Welcome to the Bibas

Arts Council England 

Arts Council England works to get more art to more people in more places. We develop and promote the arts across England, acting as an independent body at arm’s length from government.

Between 2006 and 2008, we will invest £1.1 billion of public money from government and the National Lottery in supporting the arts. This is the bedrock of support for the arts in England.

We believe that the arts have the power to change lives and communities, and to create opportunities for people throughout the country.

Read about Our agenda for the arts 2006-8

Find out more about our:

• investment in the arts
• work in partnerships
• featured projects                                                                                                    

Are you looking to start a business in the Creative and Digital industries sectors??  Do you want to work in Film and TV, Music, Performance, Radio, New Media, Multimedia, Publishing, Design, Advertising and PR, Architecture, Crafts, Fashion or Photography?  If this sounds like you, then Creative Lancashire and CreativityWorks will soon be working with Inspiral, the specialist Creative and Digital Industries business support organisation, to help you get up and running.   We offer a free business diagnostic to assess and help you to refine your business proposition, as well as practical assistance with understanding how best to pitch your products and services to the market.   Want to know more?  Contact Jez.rhp@ntlworld.com or call 01254 660360.   What’s Your Story?     What What happens when star-crossed lovers like Romeo and Juliet don’t die, but live to fight the world?  This is Charlotte’s story.  At the age of seventeen she fell in love with an actor, was locked in her bedroom by angry parents, escaped and eloped with her lover to Gretna Green.  That was only the beginning of a life packed with adventure.  She joined a travelling theatre, tramped all over the northern counties, had seventeen children, lived to the age of ninety and wrote her own story, which was lost for two hundred years.   If you know a good story, which threatens to be lost, we want to hear from you.  We are looking for poetry, prose, fact, fiction, and photos depicting and celebrating the lives of people living in rural Cumbria, the North Pennines and Lancashire, who have an amazing tale to share and deserve some recognition of their lives.    More info click here

GroupHub Comes To East Lancashire

CreativityWorks have teamed up with GroupHub to present an event in Blackburn.   Group Hub deliver a series of bimonthly events for creatives in the Lancashire area. From design undergraduates to seasoned art directors and writers, GroupHub gatherings provide invaluable opportunities for networking, collaboration, pitch launches and professional development.   This will be the very first time GroupHub will be in Blackburn or indeed East Lancashire. To register interest for this event please email creativityworks@ntlworld.com with you name and email address.   Location is still to be confirmed but will be announced very shortly.   www.grouphub.org

Burnley's MP Kitty Ussher has welcomed East Lancashire's latest Panopticon, 'Singing Ringing Tree', which was officially declared open today by The Worshipful Mayor, Councillor Mohammad Najib, JP, and designers Tonkin Liu. “The completion of 'Singing Ringing Tree’ is a fantastic accomplishment for Burnley," she said.  "Visually the design is stunning and it will act as a major landmark for Burnley, attracting visitors and boosting Burnley’s tourist sector and economy. It is a true symbol of Burnley’s emergence and regeneration and I would urge all local people to visit the attraction.”  Panopticons, funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and the Lancashire Economic Partnership (LEP), is a visionary scheme to create a unique series of 21st century landmarks across East Lancashire, as symbols of the renaissance of the area. Burnley's Panopticon is sited at Crown Point, which on a clear day commands a spectacular panorama of East Lancashire, including a striking overview of the town of Burnley, with the famous Turf Moor football stadium at its centre.

Opportunity for Public Artists

of artwork for four new Health and Social Care LIFT centres in Salford.   This project is being commissioned by Salford LIFT Project Board (comprised of Salford City Council and Salford Primary Care NHS Trust (PCT)).   The new LIFT centres will be in Eccles, Pendleton, Swinton and Walkden.    These new buildings will accommodate Salford Primary Care Trust services, Salford Libraries and Salford City Council Customer Services.   More info   Latest Panopticon         Local Arts Officer

In each addition of the CreativityWorks newsletter we profile an Arts Development Officer. Here Gillian Walsh of Rossendale introduces herself.   Rossendale’s Arts Development is delivered by Rossendale Leisure Trust under their Lifestyles team, which also covers sports development and healthy lifestyle initiatives. Rossendale Arts Development work aims to encourage all sectors of our diverse community to participate in art and creative activities, which will lead to greater opportunities for all by exploring the varied and inspirational art forms, which exist across Rossendale.   Just to give you a flavour of what we do, in 2006 Rossendale Arts Alliance, a group of local artists, with support from Rossendale Leisure Trust, Mid Pennine Arts and Horse and Bamboo Theatre develop and deliver the first ever Children’s Arts Festival in Lancashire, which was known as the K Festival. The 2006 K Festival was the prototype for an ambitious plan to create a major annual arts event in the magic valley of Rossendale aimed specially at children.  Last year's programme has given everyone a taste of what is to come during 2007 - superb, high quality, distinctive, internationally recognised arts for children.   We also produce a free quarterly newsletter, which is known as Arts Across Rossendale, each edition contains information on past and future events, funding advice and contact details for organisations. The purpose of this newsletter is to disseminate information to both artists and the community, which works towards raising the profile of art and how it can be a driver for change across all sectors.   During the school holidays we also co-ordinate art initiatives for young people alongside sport and physical activities to offer local children a varied programme of involvement during their holidays.   Like all Arts Development Officers across the region, we have a complex role to play within our community, by working simultaneously at both strategic and grass root level, we all aim to support local artists, promote local venues and most importantly encourage more people to participate in creative activities.   If you would like to find out more about Rossendale’s Arts Development work, please email Gillian.smith@rltrust.co.uk or telephone 01706 244671.

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