Arts Plan review 20032009

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Arts Plan review 2003-2009

• Presented by Catherine Kelly
• Westmeath County Council.
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Context

• First Arts Officer appointed 2002
• Mission Statement To promote access,
  appreciation, awareness enjoyment of the arts
  for all. To be the primary source of support for
  the professional, voluntary, community and
  amateur arts sectors.

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Services Offered

• Information Advice
• Arts Programming (to promote knowledge
  appreciation of the arts)
• Promotion of the Arts though the Midland Arts and
  Cultural Magazine
• Grant aid funding for artists community groups
• Management of the County Council Art Collection
• Policy Making and Planning
• Partnerships in arts related initiatives
• Networking opportunities for Artist and Arts
  Groups
• Implementation of the Per cent for Art Scheme.

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Development of Arts forum Arts Plan

• The Arts Forum was established in 2002 in order
  to oversee the development implementation of
  the arts plan.
• The plan was launched in 2003. It contained 92
  objectives to be reached over a 6 year period.
  All objectives have been achieved.

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The arts Plan

• Broaden and enrich participation in the arts
  while enhancing audiences for the arts.
• Working in partnerships with other bodies to
  bring the arts closer to local communities with
  particular emphasis on Arts in Health Care and
  Arts in Education.
• Make an Arts Career a realistic ambition for
  excellent and innovative artists.
• Raise Standards in arts leadership and
  Management.

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Brief synopsis of Achievements

• The following provides a snap shot of activities
  over the life time of the plan focusing on the
  highlights from the arts programme.

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Artists Bursaries Scholarships

• Support for Westmeath Artists to continue to
  develop their own professional practise and work
  in the County.
• Since 2002 over 165 individual professional
  artists have benefited from this scheme

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Arts Act Grant

• Under the Arts Act 2003 the local authority is
  obliged to provide funding for arts groups
  organisations for assistance in relation to
  various arts projects around the County.
• Since 2002 over 170 groups have received funding
  through scheme now part of the Cathaoirlachs
  awards.

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Artist in Context Residency Scheme

• An Amalgamation of the former Schools, Community
  Health Care Schemes in order to enable various
  types of groups and organisations access to work
  with an artist on a particular project over a 3
  month period. This scheme is offered through a
  diverse range of programmes across disciplines to
  primary schools, Health Care Centres and
  Community Groups in Westmeath. 135 Groups have
  benefitted.

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2003

• Visual Artist in Residence
• This six month project involved making a series
  of multi-media work based on Irish folklore.
• It focused on a strong community aspect in
  Athlone as well as professional development.
• WCC brought works from the Irish Museum of
  Modern Art to Mullingar for the first time. The
  exhibition included work by Pablo Picasso Louis
  LeBrocquy. The extensive outreach programme
  offered an engaging educational experience to
  various groups within the community.

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2003

• WCC developed a formalised funding annual
  agreement with the Athlone All Ireland Drama
  festival and Athlone Literary Festival.
• Westmeath Bealtaine Festival was developed for
  active age groups in Rural areas
• Childrens Book festival was developed by the
  Library Arts Service to provide workshops and
  activities during the month of October across art
  forms to encourage children and young people to
  use their local library.

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2004

• Westmeath County Council appointed their first
  Musician in Residence.
• The residency focused on
• Increase in participation in music related
  activities in schools and community groups
• Improvement in the number of local performers
  involved in locally lead initiatives.
• Increase in the number and range of supports
  offered to performing artists and composers.

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2004

• Midland Regional Youth Services Film Project
• This year long project was facilitated and
  produced in collaboration with the Irish Film
  Institute. The Alf project is a Garda youth
  diversion project based in Athlone. The Group
  learned all the technical elements of film
  production and shooting before going on to write,
  design, direct, produced and edit their own film.
  The film was screened for the public.

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2005

• Moate Dancer in Residence Scheme
• This programme was run in Tuar Ard Moate in
  Conjunction with transition years from the Moate
  Community College in order to encourage the
  development of contemporary dance in conjunction
  with a professional dancer. An end choreographic
  presentation and performance of work in Tuar Ard
  displayed the range of experiences of
  participants during the residency.

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2005

• Athlone Contemporary Dance Project Vibrate
  Dance Festival
• The project is an interactive collaboration with
  Westmeath County Council, Roscommon County
  Council and Roscommon and Westmeath Sports
  Partnerships.
• The four agencies devised a programme for the
  development of contemporary dance in the Athlone
  region. The project took place with transition
  years students and community groups over a 3 year
  period.

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2006

• Architect in Schools Scheme
• This residency explored the art form of
  Architecture with an emphasis on awareness of the
  built environment. The project developed
  knowledge and appreciation of architecture among
  schoolchildren. It also encouraged students to
  develop a better visual awareness of their towns
  and countryside and challenged them to question
  and understand the built environment in their
  communities of Lismacaffrey, Collinstown,
  Castletown Finea, Baylin, Kilcleagh Rosemount.

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2006

• Launch of New Midlands Arts Magazine
• A new Midlands Arts Magazine was launched in
  partnership with the Arts Offices of Laois,
  Longford, Offaly and Westmeath. The publication
  recognises our unique regional location in the
  midlands and provides an inter-county forum, to
  share programmes, projects and knowledge. It
  highlights the wealth of artistic talent and
  creativity that exists in the midlands and allows
  artists living and working in the county a new
  platform to engage with audiences.

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2007

• The CoMotion Youth Film Festival now runs
  annually in Belvedere House Mullingar. This event
  is especially tailored for young people age 10 to
  18. Short films made in Westmeath are screened
  along with many others from all over Ireland.
  Youth film is a growing sector in the arts, as
  filmmaking becomes more accessible to young
  people owing to the digital revolution of the
  past few years.

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2007

• Creative Communities Project
• Westmeath County Council and Westmeath County
  Development board in association with Westmeath
  Community Development collaborated the
  development of these intergenerational arts
  project for 3 active age groups in Westmeath. The
  aim of the project was to explore, evaluate and
  document the potential for using arts activities
  with active age groups in conjunction with
  children or younger people as a resource for
  addressing the social exclusion of older people
  in Collinstown, Ballynacargy St. Marys
  Hospital in Mullingar.

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2008-Midlands Youth Orchestra

• This is a partnership project with
  Westmeath County Council in association with
  Westmeath VEC Midland Arts in Kinnegad and the
  Arts Council. The development of the Orchestra
  has been very beneficial to young teenagers who,
  have been able to hone their skills and meet new
  musical friends from other parts of the Midlands
  and experience the thrill of playing with them in
  a large orchestra under professional guidance and
  direction.

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Kilbeggan Creative Writing Project

• The aim of the third phase of this year-long
  project is to publish an anthology of selected
  short stories and novel extracts from young
  people. Two groups were established, one in
  Kilbeggan Library in Westmeath and one in The
  Heritage Centre in Tullamore. The project is
  aimed at 14-18 year olds. All members of the
  writing group will benefit from spending over
  nine months honing their creative talent.
  Learning how to structure a novel, develop
  characters and explore pacing and tension.

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2009 An Post C Both Sides

• An Post sponsored this nationwide initiative.
  The end exhibition was the culmination of a
  years collaboration between WCC, An Post
  Westmeath artist Teresa Doyle and Edel OReilly.
  The public was invited via Internet postings,
  press releases and word of mouth to make a
  cultural statement and send an individually
  designed postcard as part of a global art
  project. The project encouraged people to
  communicate across boarders through the visual
  arts.

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2009 Music Festival Hilltown House

• This classical new music festival showcases new
  music performances from national international
  musicians taking place in the grounds of an 18th
  century house near Castlepollard. The range is
  from voice to flute to electronic video
  installations and is the only type of this
  festival in the Country.

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Public Art

• A new Sculpture is currently being commissioned
  for the entrance of Mullingar Town park as part
  of the Mullingar SIS scheme.
• The Brawny Dance and Dance project was a
  community initiative offering training in drama
  and Dance to young people from the estate.

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New Arts Plan 2010 Timetable

• October 2009 Open Submission
• November 2009 Develop first draft
• December 2009 Draft Plan approved by SPC
• January 2010 Public Consultation Process
• February 2010 Develop Final Draft for approval by
  SPC
• March 2010 Final plan approved by WCC
• April 2010 Launch new arts plan.