walk through or relax in. Young at Art worked in partnership with the Parks Department to bring Architects of Air back to Belfast, and Levity helped give the festival a presence in the city, and raising awareness amongst the general public, and generating a loyal following of adults who wish they were children.
Event: Little Monsters Workshops Using digital technology and good old-fashioned cutting and pasting, Artist: Sticky Fingers (NI) Sticky Fingers artists Sheelagh Colclough and Sally Young delivered Venue: Ulster Museum Little Monsters Workshops to early years children in the Ulster Museum. Age: 4-6yrs In these public workshops children changed themselves into all kinds of No of W’shops: 4 workshops monsters using digital cameras and laptops. These workshops worked extremely well and sold out within days.
Event: SeaShoreShow Musician Nico Brown facilitated music workshops in the Palm House, Artist: Nico Brown (Ireland) when family groups were asked to journey through the sea with him Venue: Palmhouse, Botanic Gardens encountering high winds, sharks and pirates. The Palm House provided Age: 4-10yrs the perfect setting for Nico’s show and was thoroughly enjoyed by No of W’shops: 4 workshops public audiences. This workshop also went on tour to schools throughout Northern Ireland as part of the School Friends programme.
Event: Dream Catching Workshops & the The Dream Catching Workshops were a drop in workshop led by Play Zone Alacoque Davey, and allowed each child to create their own dream Artist: Alacoque Davey (NI) catcher using willow, plastic tubing, tissue, pipe cleaners, beads and Venue: Lyric Theatre & the Waterfront feathers. The Dream Catching workshops ran alongside the Play Zone, Hall an area that enabled parents to relax and play with their children in a Age: 0-10yrs creative environment. All of the children’s dream catchers were hung No of W’shops: 9 drop-in sessions, each in the Waterfront Hall, creating a Dream Catcher web-like installation lasting 2 – 4 hours that grew throughout festival.
Event: Dream Machine Workshops and The Dream Machine was a truly magnificent piece of art created by Installation Fermanagh artists Genevieve and Jon Designs. This beautiful blue boat, Artist: Genevieve and Jon Designs half woman with cogs and compasses, was sited beneath Rita Duffy’s Venue: Waterfront Hall Shoal and was a truly arresting site as the children entered the building. Age: 7-11yrs Groups of children joined a workshop to create a feather that depicted No of W’shops: 6 workshops their dreams and aspirations using tissue, wire, paint and model magic, (Machine on display throughout festival) a light modelling clay. At the end of the workshop the children’s dream feathers were added to the sculpture, the piece becoming more beautiful and elaborate as the workshops progressed.
Event: Kaleidoscope Installation and In 2002 Young at Art worked in partnership with Open Arts and the Workshops Waterfront Hall to provide Kaleidoscope workshops accessible to Artist: Dearbhla McNally and Mike Smith children with special needs and learning difficulties. These returned as Venue: Waterfront Hall part of Festival in a Day. Each child made and took home a beautiful Age: 6yrs+ kaleidoscope. This was a fascinating workshop for children and adults No of W’shops: 2 workshops and they got the opportunity to make a simple yet exceptional piece of (Kaleidoscope on display throughout art in a light and spacious setting. Young at Art asked Open Arts artists festival) to create a Giant Kaleidoscope that was exhibited alongside the workshops in Bar One of the Waterfront Hall. This was a large interactive exhibit that could be played with by children visiting the venue during festival.
28
Event: Day Dreams Workshops For two days at the weekend young people could take part in Day Artist: Dream Ireland, ITXP Kennedy Dreams workshops led by Dream Ireland artists in the ITXP computer Centre suite in the Kennedy Centre. The same group of young people, aged Venue: ITXP, Kennedy Centre eight years up, got the opportunity to learn how to work with Age: 8-12yrs sophisticated computer packages, and made their very own short No of W’shops: 1 x 2-day workshop animation by the end of the sessions. The young people surpassed the artist’s expectations of what could be achieved by such a mixed age group, and created extraordinary characters of their very own.
Event: Festival in a Day The Family Friendly Day this year was renamed Festival in a Day to Artist: Cahoots NI, Whalley Range All distinguish it from The Cathedral Quarter’s Family Friendly Day. As Stars, Genevieve & Jon Designs, usual this day formed an integral part of festival allowing family groups Alacoque Davey, Yella Fever Foundation, from outside Belfast to visit the city and attend a number of Festival Arran Towers, Dearbhla McNally, Mike events in one day. Smith Venue: Waterfront Hall For the first year ever Young at Art concentrated its activities in one Age: Family venue, The Waterfront Hall, with performances, installations, workshops, walkabout characters, face painting and live music happening throughout the day. The Waterfront Hall had previously celebrated its fifth birthday with a family friendly day with great success. The two organisations collaborated and jointly programmed the Festival in a Day, bringing a general feeling of festivity to the city and focus for the week’s activities. The event received excellent feedback, and will act as a good base to build from in future years.
There were other events happening throughout Belfast, with performances in OMAC, Luminarium in Botanic Gardens and Day Dreams Workshop in the Kennedy Centre on the Falls Rd.
Artist/Practitioner Events
Event: Da Capo Launch As part of the festival this year, Da Capo launched its second songbook, Artist: Da Capo Foundation, Paul the result of the early years pilot project conducted between January Marshall and March 2002 in ten schools throughout Northern Ireland. The Venue: Waterfront Hall songbook has a Northern Irish theme, with songs of Finn McCool and the Age: All Ages Giant’s Causeway, and contains more challenging songs for children 1 launch event receiving Da Capo teaching. The songbook was launched in the Waterfront Hall on the first day of festival, and was attended by many of the teachers involved in the Da Capo and other Young at Art pilot projects in previous years. Local musician Paul Marshall, who has been trained in the Da Capo methods, worked with children from St Comgall’s PS to teach them some of the new songs in the book, which were performed at the launch.
Event: Open Space Vicky Ireland, member of the ASSITEJ World Executive, chair for the Artist: Young at Art & Vicky Ireland (NI & Action for Children's Arts and former Artistic Director for Polka Theatre, UK) hosted this festival's Open Space. With a background in writing, Venue: Old Museum Arts Centre directing and performing in children’s theatre, she was particularly Age: 16 yrs + interested to talk about multi-disciplinary approaches to creating No of events: 1 Seminar theatre and art works for children and young people. The discussion was attended by practising artists from a variety of disciplines and a number of children's charities interested in engaging with the cultural sector. The group voiced their particular motivations in creating art works with and for young people and the importance of festivals for showcasing, commissioning and presenting local and international work on a shared platform. Vicky also spoke about the work of ACA, a UK wide lobby group dedicated to the promotion of arts for and with children.
Event: Script Lab This was the opening session of a six-month long new writing project by Artist: Replay Productions Replay Productions. 5 new writers were mentored through a process by Venue: Linen Hall Library 5 professional directors to produce a piece of theatre for young Age: 16 yrs + audiences, with intervention from Replay and a number of visiting No of events: 1 x rehearsed reading & artists. This first session featured a rehearsed reading of Replay’s workshop autumn production, followed by a workshop facilitated by Vicky Ireland.
29 Youth Showcase Events/Exhibitions
Event: Animal Farm The classic fable Animal Farm was produced and performed by Artist: 4Front Theatre Company, BIFHE performing arts students from BIFHE during festival this year. This was a (NI) sophisticated musical theatre piece, and the performances by all of the Venue: Tower St Theatre actors were exceptional. Animal Farm was a huge success at box Age: 11yrs+ office, with many secondary school groups attending, as they were No of Perfs: 5 performances studying the text as part of the GCSE syllabus. The BIFHE students also delivered free pre and post show workshops to schools.
Event: Urban Legends Urban Legends was the result of a week long National Youth Music Artist: NYMT & Orangefield High School Theatre Pathways Project that happened during the Young at Art (UK & NI) festival this year. Phillip McKenzie and Ron Bunzl worked with a group Venue: Westbourne Presbyterian Church of young men from Orangefield High School to create a powerful Age: 10yrs+ performance in the Westbourne Presbyterian Church involving physical 1 x weeklong residency theatre, with singing and dance against the background of short film No of Perfs: 1 performance about the group, based on themes of identity. This was an extraordinary performance by young men who had little or no experience of devising or performing theatre, and was one of the highlights of the festival. The performance left the audience dumb struck, and the young men enjoyed a high quality process to create the piece led by highly experienced artists.
Event: Show Down, Dirty Money, The Big Share Arts of County Fermanagh, brought its Cardboard Technology Draw & The Zoetrope films, documentation of its ‘The Big Draw’, and Stephen Mullan and Artist: Share Arts Peter Nelson’s Zoetrope to festival this year. The Zoetrope was Venue: Waterfront Hall, OMAC exhibited in the Old Museum arts centre and the films were on loop in Age: All Ages the foyer of the Waterfront Hall throughout the festival. Exhibitions open throughout festival
Event: Rhyming Round Belfast Based on the themes of ‘Dreams and Diversity’ 2,500 young people Artist: New Belfast Community Arts wrote, read, performed and recorded their own poetry as part of Initiative & Arcominteractive NBCAI’s Poetry in Motion project. Showcased at the festival, this work Venue: Queen’s Film Theatre was part of an international exchange with public libraries in Belfast, Age: All Ages Boston and Dublin. No of events: 1 screening
Event: Big Bed Installation This huge four-poster bed was made by four pre-school playgroups from Artist: Sticky Fingers (NI) across Northern Ireland working with visual and digital artists from Venue: Ulster Museum Sticky Fingers. Themed around things that scare us and things that help Age: All Ages us when we feel scared, Big Bed was installed alongside the Ulster Open to public for 6 days Museum’s Dinosaur Exhibition.
Event: Sonic Sculpture Garden The final elements of the Sonic Sculpture Garden were completed and Artist: Paul Marshall, Amanda unveiled at Festival 2003. This unique installation of tactile interactive Montgomery & Angela George sculptures regularly draw people into the garden area outside the Lyric Venue: Lyric Theatre Theatre, from the venue, the surrounding neighbourhood and Botanic Age: All Ages Gardens. While difficulties arose in the final materials used which Open to public permanently reduced the sonic impact of the pieces, the installation is an exciting feature on the landscape, introducing many young people to sculpture as a vibrant and responsive medium.
30
APPENDIX 2: ANALYSIS OF FESTIVAL AUDIENCES/PARTICIPANTS
Summary of total Festival attendances (including outreach figures):
Pre-bookings: Belfast City Council area residents 2,267 Residents of other local authorities in Northern Ireland 2, 293 Address of pre-booking audience not known 71 Other attendances (through venue box office or door sales): Luminarium Visitors 3, 400 approx Day Out at the Waterfront Hall Attendees 2, 000 approx Other audience/participants and attendees at ‘Drop in’ workshops 1, 400 approx Total 11, 431 people
Analysis of Festival pre-bookings by Belfast City Council ward definitions:
Ward Participants Audience Total Ward Participants Audience Total And'town 1 0 1 Highfield 0 30 30 Ardoyne 0 3 3 Island 0 0 0 Ballyhackamore 4 12 16 Knock 5 25 30 Ballymacarrett 20 14 34 Ladybrook 0 0 0 Ballynefeigh 16 44 60 Legoniel 0 0 0 Ballysillan 0 10 10 Malone 0 78 78 Beechmount 0 8 8 Musgrave 0 3 3 Bellevue 0 0 0 New Lodge 0 6 6 Belmont 0 17 17 Orangefield 20 4 24 Bloomfield 0 0 0 Ravenhill 26 284 310 Botanic 3 31 34 Rosetta 2 71 73 Castleview 0 17 17 Shaftesbury 0 199 199 Cavehill 5 37 42 Shankill 0 81 81 Cherryvalley 7 85 92 St Anne's 0 0 0 Chichester Park 0 7 7 Stormont 0 19 19 Cliftonville 0 4 4 Stranmillis 12 107 119 Clonard 0 6 6 Sydenham 0 2 2 Crumlin 0 25 25 The Mount 0 0 0 Duncairn 0 177 177 Upper Malone 13 49 62 Falls 0 185 185 Upper Springfield 0 10 10 Falls Park 0 118 118 Water Works 0 44 44 Finaghy 0 171 171 Whiterock 30 0 30 Fortwilliam 8 17 25 Windsor 9 54 63 Glen Road 0 25 25 Woodstock 0 0 0 Glencairn 0 0 0 Woodvale 0 0 0 Glencolin 0 7 7
31 Analysis of Festival pre-bookings by local authority area:
District Participants Audience Total District Participants Audience Total Antrim 29 44 73 Dungannon 0 20 20 Ards 79 76 155 Fermanagh 150 0 150 Armagh 0 7 7 Larne 0 0 0 Ballymena 6 3 9 Limavady 62 0 62 Ballymoney 43 0 43 Lisburn 10 64 74 Banbridge 2 8 10 Magherafelt 174 55 229 Carrickfergus 0 36 36 Moyle 0 3 3 Castlereagh 18 187 205 Newry 57 70 127 Coleraine 108 15 123 Newtownabbey 18 201 219 Cookstown 0 0 0 North Down 18 106 124 Craigavon 150 20 170 Omagh 75 0 75 Derry 175 0 175 Strabane 0 0 0 Down 88 116 204
32 APPENDIX 3: ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT & OUTREACH AUDIENCES/PARTICIPANTS
Summary of Audience/Participation figures
Project Audience Participants TOTAL The Storyshapers 300 42 342 Sure Start Inner East Image Theatre Project 0 16 16 School Friends – Workshop 1 0 399 399 School Friends – Workshop 2 0 676 676 School Friends – Performance (fig included in total for tour below) (648) 0 - Hot air balloon-making workshops 0 48 48 C-TEXT 0 12 12 Festival on Tour – Chilly in the Dark Times 1192 0 1192 Festival on Tour – Daniel Morden 1559 0 1559 TOTAL 3,051 1,193 4,244
Festival Outreach figures are included in total attendances for the festival in Appendix 1.
Festival Outreach
The following is a summary of groups and schools who took part in the festival as audience and participants and also through a number of outreach programmes (Day Out, Festival in the Community, etc).
Group/School No of people Event Location 147 Trust 5 People Fairy's Tale Belfast Ashton Centre Day Care 24 People Butterflies Belfast Ballymoney High School 20 People Day Out at the Waterfront Hall Ballymoney Belfast High School 20 Pupils Robin Hood Newtownabbey Blackmountain PS 30 People Snow White Belfast Botanic PS 64 Pupils Butterflies Belfast Brookfield Special School 14 Pupils Fairy's Tale Moira Cabin Hill School 75 People Robin Hood Belfast Camphill Community 4 People Butterflies Holywood Ceara Special School 20 People Chilly in the Dark Times Lurgan Children's Express 9 People Animal Farm, Pig & Snow White Belfast Clonard Youth Centre 5 People Pig Belfast Cygnet House 17 Pupils Fairy's Tale Bangor Denmark Street Comm. Centre 46 people Fairy's Tale and Robin Hood Belfast Derriaghy PS 16 Pupils Fairy's Tale Lisburn Downshire School 29 Pupils Animal Farm Carrickfergus Drumachose PS 33 People Day Out at the Waterfront Hall Limavady Edenbrooke PS 25 People Snow White Belfast Edmund Rice College 28 People Robin Hood Glengormley Fleming Fulton Special School 12 Pupils Animal Farm Belfast Focus on Family 13 People A Fairy's Tale & Luminarium Coleraine Gaelscoil Na Bhfal 31 People Pig Belfast Gaelscoil An Lonnain 15 People Pig Belfast Glenparent Youth Group 14 People Chilly in the Dark Times Belfast Harberton School 63 Pupils Butterflies Belfast Holywood Steiner School 17 Pupils Animal Farm Holywood Integrated College Dungannon 20 People Animal Farm Dungannon Kircubbin Int PS 50 People Chilly in the Dark Times Kircubbin Knockevin Special School 43 People A Fairy's Tale Downpatrick Iarscoil Na BhFal 20 People Pig Belfast La Salle Boys School 25 People Robin Hood Belfast Limegrove Special School 29 People Day Out at the Waterfront Hall Limavady
33 Malvern PS 35 People Snow White Belfast Millburn PS 33 People Day Out at the Waterfront Hall Coleraine Millennium Int PS 80 Pupils D Catching, Butterflies & Pig Saintfield Mourne Grange Villiage School 7 pupils Fairy's Tale Kilkeel Naiscoil An Loiste Uir 15 People Pig Belfast Lumin., Anatom., S. White, Chilly and New Belfast CAI 135 People Pig Belfast New Hill Youth Club 10 People Snow White Belfast Orangefield High School 20 People Urban legends Belfast Our Lady of Lourdes High 23 People Day Out at the Waterfront Hall Ballymoney Rosstullagh Special School 46 Pupils Animal Farm and Chilly Newtownabbey St Anne's PS 25 People Storytelling and Illustration W'shop L'Derry St Anne's PS 167 People Robin Hood Belfast St Bernadette's PS 31 People Storytelling and Illustration W'shop Belfast St Clare's PS 57 Pupils Luminarium and Animal Farm Newry St Comgall's PS 23 People The Da Capo Song Book Launch Bangor St John's PS 24 Pupils Day Out at the Waterfront Hall Swatragh St Joseph's PS 47 People Chilly in the Dark Times Belfast Sonic Sculpture Workshops/Animal St Joseph's College 21 People Farm Belfast St Malachy's PS 90 People Fairy's Tale Belfast St Martin's Nursery School 57 Pupils Fairy's Tale Belfast St Mary's PS 26 Pupils Butterflies Bellaghy St Mary's PS 30 People Chilly in the Dark Times Belfast Stranmillis PS 56 People Robin Hood Belfast Sullivan Upper School 31 People Robin Hood Holywood
The Storyshapers
The Storyshapers Aud/Ptcpts No of events Location Drumadonnell PS, Ballyroney 21 + staff 8 w’shops Banbridge District Council St Colman’s PS, Annaclone 21 + staff 8 w’shops Banbridge District Council Drumadonnell PS, Ballyroney 150 1 perf Banbridge District Council St Colman’s PS, Annaclone 150 1 perf Banbridge District Council
Sure Start Inner East Image Theatre Project
Image Theatre Project Participants No of events Location Sure Start Inner East 16 3 w’shops & 1 x Sure Start, Albertbridge Rd; 2-day residency Maysfield Centre & Corrymeela
School Friends Programme
Workshop 1: Reviewing workshop Participants No of events Location St Patrick’s PS, Portaferry 30 Ards Borough Council Cedar Integrated PS, Crossgar 32 Down District Council Millburn PS, Coleraine 62 Coleraine Borough Council Crossroads PS, Ballymena 30 Ballymena Borough Council Roscavey OS, Omagh 32 Omagh District Council St Bridget’s PS, Gulladuff 31 Magherafelt District Council Portadown Integrated PS, Portadown 31 Craigavon Borough Council St Colmcille’s PS, Claudy 30 Derry City Council Drumahoe PS> Drumahoe 30 Derry City Council St Patrick’s PS, Derrygonnelly 30 Fermanagh District Council Maguiresbridge PS, Enniskillen 30 Fermanagh District Council Ballyoran PS, Portadown 31 Craigavon Borough Council
34
Workshop 2: Seashoreshow workshop Participants No of events Location St Patrick’s PS, Derrygonnelly 58 Fermanagh District Council Maguiresbridge PS, Enniskillen 56 Fermanagh District Council St Patrick’s PS. Portaferry 60 Ards Borough Council Cedar Integrated PS, Crossgar 54 Down District Council Millburn PS, Coleraine 63 Coleraine Borough Council Crossroads PS, Ballymena 53 Ballymena Borough Council St Colmcille’s PS, Claudy 60 Derry City Council Drumahoe PS, Drumahoe 58 Derry City Council Portadown Integrated PS, Portadown 55 Craigavon Borough Council Ballyoran PS, Portadown 62 Craigavon Borough Council Roscavey PS, Omagh 37 Omagh District Council St Bridget’s PS. Gulladuff 60 Magherafelt District Council
Performance: Chilly in the Dark Times Participants Venue Location St Patrick’s PS. Portaferry 58 Down Arts Ards Borough Council Centre Cedar Integrated PS, Crossgar 60 As above Down District Council St Patrick’s PS, Derrygonnelly 44 Ardhowen Fermanagh District Council Maguiresbridge PS, Enniskillen 45 As above Fermanagh District Council Portadown Integrated PS, Portadown 66 Market Place Craigavon Borough Council St Colmcille’s PS, Claudy 53 Playhouse Derry City Council Drumahoe PS, Drumahoe 37 As above Derry City Council Millburn PS, Coleraine 66 Riverside Coleraine Borough Council Crossroads PS, Ballymena 60 As above Ballymena Borough Council Ballyoran PS, Portadown 53 Burnavon Craigavon Borough Council Roscavey PS, Omagh 53 As above Omagh District Council St Bridget’s PS. Gulladuff 53 As above Magherafelt District Council
In addition, the School Friends were offered free transport to attend the second Festival on Tour project – A Ship of Fools. Seven of the twelve schools (although one school was forced to cancel at the last minute) and 239 children from the participating schools attended.
C-TEXT & Hot Air Balloon mobile-making
Hot Air Balloon-making Participants No of events Location The Bridge Youth Project, Kilkeel 8 1 w’shop & Newry & Mourne District exhibition Council Lisburn Youth Resource Centre, Lisburn 8 As above Lisburn Borough Council South Belfast Area Project, Lisburn Rd 8 As above Belfast City Council Lower Ormeau Residents Action Group 8 As above Belfast City Council Mulholland After care Services, Belfast 8 As above Belfast City Council The Bridge Community Assoc, Ravenhill Rd 8 As above Belfast City Council
C-TEXT Participants No of events Location The Bridge Youth Project 12 3 wk residency Newry & Mourne Council
35 Festival on Tour
Performance 1: Chilly in the Dark Times Audience No of Location events Down Arts Centre, Downpatrick 2 perfs Down District Council St Patrick’s PS. Portaferry 58 Ards Borough Council Cedar Integrated PS, Crossgar 60 Down District Council Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen: 2 perfs Fermanagh District Council St Patrick’s PS, Derrygonnelly 44 Maguiresbridge PS, Enniskillen 45 Model School, Enniskillen 25 Drumadavey PS 8 St Ninnidh’s PS, Derrylin 56 Drumcoo Centre 10 Unknown 33 Market Place Theatre, Armagh: 2 perfs Armagh City Council Portadown Integrated PS, Portadown 66 Brookfield Special School 14 Ceara Special School 20 Sperrin View Special School 25 Appleby Social Education Group 20 Playhouse, Derry: Derry City Council St Colmcille’s PS, Claudy 53 Drumahoe PS, Drumahoe 37 St Anne’s PS, Derry 40 Riverside Theatre, Coleraine: 1 perf Coleraine Borough Council Millburn PS, Coleraine 66 Crossroads PS, Ballymena 60 Sandelford Special School, Coleraine 34 Burnavon Centre, Cookstown: 2 perfs Cookstown District Council Ballyoran PS, Portadown 53 Roscavey PS, Omagh 53 St Bridget’s PS. Gulladuff 53 Cookstown PS, Cookstown 181 Unknown 3
36 Performance 1: A Ship of Fools Audience No of Location (& The Luck Child in Belfast) events Down Arts Centre, Downpatrick: 2 perfs Down District Council Annsborough Integrated PS 18 St Joseph’s PS, Killough 29 Drumaghlis PS, Crossgar 24 Hilden PS, Lisburn 26 St Mary’s PS, Ardglass (late cancellation) 0 Clough PS, Clough 56 St Colmcille’s PS, Downpatrick 44 St Patrick’s PS. Downpatrick 145 Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen: 2 perfs Fermanagh District Council St Davog’s PS 24 Belleek PS 23 St Martin’s PS, Garrison 46 Maguiresbridge PS 58 Drumcoo Centre 14 St Patrick’s PS, Derrygonnelly 44 Market Place Theatre, Armagh: 2 perfs Armagh City Council Ceara Special School 30 Sperrin View Special School 13 Darkley PS 72 Carrick PS Ballyoran PS 40 Portadown Integrated PS 31 Playhouse, Derry: Derry City Council St Canice’s PS 45 St Joseph’s PS 16 St Colmcille’s PS 32 Drumahoe PS 34 Riverside Theatre, Coleraine: 2 perfs Coleraine Borough Council Sandelford Special School 47 Mill Strand PS 54 St Patrick’s & St Joseph’s PS 62 Crossroads PS 60 Unknown 4 Millburn PS (late cancellation) 0 Burnavon Centre, Cookstown: 1 perf Cookstown District Council St Mary’s PS, Draperstown 185 Carrick PS, Burren 27 Holy Trinity College 113 Old Museum arts centre, Belfast 143 2 perfs Belfast City Council
37 APPENDIX 4: MEDIA COVERAGE FOR THE YEAR
Television
BBC TV News February 2003 Announcement of ACNI ASOP Award BBC TV News 15 May 2003 Festival Opening BBC TV News 16 May 2003 Festival Opening UTV Live 22 May 2003 Levity Luminarium
Radio
BBC Arts Extra 15 May 2003 Interview with Rebecca Hunter BBC Arts Extra 21 May 2003 Interview with Levity Luminarium Citybeat 20 May 2003 Interview with Alice Jackson BBC Arts Extra 23 May 2003 Interview with young reviewer
Press
Whatabout May 2003 Festival Listing Art.ie May 2003 Festival Listings & Profile Ireland’s Homes, Interiors & Living May 2003 Competition NI4kids May/June 2003 Paid Advertorial – centre colour spread NIPPA/Early Years May 2003 Paid Advertorial Belfast Telegraph 27 Feb 2003 Mention in Lyric Season Launch Belfast Telegraph 17 April 2003 Launch colour photo spread in Man About Town Andersonstown News 19 April 2003 Festival General Release Community Telegraph (North Down) 23 April 2003 Festival General Release Community Telegraph (North Belfast) 23 April 2003 Festival General Release Community Telegraph (South Belfast) 24 April 2003 Festival General Release Newtownards Chronicle 24 April 2003 Festival Launch South Belfast News 26 April 2003 Launch colour photo spread Irish News 26 April 2003 Partnership with Cathedral Quarter Festival Belfast News 1 May 2003 Hot Air Balloon Competition Andersonstown News 3 May 2003 Hot Air Balloon Competition Sunday Life 4 May 2003 Coverage in Jane Coyle column Sunday Life 11 May 2003 Coverage in Jane Coyle column Newry Democrat 13 May 2003 Hot Air Balloon Competition Newtownabbey Times 15 May 2003 Luminarium & PIG Belfast News 15 May 2003 Full page on Luminarium & PIG Larne Times 15 May 2003 Luminarium & PIG Tyrone Times 16 May 2003 Festival in a Day South Belfast News 17 May 2003 Levity feature with photo Belfast Telegraph 17 May 2003 Column Irish News 17 May 2003 Full page festival feature with photo Sunday Life 18 May 2003 Coverage in Jane Coyle column Irish News 21 May 2003 Interview with YAA staff Mid Ulster Mail 22 May 2003 Festival in a Day feature Belfast Telegraph 22 May 2003 Colour photo North Belfast News 23 May 2003 Feature South Belfast News 19 July 2003 Feature & photo youth groups making hot air balloon Platform NI Magazine for teachers January issue Colour picture of Chilly and full release Belfast Telegraph 26 January B/W photo & caption of Translink manager & performers Belfast Telegraph 17 January 2004 Young at Art goes on tour - Full release Newsletter 16 January 2004 Young at Art hits the road - Full release Lurgan & Portadown Examiner 15 January 2004 B/W photo of Chilly show & release for Armagh shows Armagh Observer 15 January 2004 B/W photo of Chilly show & release for Armagh shows Belfast Telegraph 24/7 30 January 2004 Bring the kids featured event Coleraine shows Mourne Observer 21 January 2004 Illustration from flyer and full release for Down shows Newsletter 26 January 2004 Listing for Ardhowen shows Impartial Reporter 29 January 2004 Photo of performers and children after Ardhowen shows + full release Fermanagh Herald 7 January 2004 Listing for Ardhowen shows Impartial Reporter 8 January 2004 Listing for Ardhowen shows Fermanagh Herald 14 January 2004 Show release Fermanagh Herald 14 January 2004 Listing for Ardhowen shows 38 Impartial Reporter 15 January 2004 Listing for Ardhowen shows and show release Impartial Reporter 22 January 2004 Listing for Ardhowen shows and show release Fermanagh Herald 21 January 2004 Listing for Ardhowen shows Armagh Observer 5 February 2004 Photo of children and Translink manager and AJ Lurgan & Portadown Examiner 5 February 2004 Photo of children and Translink manager and AJ Belfast Telegraph 24/7 6 February 2004 Bring the kids feature on Cookstown shows Coleraine Times 10 February 2004 Photo of Chilly performers and class of children Tyrone Courier 11 February 2004 Feature on Chilly shows at Burnavon Mid Ulster Mail 19 February 2004 Photo of Translink manager and performers Tyrone Times 13 February 2004 Photo from show and release Tyrone Constitution 12 February 2004 Chilly forecast release inc. Translink Newsletter 18 March 2004 Press shot of Daniel and Oli with full release Fermanagh Herald 24 March 2004 Photo of Daniel Morden and children at Ardhowen and full release Community Telegraph 25 March 2004 The Luck Child release Belfast Telegraph 26 March 2004 Bring the kids: The Luck Child Belfast Telegraph 26 March 2004 B& W photo of Daniel and Oli on board a bus Impartial Reporter 1 April 2004 Photo of Daniel Morden and children at Ardhowen and Enniskillen full release Artslistings March/April 2004 Colour pic of The Luck Child/Ship of Fools on tour
39