Croydon Local Arts and Cultural Projects
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I love art. Art is like a tree finding life. It is putting ideas in your head like nothing else. It is beautiful. Croydon Local Cultural Education Partnerships (LCEP) Impact Evaluation Report Professor Anne Bamford Evaluation report January 2018, based on the programme completed April-November 2017 Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 2. Croydon ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Croydon Music and Arts (CMA) .......................................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Local Culture and Education Partnerships (LCEP) .............................................................................................................. 7 2.3 Boxpark .............................................................................................................................................................................. 7 2.4 Borough of Culture ............................................................................................................................................................. 8 2.5 Youth voice ......................................................................................................................................................................... 8 2.6 Youth Takeover ................................................................................................................................................................. 11 3. About the evaluation .......................................................................................................................................................... 11 4. Aims .................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 5. Findings .............................................................................................................................................................................. 14 5.1 Schools and participation ............................................................................................................................................... 18 5.2 Accessibility .................................................................................................................................................................... 22 5.3 Communication, social media and virtual environments ............................................................................................ 24 5.4 Volunteering, friendship and well-being ....................................................................................................................... 26 5.5 Creative arts careers ........................................................................................................................................................ 31 5.6 Spaces/venue .................................................................................................................................................................. 32 5.7 Stimulating new works/development of innovative methods ...................................................................................... 33 5.8 Importance of evaluation, research and impact........................................................................................................... 35 6. Recommendations ............................................................................................................................................................. 36 7. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................................... 37 Appendix .................................................................................................................................................................................... 38 A1. List of collaborating organisations and individuals ..................................................................................................... 38 A2. Call for applications ....................................................................................................................................................... 38 A3. Selection process ............................................................................................................................................................ 40 A4. CYAC Project Rating Form (Sample) ........................................................................................................................... 42 A5. Project Observation Checklist....................................................................................................................................... 42 A5. Participant Survey Pre-Project ...................................................................................................................................... 43 A6. Participant Survey Post Project .................................................................................................................................... 44 PAGE 1 1. Introduction In 2017, the Croydon Music and Arts Service (CMA) received funding from A New Direction (£25,000) and London Borough of Croydon (£26,000) for some ‘pilot’ cultural activities and also for action research into the impact of this activity. A major focus was on the manner in which the design of the projects led to greater inter-agency collaboration and ways of working, with the potential for enhanced impact through more pooling of resources and the opportunity to determine how cultural activities could impact on a variety of youth priorities in the London Borough of Croydon. At the heart of the project was the Croydon Youth Arts Collective (CYAC) who identified priorities and were involved in the project selection process. They agreed a set of priorities and identified themes linked to young people’s wellbeing. The CMA received 17 applications. From these, nine applications were shortlisted by CYAC and this was further reduced to seven applications (by the Local Culture and Education Partnership – LCEP) that were awarded funding. The projects were very different in terms of scope, scale and focus. The projects commenced at different times and ran for different durations. Most projects started in September 2017 and were completed by December 2017. The funded projects are summarized as follows: COMBO, Brocollily Theatre: An exploratory theatre project for teenagers that focused on their space and identity. The project was held in ‘Theatre Utopia’ in Matthew’s Yard (a local resource space in central Croydon which is available for different theatre groups to hire). Croydon’s Youth Engagement team were central in recruiting young people for this project. SLIDE, South London Inclusive Dance Experience: TRAM (Totally Real Arts Movement): A site specific dance project where participants responded to Croydon’s urban and green spaces and moved through the borough to develop ideas of site. Container News, Turf: A youth-led quarterly zine (self-published magazine) focused on art, design and food. This project was a collaboration between Turf, a group of local young creatives, and a series of artists, designers and food producers. The Zine was produced at monthly, free workshops for young people which included; CrOyster mushroom bread-making, edible text design and 3D scanning, marble chapati making, and a zine launch event. Inclusive Family Creative Arts Day, St Giles: A creative arts day for children and young people with profound SEND and their families and friends. The day was centred on the theme of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ and it culminated in a multi-sensory immersive space that all participants could explore together. A film was made documenting the day. There was a focus on highly innovative activities to allow accessible, new experiences. Club Soda Jam, Club Soda: An inclusive music-making project for young people with learning disabilities. The participants established a school rock band during the course a 15-week term. The project was based in the Priory school, which had the capacity to continue to develop the band once the project ended. The band performed at the youth ‘Takeover’ event. PAGE 2 Coulsdon Cultural Festival, Coulsdon Church of England Primary: This project was an innovative three week programme that began the new school year. The aim of the project was to establish a creative tone to the school through hosting an immersive cultural festival. The cultural festival included African drumming, Indian dancing, Art, yoga and involved all classes in the school. Community Collaborations evaluation toolkit, BRIT school: This project is quite different from the other six projects as it was not completing an activity or event, but rather aimed at conducting research to create an evaluation tool that will help the school assess the impact and success of their community arts projects. This particular project built on the BRIT school’s 25 years of community outreach and artistic collaborations in Croydon and was focused on establishing a clear outcomes, evaluation and impact framework for the Community Collaborations activity. 2. Croydon More