Your reports Find reports Reasons to be Cheerful! Reasons to be Cheerful! Chris Heighton, 22 June 2012 Participants - Nick, Phil, Chris, Sue and Paul and 4 others We are all privileged to work in and be involved in the arts - creating things and being in touch with the work. The Curve opening up the building to artists - lots to share and disseminate across the city. Lincolnshire One Venues...diverse....10 venues Attracting investment through new thinking and collaboration - learning from amateur organisation (Louth) Collaborative programming - digital/heritage/art/young people - Spark festival/Frequency festival Lincoln Museum and performance collaborations - Derby Silk Mill - hunger for the arts - National Trust - Universities supporting arts ecologies. Leicester Embrace Arts - ‘Hatch’ University of Lincoln - developing nationally unique partnerships - bridging arts sector with Higher Education and Local authorities (and back the other way too) Diverse engagement - supporting early career artists/writers/performers/directors... Artists pioneering development and regeneration - do we make our case? Empty spaces being utilised by artists - art appearing in unusual and unexpected places. Fundamental and organic shift in thinking across key local funders and stakeholders in the region. Will it all end after September though when the festival finishes? Will it be recognised or just disappear? The void between participation in arts projects and whether people actually do then go on to see more and do more? The void between participation and the ‘real’ arts world does exist.... Who drops you when the project finishes or the world changes again? Reasons to be cross and doubtful at this point.... One of the many points of art is to drive change - great art IS being created by great people! Cheerful is about being fulfilled, content but also about attitude... - theatre creates this Some corners of the sector still fighting unnecessary crusades from the 80's.... With big shifts in thinking, is there a bridge growing across the void? The spark is the measure of art - how can we extend the relationship with audiences beyond the performance and the space.... Tags: programming, universities, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Leicester, Reasons, partnership, Curve, Doubtful, Cheerful, shifts in thinking in east midlands, investment, leicester, collaboration