Cuttlefish is a creative web design and multimedia company based in Loughborough, Leicestershire in the UK's East Midlands. Our multi-skilled team has a combined industry experience of over 45 years.

We work with clients ranging from large plcs and councils through to local businesses, community groups and arts organisations. We have been running the Charnwood Arts website since 2000.

This is just an up date on projects I m involved with really..... bit like an online CV. Im off to Antony Gormleys studio tomorrow to have some photos done for the One and Other book, you know the London Plinth thing, which is coming out in October. Model Citizen, a work by Low Brow Trash, is at the Catmose Gallery, Oakham in March, so go have a look!! Some possible new creative works coming up, Arts in the Peak, Wirksworth Festival, Manchester....Delivery of CNM workshops continues, Im now working as Creative Consultant change Schools Bluecoat, Nottingham and Hind Leys, Leicestershire, more work with Bulwell Academy and the Ignite Programme, working with young people through City Arts in Gedling Borough, Ive just completed work for E2E Nottingham delivering a media OCN, which will now be delivered to a few more E2E groups and will hopefully continue, including the writing of some new creative OCN's - so if you deliver OCN's as part of your work with young people it would be good to hear from you...film and animation with school groups in Worksop.....

Any one interested in Mazes, Ive got an idea to create a large, transportable maze, full of creative work, film, sound, live etc that can tour and be set up and exhibited at a variety of venues, in or out door, for Festivals, arts events, Olympic stuff etc?????

WELCOME.

EMPAF (the East Midlands Participatory Arts Forum) exists to support, develop and advocate for participatory and community arts in the East Midlands. This website forms the hub of the EMPAF Network, which is free to join and open to anyone working or interested in working in the sector.

To join simply register and you will receive a fortnightly email newsletter summarising all the latest news, events, forum posts and new profiles added to the site. You can also create profiles to promote your work as an individual or organisation and projects.

Members can join specific geographic and interest groups, add events to their profiles which will automatically be added to the diary, post questions, opportunities and get involved in discussions in the forum.

So whether you’re an artist, organisation, community group, volunteer, local authority officer, youth justice worker, student or in any other way involved in participatory arts, join now and become part of a growing, vibrant online community.

About EMPAF

As an organisation EMPAF works regionally, nationally and internationally with the aim of providing a platform for communication and the development of the participatory arts sector in the East Midlands, also working in partnership in the support of similar work around the UK. It is currently funded by Arts Council England to deliver on a three year programme of work. For more information on this, the EMPAF structure and contact details please go to the About section of this site.

Since graduating with an Arts Management degree from De Montfort University in 1997, Jane has worked in arts administration and project management for venues, festivals and artist led companies around the East Midlands in employed positions and as a freelancer.

Jane has worked as the EMPAF coordinator since October 2007.

The EMPAF Federation currently consists of 14 organisations from throughout the East Midlands, which come together to create a collective voice for the sector and support each other through:

• skills exchange
• sharing practical advice and guidance
• promoting stories of their work collectively to wider audiences
• joint training and development initiatives

The Federation meets quarterly and any staff of Federation member organisations have the opportunity to contribute to, attend and influence the agendas of Federation meetings, EMPAF Networking meetings and other EMPAF events such as the Conference. Federation members are also actively involved in the facilitation of events and take part in additional work such as research and through working parties devoted to specific areas of development or advocacy.

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FEDERATION MEMBERSHIP

Members of the EMPAF Federation are:

• Independent organisations whose primary function is the development and delivery of community and/ or participatory arts, or a department devoted to community and participatory arts within a larger organisation
• Not for profit organisations which can be but do not need to be regularly funded in any capacity
• East Midlands based and / or conducts the majority of its work within the region
• Have ideally been established for at least two years

Members are committed to the purposes of EMPAF and to:

• Inputting into four quarterly EMPAF meetings per year
• Attending a minimum of two quarterly meetings per year
• Inputting and involvement in additional working party meetings and activity as identified by federation
• Creating individual organisation profiles on the EMPAF website which are linked to the Federation profile

Current Members:

• ArtsNK (Sleaford)
• Charnwood Arts (Loughborough)
• City Arts (Nottingham)
• Fleet Arts (Belper)
• Hanby and Barrett (Nottingham)
• High Peak Community Arts (New Mills)
• Junction Arts (Shirebrook)
• Long Eaton Art Room (Long Eaton)
• Mantle Arts (Coalville)
• People Express (Swadlincote)
• Salamanda Tandem (Nottingham)
• Soft Touch (Leicester)
• Quad (Derby)
• Wash Arts (Ilkeston)

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Any organisation which meets these outlines and committments can become a Federation member. If you would like to know more please contact the EMPAF Project Coordinator Jane Millum by emailing jane@empaf.com or calling 07984 199 477.

The EMPAF Partnership is an independent organisation set up in June 2007. It was established by a small group of experienced individuals who, alongside their work running participatory arts organisations, have committed their time to delivering a three-year development programme of training, promotional and networking opportunities as well as acting as a steering group for the Forum.

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Currently the EMPAF Partnership consists of:

VINCE ATTWOOD

Vince is a co-director and founder member of Soft Touch Arts. The company specialises in issue based arts projects with disadvantaged young people. Over the past 20 years Soft Touch have developed innovative and exciting ways of delivering arts project that meet the aims and objectives of a wide variety of partner organisations. These include the youth justice system, education, health promotion and many other community development agencies. Vince’s main area of work is visual arts’ but he is also responsible for developing and delivering projects in the wide variety of art forms that Soft Touch use.

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JULIE BATTEN
Julie is Director of People Express. Julie has lived in the East Midlands for most of her life. She is trained in Drama and Dance and she set up a small theatre company called Cloak and Dagger that toured around various venues in the East Midlands. She has also been part time lecturer and freelance dance and drama practitioner. In 1993 she was employed as a part-time Co-ordinator for People Express progressing to the full time post of Director of People Express in 1997. She passionately believes that the Arts can be a life enhancing experience that should be available to everyone.

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TINA GLOVER MBE
Tina is C.E.O of Junction Arts a rural 'national flagship' participatory arts and regeneration organisation. Tina trained as an actress and drama teacher and started her career in community arts in the 70’s with Theatre Workshop in Edinburgh as a member of their street theatre team and later as assistant director of the company. She worked with Coventry T.I.E and at South Hill Park Arts Centre as Performer in Residence and Head of Community Arts before establishing and directing participatory arts projects in Northampton, Derby and The Medway Towns. Prior to joining Junction Arts in 1993 she worked for five years as a freelance arts consultant, researcher, trainer and strategic planner with local authorities, regional arts boards and arts organisations in England and Scotland. Her numerous committee posts include serving as a member of the D.C.M.S Policy Action Team on Social Exclusion, and as a Board member of Arts Council East Midlands.

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JAN REYNOLDS
Jan is Programme Officer for Participation and Learning for QUAD Derby, formally Q Arts. QUAD is a dynamic, regional organisation for contemporary visual arts and media, international in outlook, yet firmly rooted in Derby’s unique cultural mix. QUAD believes that everyone should have the chance to engage as both audiences and participants in the very best of visual arts and media. Jan has over 30 years experience of engaging in the participatory arts sector and, amongst other arts related jobs, is a founder member of Fusion Arts, has worked as a freelance artsworker, as South Asian Arts coordinator for East Staffordshire Borough Council and as training manager at Q Arts. She has been in her current post for over 3 years. She has a personal interest and commitment to advocacy and professional development for the sector.

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KEVIN RYAN

Kevin is the C.E.O. of Charnwood Arts, a community arts, education and media charity based in Leicestershire in the East Midlands. Kevin's background is in photography, literature, media and visual arts and he first became involved in community arts in the mid-late 1970's through arts led community development work in Portsmouth. After contributing to the development of projects or organisations in Brighton, Oxford, Loughborough and Leicester and freelance work around the East Midlands. Kevin joined Charnwood Arts as co-ordinator in 1991. The organisation is now, along with others in the East Midlands, considered a national flagship for participatory arts practice in England. Kevin is also a founder member and director of Mailout, the national magazine for participatory arts in the UK and a regional board member of ENYAN. His experience spans over 1,000 projects and programmes across all art forms including project work in Europe and India.

3rd year Fine Art student at Derby university, getting involved with participatory arts at Quad, derby. My own work is video art based. Please see my website.

Fiona is a freelance community musician & has lots of experience having worked in the community for the last 15 plus years teaching brazilian & african drumming & percussion. Based in east cambridgeshire she travels around East Anglia, East Midlands & further afield to work with schools, colleges, various community groups ie scouts & guides, youth groups (of all ages) secure units, residential homes, Festivals & Team Building events to name just a few.

Holding fully enhanced CRB checks from Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire & Bedfordshire & Public Liability Insurance from the Musicians Union Fiona brings her full samba kit or djembe's to you for one off workshops or residential courses.

please contact he for more details & to tailor make a drumming experience for your group

fionadrums@aol.com

The Cultural Identity and Individuality projects were both delivered at Limehurst High School in Loughborough
(year 7 – year 9). The two briefs were very different as were the groups we were working with. The feedback from both these projects, and subsequent sessions delivered at Limehurst, has been both praising and constructive to our development, as the following testimony shows:

“Limehurst High School has worked with the SEND team for three years, firstly through the recommendation of Charnwood Arts and then through a number of projects that have given us the opportunity to continue our very useful collaboration.
They have custom built a number of projects specifically for the school and continue to offer us another area of intervention, curriculum extension and teaching and learning opportunities that greatly enhances the experiences of pupils chosen to take part.
We began with a KS3 to KS4 transition project for Bangladeshi pupils who needed to see their move to the Upper School and subsequent learning in a positive light. The SEND group using digital music and video explored the idea of identity with the group of pupils; so building self esteem, confronting prejudice and individual concerns and breaking down some of the barriers to learning that the group faced.
The SEND group have successfully continued this work with other targeted groups in subsequent years focusing on making the transition period a positive experience.
Other projects have involved a whole year group activity/performance of rap and digital music; then moving into workshops involving small group focus on a range of skills including: animation, graffiti art, break dancing, Rap/MCing, DJing and digital music.
With the Secondary Review at the heart of curriculum change at the moment the SEND group offer an extremely valuable resource to make learning a rewarding experience. They bring a dedicated team of people who make the projects provided a professional, well organised and most importantly low maintenance experience for the school: one that the pupils do not forget.
Our recent ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted report was full of praise for the intervention programmes that we run and the SEND projects played an important part in this.”
Sheila Fisher, Head Teacher, Limehurst High School

The SEND Project was born 5 years ago in Sneinton when Moon Chester and Lee Marriott used their own equipment to teach local young people DJing skills. Since then, SEND has developed into a successful urban arts organisation delivering Music, Art, Film, Dance and Circus Skills based activities for young people across Nottingham and the East Midlands. We pride ourselves on our ability to engage a diverse range of learners, from age 11-25. We also provide various session with adult groups, in particular as part of a local family learning partnership.
One of our key strengths is our pool of dedicated, talented, professional and colourful tutors. Our tutors range from classically trained musicians to street rappers, hailing from all different walks of life, many of whom first hand have had to overcome challenging obstacles. Our Digital Music workshops/courses are lead by one of the worlds leading Ableton Music Software teachers. We also have an ever growing bank of volunteers who provide a wealth of skills and knowledge and add a significant dimension to our 3rd sector organisation. As a result of our diverse and highly skilled staff team, we are able to empathise with the young people we work with and facilitate deep-seated change in their behaviour and outlook through the creative force of music and arts.

Services

Workshops
Workshops are a great way of testing the water with a group of young people. SEND can deliver workshops in individual subject areas, or as a multiple subject workshop. Workshops may be as an extra-curricular activity, a taster session for an accredited course or as part of a longer programme of activities. These sessions usually run in 2-3 hour blocks and are a good way of getting young people to explore new creative avenues, providing a general overview of the subject area.

Bespoke Projects
Many of the projects we have developed, either delivered as a one off workshop or as a week on week structured programme of learning, have been created to support whole school programmes to confront and overcome issues such as racism and bullying. We have also delivered a number of projects in collaboration with a variety of local agencies, such as Youth Service, Connexions and Youth Offending Service. We bring to light how music and creative art can help to engage young people, unearth hidden talents, improve confidence and self-esteem and create a ‘can do’ and sharing environment.

We pride ourselves on taking the time to really get to know the young people we work with. Through the challenging experiences and difficulties we ourselves have had to overcome, we are perceived as positive role models. We can inspire young people to see that mistakes can be overcome and transformed into positive learning experiences, that people do move on and pick up the pieces.

Courses, Accreditations & Qualifications

SEND deliver a variety of accredited courses in music and art including AQA, NOCN, Arts Award and NCFE, having successfully done so for over 4 years. Clients include local bodies such as the Youth Inclusion Programme and Renewal Trust as well as statutory bodies such as schools, PRUs, YOTs and ACLS.

We deliver creative learning opportunities as extensions to curriculum or as alternative provision. Our work takes on a variety of styles and themes but our core provision is the delivery of workshops, bespoke projects and accredited courses for local authorities, schools and other young people’s groups.
Recent project themes have included:

• Cultural Identity
• Individuality
• Substance Misuse
• Respect
• Multiculturalism
• Environmental

Freelance Project Coordinator and Social Networker

Do You Know Anyone Who Can Help?

HorseWorld Charity Seeks Home For A Rare 11ftRecycled CD Horse Sculpture

Dean 'The Art Wizard' created High-Density the only horse in the world created out of reclaimed metal & 5000 Cd's during 2009.

Dean was asked to get involved in May during 2009 to create a 11ft Horse Sculpture to be part of The Recycle Sculpture Show for an exhibition held at HorseWorld held in Bristol. High-Density has had an overwhelming responce and helped HorseWorld with a huge amount of publicity & tourisim.

Dean is encouraging a horse enthusiast, music fan, museum or council to come forward to buy him! (90% of all proceeds made will goto the HorseWorld Charity

Dean The Art Wizard is a ‘community’ artist/presenter who is here to assist heads, teachers, parents, extended services, art development officers, festivals/events & government departments enhance curriculum activities.

Dean specializes in creating recycled sculptures or promotions using recycled materials & promoting Healthy eating. With Dean’s help he is certain it will assist schools towards ‘Artsmark’ ‘Healthy eating status’ & being 'sustainable schools,’ which in return will enhance several curriculum objectives. Dean also creates bespoke projects assisting all ages concerning antisocial behavior!

Catering for several key areas of the curriculum by using visual language as s stimulus to learn and have fun at the same time! Dean helps staff & pupils achieve above & beyond their objectives by educating all ages to learn through sculpture, relief art, animation, experimental art, puppets and much more.

I am currently working on a number of creative projects in schools in partnership with other, and very exciting, creative practitioners. The enthusiasm, support and interest from Teachers and the motivation of the Children make this work fascinating and extremely rewarding.

I hold workshops and courses in Puppet Making and Puppeteering. Students learn self esteem and an understanding of character creation and identity, as well as learning Speaking, Listening, Communication, Writing, Drama and Performance, Puppet and Craft Making Skills. I have been a Puppet Maker and Puppeteer for Television for over 20 years. I have been BAFTA nominated for my Script Editing work and am currently Bookaboo, Puppeteer and voice, in the 2009 Best Kids BAFTA winning Series Bookaboo. I have also made award winning short Puppet Films. Recently I have been creating TV Puppetry Educational courses and services which I have delivered to KS2 KS3, Diploma in Media and Creative students and Universities throughout the Region. Also to adult learners through my Workshops at Ruffford Abbey and Young People in Secure Children's Homes as well as youth groups. Basically students create a recorded Puppet performance which they can then upload to an internet outlet like You Tube. I supply the Puppets and all of the equipment. For more information please see the educational pages on my website. handsuppuppets.com

Mary Neal was a remarkable woman.

Born in 1860, the daughter of a Birmingham button manufacturer, she came to London in her 20s to ‘serve the poor.’ As a Sister of Mercy at the West London Mission she took charge of an evening club for sewing girls and so began a life of adventure as a social reformer, a champion of working class women and a folk revivalist.

A journalist, a suffragette, a radical arts practitioner, a magistrate and an adopted mother of two boys, she died in 1944, at the age of 84. Daily life’ said her life-long friend, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, was ‘more interesting when she was present’.

The Mary Neal Project unpacks an old box to create something new: a celebratory encounter between contemporary arts and English folk practitioners to look at tradition with fresh eyes. The Project celebrates Mary’s life and the legacy of her work, bringing to light the ‘undertold’ chapter of the Espérance Club ‘experiment’ and its role as instigator in the English Folk Revival.

A chance moment of debate around tradition and creativity, during the London International Festival of Theatre in 1993, led to Mary Neal’s papers arriving into the hands of her great great niece, Lucy Neal, The Project becomes the catalyst for returning Mary’s story - and her papers - to the public realm.

I am a freelance 3D mixed media artist from Lincolnshire and also work part time as a community arts officer in a specialist in visual arts/leading edge school. My artforms include hand rolled felt, willow/figurative/recycled sculpture, papier mache and paper pulp and carnival arts. I have over 12 years experience of working in educational settings, arts venues and with community groups covering all ages and abilities....from pre-school to beyond! I have completed many creative partnership residencies, facilitated INSET days and mentored artsworkers. I am a bronze/silver arts award adviser. Now have new business partnership called 'Culture Core' - delivering participatory arts related events and workshops.

I am an artist who works mainly in interactive and participatory community arts projects.

Three's Company’ (Vicky Price, Cathy Mahmood and Frances Howard) have been successful in bidding for a County Council tender to undertake baseline research in Arts & Health activities throughout Nottinghamshire. This research will take place between November 2009 and March 2010.

And we need your help! We are looking for people who share our passion for Arts & Health, to take part in our research and celebrate the County's many high quality and lesser known arts and health projects.

The ethos of our research is to give all people - from professionals in the PCT to artists delivering grassroots work - a voice and take on board the issues that matter to them about arts and health in the County.

We wish to involve people in celebrating projects and provide opportunities to network with other individuals they may not have had the chance to meet before. This group will also present the perfect opportunity to pass on contacts of people you may know who work in or are interested in the field.
We will also be arranging individual visits and collating information for specialised thematic examples to profile projects of best practice. Initial research will be collated by questionnaire and project reports.

Our research process will culminate in a networking and sharing event at the end of February 2010 where all who have taken part in the research and all those involved or interested in arts and health in the County will be invited to attend and share in our research so that recommendations can be made to the County Council on sustainability, future research and development, ongoing consultation, support for the sector and future advocacy. We hope that this research process will be stakeholder-led and beneficial for all taking part.

Please contact Frances Howard (mobile 07967 276969) or Vicky Price (mobile 07855 743939) or email at:

nottsartsandhealth@googlemail.com

- for further information and a Research questionnaire and project Research report form to be completed by January 31st 2010.