This section explores the connection between culture and people's satisfaction in place, and showcases examples of how we can move towards a more strategic long-term approach to funding culture at a place-based level.
Art UK’s unprecedented photography and digitisation project has resulted in the UK’s collection of over 14,000 public sculptures and monuments being freely available to view and search online for the first time ever.
Barnsley Council developed a cultural events programme to draw shoppers to its new town centre retail and leisure development, repurposing empty retail units, including to set up a pop-up extension of Barnsley Museums as part of its ambitious programme of retail and town centre recovery.
The Glass Works – combining retail and leisure with culture and events
Barnsley Museums adopted two unloved Listed red phone boxes in the town centre and transformed them into works of art telling stories of the town’s heritage with words by the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage.
Tales from the Edge of Town invited children aged 8-11yrs to tell stories about what happened in lockdown. Professional artists performed these stories to a wider audience.
Open House is a long-term creative collaboration between Kettle’s Yard art gallery and its neighbouring communities in North Cambridge. What initially started as an audience development programme resulted in broader impact developing pride, a sense of place, a reduction in social isolation and improved wellbeing.
The Cultural Development Fund (CDF) Network is the national collective that shares best practice and generates knowledge to capture and celebrate the success of the DCMS CDF investment.
Celebrating the area’s rich history of innovation, the Museum of Making in the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site opened in May 2021 as a contemporary space telling Derby’s 300-year history of making.
Pioneering Places was a partnership between cultural organisations and multiple councils across Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone and Ramsgate.
South Kesteven District Council’s mental health and wellbeing cross party working group worked in collaboration with health partners, a mental health charity and a community arts provider to investigate whether a local information resource would be useful to help reduce isolation and loneliness post Covid.
In lockdown, when Arts Centres in Stamford, Grantham and Bourne had to suddenly close their doors, it meant that many self-employed artists and performers lost their bookings/work and so were no longer able to generate an income.
Together with partners, Kirklees Council’s Culture and Tourism services have developed a place-based approach to transform Huddersfield’s town centre into Kirklees’ Cultural Heart – a designated cultural quarter featuring a new art gallery and museum and the re-development of Queensgate Market.
This case study demonstrates the economic and cultural value of a portfolio of creative business support programmes delivered by Goldsmiths, University of London in partnership with (and funded by) Lewisham Council.
Creative sector support and cultural activation in Lewisham-based businesses
In 2020, North East Lincolnshire Council were successful in receiving a solicited grant of £250,000 from National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) in support of building capacity and driving engagement in an Area of Focus.
National Lottery Heritage Fund: Area of Focus in North East Lincolnshire
Gainsborough’s Mayflower 400 cultural programme was a wide ranging arts-led approach to engage the public with a shared heritage connecting them to people and places across the world.
Challenging the Myth: Gainsborough’s Mayflower 400 Programme
Recognising the pressing need for communities to reach out to their neighbours, London Borough of Culture is a celebration of the unique character, people and heritage of London’s boroughs.
A new model of working with partners in the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs, that addresses social inequalities and increases access to arts, culture and music.
As lockdown ends, Oldham Council’s Heritage, Libraries and Arts Creativity and Culture team put local participation and performance opportunities at the heart of their large-scale outdoor events programme.
As part of the post-Covid city centre plan Plymouth Culture developed and launched a programme of meanwhile use, taking on empty units and activating them as spaces for creative and cultural projects. The objective was to look beyond simply driving footfall to reimagining the high street.
The Reading Abbey Revealed project and the creation of the Abbey Quarter is Reading’s most ambitious heritage project for a decade.
During the pandemic, Reading Borough Council’s Arts & Venues service championed theatre, by staging live and digital performances, and maximised opportunities to improve our customers’ experience.
Championing access to theatre in Reading's Arts and Venues service
As a High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ), Reading Borough Council was awarded a £85,000 grant from Historic England to create and deliver community-led cultural activities on the high street over the next three years.
Oxford Road, Reading: Re-imagining the High Street Through Your Stories
As part of wider regeneration proposals for Stevenage Town Centre, the Danestrete Bus Station has relocated to a new facility. The vacant bus station space presents an exciting transformation opportunity in the heart of the town in advance of wider regeneration proposals happening.
Estuary 2021 was the second edition of the arts festival celebrating the lives, landscapes and histories of the Thames Estuary.
Radio Chopwell was an innovative partnership project to empower the community of Chopwell, Gateshead to collect and share digital sound that interpreted theirs lives and community and create a regular online radio broadcast and in-person social events to showcases the lives and work of Chopwell residents.
Union Chain Bridge – which has provided a link between Scotland and England for 200+ years – faced an uncertain future. Co-owned by two local authorities, with an anticipated cost of repair in the millions, the world’s oldest vehicular suspension bridge would likely be mothballed, severing links across the Tweed, and disavowing the region of an internationally important monument.
This case study provides an overview of the West of England and its cultural and creative economy, and the role of the West of England Cultural Compact in this context. It also summarises the new West of England Cultural Plan, including reference to some early initiatives.
The Church Street Regeneration Programme aims to improve the quality of life of the people who live and work in the area and will bring around 1,750 high quality new homes, greener and more pedestrianised spaces, and new community services to support the health and wellbeing of the local community.
Church Street Regeneration – Cultural Infrastructure Project
York Life is a new, free music festival for York. Funded by City of York Council (CYC) through the UK Government’s Additional Restrictions Grants and organised by a partnership between Make It York and York Music Venues Network.
The North Yorkshire authorities have submitted a live case study, capturing their work so far to bring together the culture, leisure and sport provisions and strategies of their eight authorities as part of local government reorganisation.
North Yorkshire – Culture and Local Government Reorganisation
Importance of place in Weston-super-Mare
Julia Stuckey: The community of Western is very community spirited it's a seaside resort so it has its challenges like every other seaside resort a big part of our place making campaign is to make the culture and arts and the natural environment and the built environment really accessible to all of our residents so the Superwestern place making strategy the culture and arts is a really big part of that.
We have a really strong and growing culture and arts community and they're very very talented that helps to encourage people to to visit because it's something different it also gives our residents a real sense of Pride of the town, it's definitely on the up culturally.
Emma: With online shopping and everything people can end up sort of not coming into town for anything and not meeting their neighbours and not having the opportunity to gather that we're we're used to as humans so I think it's really important to give people some kind of focus and a reason to to come into town and celebrate the place they live.
Michael: We all know how quickly a place can slide into um some serious disrepair and become an uninhabitable and an unsafe place so by keeping a bit of pride in it and keeping uh things going that will attract people um we give the place a great facelift that it constantly needs, and keep the Town Centre. alive.
Cara MacMahon: Historic England were fundamental in supporting us developing Western and it's and its unique Heritage they have funded our Capital programme of work restoring Walker and laying fork and Ale and other buildings in Western and it includes a lot of trying to get people to really understand the beauty of Western and feel part of Western.
Fiona Matthews: 21st century super shrines is a programme funded by Historic England some of the shrines are physical such as the Bandstand behind me and some all about experience and Gathering voices together one of our Shrine projects was with artist Tom marshman he gathered lots of stories of sexuality and different experiences over the years and it was pieced into a brilliant audio Trail.
Matt Flemming: These cultural activities do improve a community these are things that bring communities together especially the LGBT community that can feel unheard and a voice in the community that needs to be heard.
Julia: We're stood in front of a fantastic art exhibition which we're hosting in Western super Mare it's called the sea monster it's part of a national unboxed project which is 10 events and festivals across the UK and we have a recycled North Sea platform and it's a big part of a culture and Arts Festival that we've had in Western this year.
Tom Newman: The Western presents came about it was initiated by the community manager who initiated a series of community think tanks and from those conversations we developed a whole series of events and activities that were led and designed by the local community and that ranged from really small interventions like the things you see behind me the Poetry in the shelters to really large events such as the climate carnival uh overall I think there have been 50 plus events with it's created work for nearly 100 artists there's been a thousand participants in all the different events over the summer and it's really been a brilliant success.
Paul Blakemore: The work that Fiona and Tom from culture Western have done has been extremely important for Western super Mare I think in Western it's a massive part of the local community yeah there's there is an underground scene of people working together and supporting one another and as we're getting pushed out of Bristol as there's there's less places to to afford to buy artists are generally kind of moving towards the coastal towns or places which are way more affordable so you do see more creativity happening.
Importance of place in Weston-super-Mare: audio described version
Narrator
Welcome to the introduction to this four minute film about the growing culture and arts community in Western Super Mayor. From a commission on culture and local government, you will hear interviews with several cultural leaders from North Somerset Council about how they've invested in arts and creative industries as part of their placemaking strategy. They include Julia Stuckey, super Weston project manager and Karara McMahon, heritage Action Zone Officer. There are also interviews with Tom Newman and Fiona Matthews from Culture Weston. During the interviews, there are images of the bustling high street, the treasured buildings and landmarks of the town, the promenade and seafront, and the thriving street art scene In Western, with its array of colorful murals, we see the variety of the council's cultural projects, including outdoor photography, exhibitions, hand painted silk flags that billow above the shops on the high street and the sea monster and enormous recycled North Sea platform with its gardens in the sky, which spouts water on the seafront.
Below. Construction workers wear high vis turquoise vests that read culture makers whilst they build the artist to Tom Marsh Man's colourful shrine and poetry by local writers adorn the glass shelters. In blue letters we hear from those who have benefited from the investment in arts and culture. A couple of local residents, Emma and Michael, and local artists, Matt Fleming, who is pictured holding a sign that reads Queer Tales of Weston and the photographer Paul Blakemore. We also see some of the events designed and led by the local community, including the Climate Change Carnival with parades of joyous families and people of all ages. Some are in fancy dress, others dance, some wave hand stitched banners. And another group performed synchronized routines with swirling turquoise and orange umbrellas. This is all done in an atmosphere of celebration. Due to the nature of the film, audio description is kept to a minimum. The audio description was written by Emily Poll for Vocal Eyes, commission on Culture and local government images of Western's, busy Town Center. How can local culture support a sense of place and community? Julia Stuckey,
Julia Stuckey
The community of Western is very community spirited. It's a seaside resort, uh, so it has its challenges like every other seaside resort. A big part of our placemaking campaign is to make the culture and arts and the natural environment and the built environment really accessible to all of our residents. So the Super Western placemaking strategy, the culture and arts is a really big part of that. We have a really strong and growing culture and arts community, and they're very, very talented. That helps to encourage people to, to visit because it's something different. It also gives our residents a real sense of pride of the town. Emma, it's definitely on the up culturally with online shopping and everything,
Emma
People can end up sort of not coming into town for anything and not meeting their neighbors and not having the opportunities to gather that we're we're used to as humans. So, uh, I think it's really important to give people some kind of focus and a reason to, to come into town and and celebrate the place they live. Michael,
Michael
We will know how quickly a place can slide into, um, some serious disrepair and, uh, become an uninhabitable and an unsafe place. So by keeping a bit of pride in it and, uh, keeping, uh, things going that'll attract people, um, we, we give the place a, a great facelift that it constantly needs and keep the town center alive.
Cara MacMahon
Historic and we're fundamental in supporting us developing Western and its, and its unique heritage. They have funded our capital program of work, restoring Walker and Laying Fork Canal and other buildings in Western. And it includes a lot of trying to get people to really understand the beauty of Western and feel part of Western
Fiona Matthews
21st Century Super Shrines is a program funded by Historic England. Some of our, the shrines are physical, such as the bandstand behind me, and some are all about experience and gathering voices together. One of our shrine projects was with artist Tom Marshman. He gathered lots of stories of sexuality and different experiences over the years, and it was piece into a brilliant audio trail
Matt Flemming
These cultural, um, activities do improve a community. These are things that bring community together, especially the LGBT community that, uh, can feel unheard and a, a voice, uh, in the community that needs to be heard.
Julia Stuckey
We are stood in front of a fantastic art exhibition, which we are hosting in Western Super Mayor. It's called the Sea Monster. It's part of a national unboxed project, which is 10 events and festivals across the uk. Um, and we have a recycled North Sea platform, and it's a big part of a culture and arts festival that we've had in Western This year. The
Tom Newman
Western events came about. It was initiated by the community manager for Sea Monster who initiated a series of community think tanks. And from those conversations we developed a whole series, um, of events and activities that were led and designed by the local community. Um, and that range from really small interventions like the things you see behind me, the poetry in the shelters, to really large, um, events such as the Climate Carnival. Uh, overall, I think there have been 50 plus events. We've, it's created work for, uh, nearly a hundred artists. There's been a thousand participants in all the different events, uh, over the summer and, um, it's really been a brilliant success. Cool.
Paul Blakemore
The work that Fiona and Tom from Culture Western have done has been extremely important for Western Super Mayor. I think in Western it's a massive part of the local community. Yeah, there's, there, there is an underground scene of people working together and supporting one another, and as we're getting pushed out of Bristol as there's, there's plays less places to, to afford to buy. Buy. Artists are generally kind of moving towards the coastal towns or places which are way more affordable. So you do see more creativity happening.
Narrator
To find out more search LGA Culture Commission, hashtag culture commission.