Creative Communities
Would your community group like to have a go at something creative but need some help to do that?
Creative Black Country (CBC) works in Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton to support great ideas by local people.
Creative Communities is here to help co-create ideas relevant to your community and neighbourhoods.
It's up to you what creative idea you'd like to explore.
You can try out a new craft skill, set up a choir, or start a garden gallery with your neighbours.
Or
You can ‘go and see’ a show or visit a museum or gallery.
What matters is that you decide and reach people who may not normally get the chance to take part in creative opportunities in the Black Country.
Who CBC aim to support through Creative Communities:
Community Groups getting in touch for the first time to explore a creative activity.
Community Groups who may not normally access creative opportunities.
Community Groups from the following priority areas:
o Dudley: Brierley Hill, Kingswinford, Halesowen, Stourbridge & Sedgley.
o Sandwell: Rowley Regis, Tipton, Oldbury & Wednesbury.
o Walsall: Willenhall, Bloxwich, Darlaston & Brownhills.
o Wolverhampton: Bushbury, Heath Town, Blakenhall, Ettingshall & Spring Vale.
* We can only support a limited amount of community groups per year, therefore priority will be given to those from the priority areas listed above & artists/groups that have not been previously supported.
How CBC can support your idea:
CBC’s Creative Advisers can talk to you about your idea and help connect you with other local community groups, organisations, creatives and artists.
We can give you some tips on how to promote your project and get people involved.
We can connect you with your local voluntary sector council's Development Worker. They can offer support on identifying funding opportunities. If you want to develop a plan for your project in the future, they can help with that too.
We can provide creative commissions of up to £1000, to help you to explore and deliver your idea.
We can provide money to support your ‘Go & See’ visits to cover costs for travel and/or tickets.
We can advise how you can help make your work accessible for D/deaf or Disabled audiences or participants, for example; BSL, captioning videos.
We can help you think of ways to consider the health and wellbeing of the environment in your projects for example, using recycled materials.
So, you've got an idea, what next?
To find out more, please contact the relevant Creative Adviser for your borough:
Dudley – Laura Dicken: laura@creativeblackcountry.co.uk
Wolverhampton – Nelson Douglas: nelson@creativeblackcountry.co.uk
Sandwell & Walsall – Richard Franks: richard@creativeblackcountry.co.uk
Please note: our Creative Advisors work part-time. They may not respond to your enquiry straight away.
Need Inspiration?
Creative Communities PODCAST: In Wolverhampton with Simon Suphandgali
Creative Communities PODCAST: In Sandwell with Stourbridge-based artist Ruth Turnball and Robert Bruce, CEO of the Dorothy Parkes Centre in Smethwick.
Creative Communities special series - PART 04: SANDWELL
Creative Communities special series - PART 03: WOLVERHAMPTON
CBC Creative Advisor Laura chats to illustrator Roots who supported the Friends of Abbey Street Park to design and paint a mural to brighten up a wall and celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
Creative Communities special series - PART 02: DUDLEY
Creative Communities special series - PART 01: WALSALL
CBC Creative Advisor Laura chats to David who shares how he collaborated with the team at the Creative Factory and how they set up a writing group.
This month we have relaunched our Creative Communities strand of support where communities are invited to try out something new; for example craft skills, setting up a choir, or starting a garden gallery with your neighbours. You can also use the support to ‘go and see’ something like a theatre show or visit a museum or gallery.
Imaginative sculptural birdhouses tell stories of migration to Birmingham and the Black Country.
U Island CIC and West Midlands based arts organisation Juneau Projects, have been working with families and individuals originally from Russia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and the UK to create imaginative sculptural birdhouses that tell their stories of migration to the Black Country and their sense of home.
The team at Paycare, a Health Cash Plan and Wellbeing Training provider based in the heart of Wolverhampton, has donated £20,000 to Creative Black Country to help us to support 17 projects as part of ‘Creative Connections’ - our strand of work aimed at bringing joy to communities during the pandemic.
Join Creative Black Country on MONDAY 6th April at 4pm via ZOOM to chat, ask questions and find our more about submitting your idea to our Creative Communities Commissions.
Following announcements by the UK Government asking the population for increased social distancing, we would like to update you with our plans for the upcoming weeks.
This month CBC are heading to Smethwick to talk all things Creative Communities. We’ll be basing ourselves at the lovely Thimblemill Library for the afternoon to talk about our work in The Black Country, hear more about what you’re up to, see how we can connect and hear short Pecha Kucha 20x20 style presentations from some of our former supported groups and partners.
Laura Dicken is a photographer who works mainly in social documentary, and a Creative Producer. She mostly works with those who do not engage with, or are least likely to be involved with the arts for example, the homeless. She is also an Arts Advisor for Creative Black Country.