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Friday, 15 October
Rural and Community Touring Networks
Hello and welcome to our first quarterly Artist Newsletter. We see this as a way of reaching out and communicating with artists who are either interested in, or are part of, rural and community touring.
We now have a new member of staff, Steve Wilson whose role will be to be support, advise and excite the arts community who are interested in finding out more about being part of this wonderful artistic activity.
We asked Steve what he likes about rural touring:
“I discovered rural touring when I became Worcestershire County Council’s Arts Officer. I managed the contract for the scheme then known as ‘Shindig’, and subsequently helped appoint Live & Local to run it. I can honestly say that some of the very best shows I have seen have been rural touring shows. It’s totally unique – the connection between artist and audience, and the sense that the show is here for your community and your village only. It’s a tradition that has taken place for centuries and I am honoured to be part of it. I see my role as supporting artists of all genres, from those who are thinking of getting involved in rural touring, to those who are already involved but who may have new ideas for shows that they may want to share. I am especially interested in finding and supporting the next generation of artists and performers and for these to be based in the regions we take our work to. I want rural and community touring to be something that attracts the very best emerging artists from our colleges, music venues and art venues.”
— Steve Wilson, Artist Engagement Officer for Live & Local
DEVELOPING ARTISTS IN RURAL TOURING – DART
DART will be the main mechanism for supporting you. This will take the form of both a formal programme which will, in 2021/22, be focussed on those artists based in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, and a more informal programme focussed on supporting artists from across our network (covering seven counties in the Midlands) on a more one-to-one, bespoke way.
Formal Programme
At our formal programme we will invite artists to meet us and hear from other artists who are involved in rural touring. There will be a full day’s training and development. From this we will look to further develop your work and, depending on funding, provide you with additional resources and support to take your work further.
Our formal programme for 21/22 will prioritise artists who are based in either Nottinghamshire or Lincolnshire. You could be a musician or be in a band or duo, or maybe your artform is theatre or dance. We are also interested in working with and developing spoken word artists. Keep a close eye on our website www.liveandlocal.org for more information and the exact dates.
Key dates to look out for:
Programme launch November 2021
Submission by January 2022
Training day mid-February
Informal Programme
Our informal programme will also continue throughout this period. We will be prioritising artists across the East and West Midlands. You may have an enquiry about getting into the scheme or filling out the artist information forms. You may also want to get in touch to invite us to see a show or maybe you have a link to show us.
Steve would love to hear from you at [email protected]
Our Artist Engagement Officer will also be inviting artists to meet on Zoom for a series of online meet-ups where you can find out more about rural and community touring and Live & Local and connect with other artists.
Our future Artist Newsletters will highlight some of the work across our touring regions and focus on companies who work with us and why they love rural and community touring so much.
Please note that future newsletters will be sent out via Mailchimp.
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