Arts News Update

This page contains bulletins about NNDC project initiatives, recent developments and opportunities for artists and arts organisations.

CITY OF LONDON SINFONIA COMES TO NORTH NORFOLK
City of London Sinfonia (CLS) has recently begun a collaboration with North Norfolk District Council and Norfolk Music Works (NMW) to bring orchestral music workshops to young people and communities in the area. The classical orchestra, which performs regular concerts at King's Lynn Corn Exchange, has already organised community events in Norfolk, including Family Music Days in King's Lynn and an intergenerational music project based in Terrington St Clements. In North Norfolk, CLS will be concentrating on the towns of Fakenham and Wells-next-the-Sea.

City of London Sinfonia's objective is to bring the joy and stimulation of live music to the wider community, including to those who might not normally attend a classical concert. By running practical workshops, the orchestra hopes to encourage more people to get involved in music and to enjoy the sense of community and confidence which this can bring.

Keep an eye on the website for developments.

THE NORFOLK ARTS PARTNERSHIP
The Norfolk Arts Partnership (NAP) is a new collaboration between Norfolk's local authorities and Arts Council England East (ACEE). NAP is one of six across the eastern region, representing a new way of working together for the region's local authorities and ACEE. Our Partnership's own vision is that:
Norfolk will be a place where the transformational power of the arts - in all artforms - inspires action to improve social and economic development across the county.
We plan to build long-term investment in the arts in Norfolk by showing how effective the arts can be at tackling community needs and boosting tourism. Between January 2005 and September 2007, the Partnership aims to deliver a £750K programme of work. The Partnership will not duplicate existing arts or tourism initiatives in Norfolk, nor divert existing resources away from them. Rather, it will deliver work that would not otherwise happen, in a way that ensures the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There are two strands to the work of the Partnership: The creative change programme aims to foster a sustainable and measurable demand for projects through which Norfolk artists make a positive contribution to community development.
Each district in Norfolk will benefit from a community arts project that meets a priority identified by the local strategic partnership. Taken together, these projects will provide clear evidence of how the arts can contribute to a wide range of community development needs. The arts-based tourism initiative aims to raise the profile of Norfolk's arts offer, and to demonstrate how the arts can boost the economic value of tourism in the county.


Creative Change Project in North Norfolk Community Safety is one of eight priorities of the North Norfolk Community Strategy. The North Norfolk Safer Communities Partnership takes the lead role in setting specific priorities, and these include preventing young people from engaging in crime.
North Norfolk has one of the lowest crime rates in the country, and surveys show that its residents generally feel safe. However, crime audit figures do point to localised hotspots of criminal damage and antisocial behaviour, particularly in the towns.
A recent national review of arts projects in the criminal justice system, including the youth justice system, confirms that arts-based interventions can be effective in several different settings, including crime prevention work with young people. Our Creative Change project will focus particularly on the North Walsham area and on preventative work with two target groups:
• young people aged 8-13 who have come to the attention of the new Youth Inclusion Support Panel (YISP) being set up in North Walsham by the Youth Offending Team
• young people aged 14-16 who have been excluded from school and attend the Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) in Aylsham and Dereham.
The project aims to show how arts activities can have a positive impact on the behaviour of young people thought to be at risk of offending, thereby contributing to the development of a countywide, multi-agency strategy for commissioning arts activities within the youth justice sector in Norfolk.
Each project will involve drama/dance sessions with the target audience over a number of months, culminating in two separate performances for family and friends at Sheringham Little Theatre.


The Arts Tourism Initiative
Norfolk is a county that has inspired artists in many artforms for over two centuries, and continues to do so.
In partnership with Norfolk Tourism and Visit Norwich, NAP is launching a major campaign that will use Norfolk's inspirational landscapes and wide skies to sell the county as a short-break destination.
The Norfolk Inspires campaign will place adverts in national and regional newspapers and magazines. People responding to the adverts will be invited to call an enquiry line, which will be staffed by the Arts Tourism Co-ordinator, Fiona Muller. Fiona's nine-month post is funded by the Norfolk Arts Partnership, but she is based at the Visit Norwich offices. near The Forum. To contact Fiona call 01603 727938 or e-mail fiona.muller@visitnorwich.co.uk
For further information on the Norfolk Arts Partnership and its initiatives visit http://www.eastspace.net/norfolkarts/displayarticle.asp?id=6340
or contact: Kevin Gosling, Arts Partnership Manager, Norfolk Arts Partnership, County Hall, Norwich, Norfolk NR1 2UA
Tel:01603 638113