Creative Communities - Villages in Action

Creative Communities is Villages in Action's Participation and Community Development Project.  We facilitate community development through the arts, promoting creative activities for people in the heart of rural communities in Devon. 


For 2012 we have an inspiring range of projects taking place.

Deep Time Exhibitions and Workshops

As part of our Jurassic Journey project we will be touring an exhibition sharing work from artists Ben Osborne, Matt Harvey, Lal Hitchcock and Sammy Hurden. A rich tapestry of photos, poems, driftwood sculptures and songs will share the story of the magnificent Jurassic Coastline, depicting 185 million years of earth history. Exhibitions will take place in Farringdon, South Brent and Stockland, culminating in a week-long exhibition in Sidmouth at Kennway House. Artists will be running arts workshops at each exhibition which will provide opportunities for people to create their own artwork. At Kennway House we will also have a talk from local experts as well as an evening performance from Matt Harvey. See the website for details.

Impressions of a Jurassic Journey

We are developing our work on the Jurassic Coast further with a series of arts workshops in six schools in East Devon. Artists Ben, Lal and Sammy will work with students to inspire their artistic creations about the wonders of their local coastline. Each school will have an exhibition of the children's work for their local community to visit, and we are hoping to incorporate elements of the work into the Kennway exhibition and the exhibition at Durlston Country Park in the Summer.

Young Promoters Scheme

A pilot project will encourage young people to learn about how to plan and organise a Villages in Action show in their school. Starting with two performances by Ben Osborne in March, two teams of students will take part in workshops where they will gain skills in all that is involved with organising, promoting and running a show for their local community. Hopefully, this project will be the start of their career as young promoters!

Threads

Working in Mid Devon with older people in our village communities, Threads is an art and health project that  builds on the success of the Devon Reach project providing opportunities for older people to share positive images of themselves within their communities.  Participants from four villages will work with textile artists to create quilted wall hangings representing lifetime achievements and aspects of their past, present and future lives. The project will provide opportunities for older people to meet and share experiences around a common theme, create high quality collaborative artworks and raise the profile of older people in their community.

Dance in Devon, Compass project

We are supporting a fantastic project that will take place in three communities next Autumn. Dance in Devon are coordinating a dance project in all four compass points of Devon where a team of dancers from London, headed by choreographer Freddie Opoku-Addaie will undertake a week-long residency in four communities culminating in a performance. The first step in this project will involve a team of Dance Ambassadors who will work in each area to generate interest and get everyone up and dancing!