WHAT'S NEW?New! 11.03.10
Google's Street View photo-coverage of the city Stoke-on-Trent is now live...
Stoke-on-Trent train station, looking down toward the University.
New! 10.03.10
Applications for the 2010 Lord Stafford Awards will be open from 1st April 2010.
The Awards are given to outstanding collaborative ventures between businesses and universities. See the website for full details.
New! 10.03.10
Staffordshire University is launching new three-year degrees for September 2010 entry. New courses include Celebrity Journalism
and Textile Surfaces, among others.
New! 10.03.10
If you're already considering buying an Apple Mac for specialist business purposes, and don't want to trek to Birmingham or Manchester to consult an Apple store guru,
the leading Apple reseller MCC is hosting... "a free Business Workshop for local businesses" at the Britannia
Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, on 31st March 2010 (11.30pm – 5.30pm). To register call: 01925 444499.
New! 09.03.10
West Bromwich-based Longhouse and artist Anna Francis
are seeking four artists. You'll undertake
short investigations of public spaces where you live or work. These West Midlands commissions aim to explore the impact that you can make in one place in one day.
Application deadline: 17th March 2010. Fee: £50 to cover expenses. All projects must be complete by the end of the month, and the results of
your project will be included in the Talking City e-zine. For full details, please visit the web page.
New! 09.03.10
Added to the Directory: The Hindu Cultural Society, Staffordshire. The Society also appears to draw membership from Cheshire.
New! 09.03.10
Added to the Events list: Staffordshire University has a free public lecture on cultural masterplans for cities.
Architect Dan Dubowitz will give the talk "Cultural masterplanning: the remaking of cities" on 29th April 2010 (7.30pm)
at the Ashley Lecture Theatre LT1, on the Stoke-on-Trent campus of Staffordshire University.
More information from: c.j.dover@staffs.ac.uk
New! 09.03.10
Youth Music's Open Programme of
grants is now open for applications. Grants of between £5,000 and £30,000 are available.
Deadlines for the 2010 programme are: 10th May 2010; 10th September 2010; 10th December 2010. Given the likelihood
of swift post-election funding cuts to the arts, the 10th May deadline might be the best one to aim for?
New! 09.03.10
Added to the Events list: PiCL's Enquiry School Programme supports schools who want to explore creative approaches to learning. They are now seeking
thirty-one schools across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire to be part of this programme in the 2010/11 school year.
A breifing event
will be held on 16th March 2010, from 4.30pm - 6.30pm, at PiCL HQ, 14a King Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme.
New! 09.03.10
Artist Miriam Burke is offering a number of drop-in participatory workshops in drawing ancient rocks (6th & 7th April 2010, 11am – 4pm) at Newcastle Borough Museum & Art Gallery, to accompany
her new exhibition which launches on Saturday 13th March 2010 at 2pm - 4pm.
"Know this Place for the First Time" is a sci-art exhibition arising from Miriam's work with the glacier scientists at Keele University. The show is
inspired by the local landscape of North Staffordshire — and its intriguing geological history when under the Ice Age snow, ice and glaciers of 18,000 years ago.
There is also an accomanying show, "Inspirational Landscapes", which considers the ways in which our contemporary landscape has been an inspiration to both artists and scientists.
In Miriam Burke's Albedo project, wax-casts of vistors' fingertips were placed around the venue, as if they were tiny ice-flowers.
New! 09.03.10
An experienced guitarist based in Stoke-on-Trent is seeking...
"any available studio work, anything from demos to full albums. Comfortable with a fair range of styles. No gigging work please as — after 150-odd gigs over 18 years —
I'm now looking to gain more studio experience."
New! 08.03.10
Job: Following some recent criticism, Stoke-on-Trent City Council's
Press and Communications Department now needs a new Chief Press Officer.
New! 08.03.10
The British Library and Chartered Management Institute (CMI) are running a competition for the best management books, after a survey showed just five percent
of British managers are using such books when they have work problems or need to plan ahead. The competition offers a £5,000 cash prize, and is open to individual authors,
publishers or agents. Full details at the Management Book of the Year website. Readers can also nominate books by emailing:
managementbooks@managers.org.uk
New! 08.03.10
Added to the Directory: Bromley&Stone is a full-service marketing agency based in Stafford.
New! 07.03.10
Local autism and aspergers campaigner and author Kevin Healey is looking for a film director who might
consider his autobiography, Twin Brothers, Worlds Apart, as a potential feature film
— from which proceeds would go to Staffordshire Adults Autistic Society.
For more information please contact the charity at: infosaas@ntlworld.com or phone 01782 617088.
New! 05.03.10
Added to the Directory: Simon Manby is a bronze sculptor, based at Wootton in North Staffordshire.
"Girl on The Seawall" by Simon Manby.
New! 05.03.10
Added to the Directory: Staffordshire Patchworkers and Quilters.
New! 05.03.10Derbyshire Open Studios has announced 2010 dates: 29th to 31st May 2010.
A free brochure will be... "available in April", and they're now inviting people to sign up to receive a copy.
New! 05.03.10
The UK Film Council has a new fund to support the use of the internet in film marketing.
Application deadline: 31st March 2010. Five grants of "up to £30,000" are available to pay for...
"digital promotional and marketing materials such as.... * creating digital assets such as clips, trailers, podcasts, stills, etc; * developing social media
elements such as blogs, widgets and social networking profiles; * interactive websites; and * viral marketing."
New! 04.03.10
Shropshire's Pandora's Box 2010 is seeking alternative cabaret/vaudevillian acts for their monthly parlour night at the Albert and Pearl.
Your act needs to have a shade of the dark / macabre in it, but can be from any discipline. It needs to be less than 15 mins and use as little props/lighting as possible.
They will also be starting a regular Tuesday night at "another exciting venue" in April 2010.
Expenses / basic renumeration will be paid - details on application. Next shows are on 1st April and 6th May 2010, starting at 8pm.
More details from: mail@kvproduction.com
New! 03.03.10
Added to the Directory: Choose Industry, based in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.
New! 03.03.10
Stoke-on-Trent solicitors Beswicks are kindly sponsoring a competition for wildlife and landscape photographers. Categories include: Lure of the Landscape; Wonders of Wildlife;
Environmentally Friendly; and On the Water. Prizes include a four-day photography holiday, and a half day with The Sentinel newspaper's photographers. Deadline: 1st June 2010. See the website for more details.
New! 02.03.10
The 2010 events leaflet for Leek's Nicholson Institute is now online (PDF link, 500kb).
Events include the premiere of Birmingham film-maker Chris Keenan's documentary about Leek cattle-market, as part of
a show of photographs of the market by Birmingham photographer Kate Beatty.
Detail from a photo at Leek Cattle Market, by Kate Beatty.
Also at the Nicholson in 2010: the Staffordshire Moorlands Open Art show; the Society of Staffordshire Artists Show; and
the Leek College's Contemporary Art Foundation end-of-course show — all of which seem set to be good networking opportunities.
New! 02.03.10
Added to the Directory: Stoke-on-Trent's Real2Can offer video production, DVD pack design, and ebook promotion.
New! 02.03.10
West Midlands' artists are invited to a free Arts in Early Years
one-day event on 8th March 2010 (Ikon Gallery, 10.30am - 5pm)...
"... a day of discussion around the ideas of contemporary art and the early years [...] with a panel of artists and early years professionals.
Places are free but should be reserved by calling the Ikon on: 0121 248 0708."
New! 02.03.10
The Arvon Foundation's Shropshire retreat house is recruiting now for a variety of residential writing courses during 2010.
Including a Graphic Novel week with Bryan Talbot, Hannah Berry, and Posy Simmonds, in September 2010.
New! 02.03.10
Keele-based Inspired Film and Video have produced a new documentary on the history and legacy of coal mining in North Staffordshire.
20,000 copies of the DVD will be given away free with a special mining edition of The Sentinel's "The Way We Were" in March 2010. Watch the trailer on Creative Stoke, then watch the news stands!
New! 02.03.10
Job: Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge Primary School, in nearby Shropshire, are looking for a Drama and Dance Practitioner to help them explore creative approaches to
improving literacy skills, particularly writing in years 2 and 5. Deadline for applications: 15th March 2010. For a full brief please email Iain Armstrong at: iaincp@phonoscope.co.uk quoting "Coalbrookdale".
New! 02.03.10
Job: The National Dance Teachers Association, based in nearby Lichfield, requires a Director.
Deadline: 31st March 2010. More information at the above web link.
New! 01.03.10
Loughborough University is to hold a special 'Young Researchers and Postgraduates workshop' on the theme of Cities and the Creative Economy. This free event will be on Weds 28th April 2010.
Presentations from postgraduates and young researchers are invited, on topics such as: critical perspectives on the Creative Class thesis;
creative industries development in the city; and tensions of place marketing and branding versus the cultural economy.
The keynote talk will be given by noted creative industries researcher Andy Pratt of King's College London.
Interested? Please email abstracts of no more than 250 words to: a.watson@staffs.ac.uk by 5th March 2010.
New! 01.03.10
The Stoke-on-Writing writers' group is having its first guest speaker morning on 10th April 2010, from 11.30am to 1.00pm. StOW will host a Q&A session on scriptwriting
with the Rotten Park Road Theatre Companys Lynne Payne (Creative Producer) and Patrick McConnell (Artistic Director and Resident Writer).
There is a small fee of £2 for non-members. Space is limited so please book in advance via: stokeonwriting@gmail.com
New! 01.03.10
Job: Burton-on-Trent's community arts team The Big Art People are looking for someone to help out during busy periods,
especially June and July 2010. The applicant must be flexible, as they cannot offer regular working hours.
Work will involve generally assisting during workshops, helping groups of children, finishing off work etc. with scope for potentially
running your own workshops in the future. It would suit a fellow creative practitioner, an ex-teacher looking to supplement their income,
an arts graduate looking for experience, or indeed anyone who enjoys working with children and fancies getting involved in some big, collaborative art projects.
Send a C.V. and/or letter of interest to jim@thebigartpeople.co.uk and they'll get in touch. There is no deadline.
New! 01.03.10
All of Creative Stoke's internal and external web-links have been
checked for viability by automatic link-checking software.
As a result, 23 dead links have been deleted, and 12 moved links have been relocated & repaired.
If anyone knows the online whereabouts of: FlatVision, BIDS marketing, Cheshire Studios, Ieva Alksne, Upstart Stoke, Omega Live Role Playing, Sculpture
Consultants UK, Sackville House Gallery, Applause Gallery, Marie & Becky McGowan-Griffin, Visual Canvas, Snowstorm Design, please contact Creative Stoke.
(Please note that the links on the old archived 'What's New' & 'Events'
pages have not been checked or repaired).New! 01.03.10
Want to encourage disabled volunteers to vounteer with your arts organisation? There's currently up to £5,000 on offer from The Access to Volunteering Fund to do just that.
Applicants must be actively using volunteers and be... "making an impact in the West Midlands area".
Application deadline: 19th April 2010. See the Access to Volunteering website for full details.
New! 01.03.10
Added to the Events listing: Staffordshire University and Praxis are running an arts & health seminar session titled: "Arts and Health: Visions of Reality"
on 29th April 2010. The seminar will run from 2.00pm to 4.00pm at Staffordshire University's Stoke-on-Trent campus.
To book your place on this seminar please email the Creativity Team at: kate@creativityteam.co.uk
New! 01.03.10
Added to the Events listing: Packaging designers, especially those involved in food and drink, may be interested in the seminar event "Packaging: unwrapping savings through EcoDesign"
The half-day event will be held on 2nd Mar 2010 at 10.00am at Branston Golf & Country Club, near Burton-upon-Trent.
More details here.
New! 01.03.10
Added to the Events listing: People from MusicLeader West Midlands will be visiting North Staffordshire on 29th April 2010.
The "Question Time" session will run from 11.45am to 1.45 pm at the Staffordshire University Cafe in Stoke-on-Trent...
"Are you a musician who wants to develop your music leading career? Then this is your chance for a half hour, one-to-one session,
to ask those burning questions about kick starting your career, or to find out a little more about what MusicLeader West Midlands has to offer you.
To book your half-hour slot contact us on: west-midlands@musicleader.net"
New! 01.03.10
It's rather far away for a visit, but those who remember photographer and photography teacher Iain Macmillan will be interested to know that there's a first outing for
a major art gallery retrospective of his work in Dundee (until 3rd June 2010). Macmillan seems to have followed the path of many London creatives
at the start of the 1970s, fleeing the decaying and heroin-satured hippy scene for a new rural or provincial life. In his case, he choose Stoke-on-Trent
where he taught photography throughout the 1970s, at a time when the north Midlands (Derby, Stoke, Nottingham) was a creative hotbed for fine art photography —
based around the first photography diploma courses such as those at Nottingham Trent Polytechnic, and the Derby College of Art, and Paul Hill's "The Photographer's Place"
high in the Derbyshire Peak District.
New! 01.03.10Reality Films in association with Red Sky Productions are currently casting for a number of roles in experimental films
that will be launched via DVD. The films will be... "thrillers, horrors and psychological film noir with plenty of scope". They're especially interested to hear of
people who live in Stoke-on-Trent or the wider North Staffordshire area. There are no payments, but you will get film credits. They are looking for...
"both male and female who wish to push back the boundaries and are not afraid of some risky stuff. Cam Girl: The Movie
is a recent example as well as The Stone. We are looking for relatively unknowns".
Interested? To find out more contact John Symes at: red.sky.productions@gmx.co.uk
New! 01.03.10
Those in the rural parts of North Staffordshire and the Peak may be interested in Rural Culture's new
Creative Rural Communities Report / Rural Cultural Strategy (2010). Sadly this is not available as a single PDF, and can only be rather awkwardly
accessed in parts from the top menu of their website.
Following on from the report, Rural Culture will be holding a Creative Rural Communities consultation seminar in the West Midlands in July 2010 (date tbc).
Those interested in rural enterprise and the creative economy may also be interested in the Women in Rural Enterprise national conference, coming up
soon in nearby Shropshire on 22nd April 2010.
New! 01.03.10
'On Call' is a new scheme which aims to enable theatre practitioners in Birmingham and the West Midlands to meet informally with
experienced producers, directors and programmers for free impartial advice, support and exchange. For more information about On Call please email: orit@c-sense.uk.com
Those interested in the current state of theatre in the West Midlands may be interested to know that the notes from the November 2009
"The Challenge of Change: How Do We Create a Better Future for Theatre in the West Midlands?"
event are now online.
New! 22.02.10
The Staffordshire Hoard is currently on show at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, and also at the British Museum in London.
The donations total is growing, but the appeal to puchase the Hoard for Staffordshire still needs to raise another £2.5m by April.
Sadly there's still no sign yet of PayPal as a donation option, but you can donate online by credit card here.
North Staffordshire's Chamber of Commerce Business Broker Team are holding a Staffordshire Hoard "Business Breakfast Event" on 26th February 2010 (£10 inc. VAT), enabling
local business people to beat the crowds.
New! 22.02.10
Added to the Events list: In partnership with the Design Council, North Staffs Chamber of Commerce is holding a "Design Your Way Out of the Downturn"
morning on 13th April 2010 (9am - 12am at Commerce House, Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent). This is a free event and will be led by an experienced design manager with a background
in solving business problems.
New! 22.02.10
Job: Cheshire Dance is seeking an exceptional full-time Youth Dance Development Officer (£23k - £26k p.a., contract until March 2011).
You will working with a partnership involving YDE, The Lowry, ACE, Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East, Warrington and Halton Borough Councils.
Application deadline: 22nd March 2010. For an application form please contact Lesley-Ann Parry at: lesleyann@cheshiredance.org
New! 22.02.10
Birmingham-based Maverick TV are seeking innovative Midlands inventors / product designers to appear on a new BBC Retail series.
See how your original new product sells, when placed on the shelves of leading High St. shops! For more details please contact: highstreet@mavericktv.co.uk
New! 22.02.10
Keele Hall, at Keele University, is organising a one-week retreat for writers.
The intensive residential retreat will run from 25th July to 30th July 2010.
Poets Jacob Polley and James Sheard, and authors Gwendoline Riley and Joe Stretch, will lead workshops and mentor participants.
All have extensive experience of the teaching of creative writing, as well as being established writers in their fields.
Writing undertaken during the writing retreat can also be converted into credits towards Keele's M.A. degree in Creative Writing.
The retreat costs £525, inclusive of accommodation and meals. There will be a discount available for local writers
who do not require accommodation. Further information about the Keele Writing Retreat can be had from Kath McKeown at: k.c.mckeown@his.keele.ac.uk
New! 22.02.10Arrow Small Business Finance is a Midlands investment firm which currently has over £600,000 to lend between now and the end of March 2011. The not-for-profit fund is looking for
entrepreneurs who want to set up or grow a small business. Loans of up to £10,000 are available to small businesses that cannot obtain the finance they need
through the banks. These can be part of a package of finance, or standalone. Further information from: enquiries@arrowsbf.co.uk
New! 22.02.10
Job: The Arts Development Team at nearby Telford & Wrekin Council are looking for a self-employed person with who can lead Kreative Kidz. Kreative Kidz is an established project
providing disabled children and young people with opportunities to work with professional artists, to explore creativity outside of school hours.
You'll work on the Kreative Kidz project with a team of five artists, and will manage the coordination of the arts development and delivery from April 2010 to April 2011.
Project budget: up to £12,000, at £12 per hour. Closing date for applications: 17th March 2010. For full brief and how to apply, please contact:
Naomi Middleton at naomi.middleton@telford.gov.uk
New! 22.02.10
Job: Chirbury Primary School, a small rural school located south-west of Shrewsbury, is seeking
four all-ages Creative Practitioners for a 2.5 day project between March – July 2010. The fee is £240 per day, plus travel, subsistence and accommodation
where necessary. The school wishes to examine hidden meanings and double-meanings in the arts, and to be able to discuss the arts in a deeper manner.
The project will be partly linked with Maths teaching. Interested? Deadline for applications: 11th March 2010. For further information please
contact Felix Pepler (Creative Agent) on: 01562 700400 or 07967 36415.
New! 22.02.10
Added to the Directory: Crewe & Nantwich MMU ceramics student Katrina Nowotynski.
New! 18.02.10
The BBC is going to be filming in Stafford on 29th April - 1st May, and is seeking local young people as work experience assistants.
New! 18.02.10
Job: The nearby town of Shrewsbury requires a Freelance Cartoon Artist to run workshops for years 8 & 9 (age 12-14) and also with local community groups.
This work will be part of the outreach for the Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival.
Eight workshops will take place in late March - early April 2010, and will be complete before the Festival start date of 24th April 2010.
Workshops should fit with the festival theme of "Myth, Magic and Mystery". They are budgetting for... "about £250 per day to include expenses and some materials".
Interested Cartoon Artists should email a statement of interest to: joy.durrant@shropshire.gov.uk
New! 18.02.10
Local writer Gaz Mayer is seeking participants in a new comedy group, to perform live comedy sketches in aid of Cancer Research and the UK Army Benevolent Fund.
Interested? Contact Gaz at: gazmayer69@aol.com
New! 16.02.10
Job: A Digital Media Practitioner is required by Muxton Primary School, in nearby Telford.
You'll help to explore creative approaches to improving writing skills.
A total artist fee of £3000 is available to include all planning, delivery, evaluation and expenses.
Application deadline: 4th March 2010. More information from Iain Armstrong, Creative Agent at: iaincp@phonoscope.co.uk
quoting "Muxton Primary".
New! 16.02.10
Added to the Directory:
Print Digital Ceramics, based in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, can offer
ceramic transfers for printing photos and designs onto ceramic items.
New! 16.02.10
Added to the Directory: Rob Spuffard is a product, model, portraiture, head-shots and stills photographer, with a studio based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. Also has a
fully mobile studio set-up.
New! 16.02.10
There's a £1,000 competition for short animation to promote the national UK 'Museums at Night' weekend...
"... of late-night museum openings [...] There are sleepovers, ghost hunts, torchlight tours, illuminations, pop up bars and many other kinds of entertainment [...] animations should be humorous and fun"
Closing date: 31st March 2010.
New! 12.02.10
Added to the Events list: The Wedgwood Memorial College now has details of 2010 workshops for adults. Workshops are residential and are held over several days (usually weekends)
at the Wedgwood Memorial College, near Stoke-on-Trent. Running in 2010 are: Papermaking in the Garden;
Lacemaking;
Playing Saxophone;
and Putting People in Paintings,
among others. See the website for the full list, prices, and booking details.
New! 11.02.10
Added to the Events list: The Guild of St. George's Campaign for Drawing is running a one-day workshop for adults, titled
"Drawing, a Tool for Design", on 24th March 2010 (10.30am to 4pm). The venue will be The Burslem School of Art, Stoke-on-Trent. The event is
free, but is only open to... "advisory teachers, heads of Art & Design / Design & Technology
in secondary schools, ... artists and youth leaders and professionals who use drawing in their work/practice".
Those attending will receive a copy of the 32-page booklet Drawing: A Tool for Design.
To book a place, please e-mail Emma Thatcher at: emma@campaignfordrawing.org
New! 11.02.10
Stafford's Rising Brook Writers group now has a page of over 40 oral history MP3s,
recorded during 2009 for their forthcoming book and DVD on memories of seaside holidays. The book will be published in May 2010, with a launch event on
17th May at the Shire Hall Gallery. Forthcoming group events also include a Drama Day at the Gatehouse Theatre on 24th July 2010.
New! 11.02.10
The UK Higher Education Academy invites students on art, design or media higher-education courses to
enter this year's essay competition and answer the question...
"Learning to live sustainably — how can your subject-area contribute?"
...in an essay of around 1,000 words. The winner will receive £250. All submissions that meet the criteria and make use of the guidance will be published on the
HEA website. Deadline: 26th March 2010. Full details are here.
New! 10.02.10Making Music West Midlands now has its 2010 small grants application forms online.
The maximum amount available is: £300. Application deadline: 30th April 2010.
Money must be spent before July 2011 — but for some promoting groups, by December 2011.
More details on the application form (Word .rtf file).
New! 10.02.10Microsoft XNA GameCamp, in Birmingham on 19th-20th February 2010... "is a marathon gamecamp where students and indie developers use Microsoft's
XNA Game Studio 3.0 [free software] to create a game in less than 48 hours." According to the website today there are still four places available to West Midlands' game makers.
New! 10.02.10
Added to the Directory: the Etsy page for Flame Born Beads, hot glass creations of North Staffordshire's Lesley Nixon.
Cthulhu phone-dangle, from Flame Born Beads.
New! 10.02.10Square Mile is asking artists to work with ecologists to undertake linked surveys of both biodiversity and arts activity
in a one square mile area. There's currently one Midlands example — in Smethwick, north of Birmingham.
New! 10.02.10
Are you a young person running a successful business? The 2010 Enterprising Young Brits awards are now open for nominations.
Applicants must be aged 30 or under. There's also a special 'Teen' award (for those between the ages of 13 and 19).
The winner of each category receives £1,000. Nomination deadline: 5th March 2010. See the website for more details.
New! 09.02.10
Are you a West Midlands playwright, screenwriter, poet, or prose writer? Would you like to develop a new piece of work for the stage, and see it presented in October 2010?
The Theatre Writing Partnership is offering six writers/artists a supported process to help develop their ideas for new plays. With a bespoke team of creative mentors,
directors, actors and other artists, they'll help you develop the script and present a sharing of your work.
Deadline for submissions: 12th February 2010. More details here.
New! 09.02.10
Theatre Writing Partnership and Writing West Midlands are collaborating to offer bursaries to two Midlands' writers to create "theatre for the ear".
Soothing, titillating, terrifying and intimate, Ears Wide Open will offer you solitary and communal experiences, manipulating your mind by
triggering your imagination. Deadline: 28th February 2010. Details of the bursaries are here.
New! 09.02.10Lustre is a craft sales event which is pitching itself as... "the Midlands' premier selling opportunity for contemporary, innovative craft".
Lustre 2010 is now welcoming applications from crafts makers working in all forms and materials including metal, jewellery, ceramics, glass, wood and textiles.
Application deadline: 19th March 2010. The selection panel meets on 24th March 2010.
A stall for a standard exhibitor costs £350 (recently graduated students: £250).
New! 09.02.10
South Staffordshire's British Glass Biennale is now calling for entries for the 2010 event.
The Biennale is open to artists, designers and crafts makers, working in all areas of contemporary glass practice or using glass as a
key design element. There's £7,500 in prize money to be won, alongside the press coverage from participating the leading showcase for British makers.
Deadline for submissions: 26th March 2010.
New! 09.02.10
A nation-wide UK Young Artists competition will take place later in 2010. Winners will represent the nation at the Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean.
Work should be new, and can be from any art form including fashion. Artists must be between 18 and 30. Sign up for the
notification email service, to be informed when applications are being accepted.
New! 09.02.10
Skillset are offering bursaries of up to £800 towards 'multiplatform' skills training for freelancers working in media production.
Application deadline: 26th March 2010.
New! 08.02.10
The Buxton Festival's fringe Film Festival (7th-23rd July 2010)
is currently seeking shorts and documentaries. Contact them via the website form.
New! 08.02.10
Job: Stoke-on-Trent's FRONTLINEdance are now seeking up to four workshop assistants for four integrated after-school dance
clubs. The application deadline for assistants is 10th Feb 2010. Weekly workshops will take place during term-time, starting the week beginning 1st March 2010 at the following venues:
1. Mon @ Heathfield Special School, Chell Heath, Stoke-on-Trent
2. Tue @ Blackfriars Special School, Newcastle-under-Lyme
3. Weds @ Leek High School, Leek, Staffordshire Moorlands
4. Thurs @ Kemball Special School, Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent
The fee for an assistant at each club is £15 (freelance): 3:30pm-5pm. Interested? Contact Rachael Lines at: rachael@frontlinedance.org.uk
New! 08.02.10
The Acoustic Festival of Britain comes to Uttoxeter Racecourse in May (21st-23rd May 2010). There's
also: a traditional Hurdy-Gurdy Festival (6th-9th May 2010) at Youlgrave in the nearby Peak District;
and The Uttoxeter Mayfest featuring six morris dance teams + maypole dancers (2nd May 2010).
Having all these together in the same month seems like a prime opportunity for someone looking for a subject on which to make an audio documentary.
New! 08.02.10
Added to the Directory: Animators Carse & Waterman. Formerly based in Hereford, the duo are now based in Stoke-on-Trent and
have recently completed work for The Prodigy and Santander.
New! 08.02.10
Added to the Directory: Nemesis Now, based in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent.
Nemesis make gothic / steampunk / pagan / fannish collectable figurines, and ceramic containers. Nemisis
has a turnover of £3 million a year.
New! 07.02.10
The British Animations Awards films come to Staffordshire University
(Stoke campus, just around the corner from the train station) over three nights: Prog 1: Mon 8th Feb /
Prog 2: Weds 10th Feb / and Prog 3: Thur 11th Feb 2010. Includes the first cinema showings of Moonbird by the West Midlands duo the Brothers McLeod. Sure to be a good networking opportunity as
well as entertaining. More details from: m.weston@staffs.ac.uk
New! 07.02.10
The University of Manchester has launched a UK Schools Computer Animation Competition called
Animation10. Children aged 7 to 19 are eligible. Films should be one minute or less.
You're limited to using Flash or education-ware such as Greenfoot, Alice, or Scratch. Deadline: 1st April 2010.
New! 06.02.10The Light House in nearby Wolverhampton is offering a two-day workshop in Post Production for HD (22nd to 23rd Feb 2010, from 10am–4pm each day).
This practical training workshop will cover aspects of high-definition video post production, including operation of Final Cut Pro and Avid HD suites.
The cost is £105 + VAT. Lunch included. Applications for this workshop must be submitted by 12th Feb.
New! 05.02.10
The Unwanted Gift Shop at The New Art Gallery, Walsall, is seeking unwanted gifts or bad purchases tucked away at the back of your wardrobe.
Donate an item to have it transformed into works of art! Just visit artist-in-residence Mitra Memarzia at The Unwanted Gift Shop (Monday - Saturday and Bank Holidays 10-5pm, Sunday 11-4pm, until 18th April 2010).
New! 05.02.10
Added to the Directory: Gallery@12, a new selling gallery located at Eccleshall (between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent).
New! 05.02.10
This sounds deliciously likely to annoy museums that claim 'copyright' on Flickr pictures of their public-domain works: the month-long
Britain Loves Wikipedia event...
"is a scavenger hunt and free-content photography contest running in museums and cultural institutions across the UK during February 2010.
The aim is to increase the number of pictures available to illustrate Wikipedia articles, and to inspire new articles"
New! 04.02.10
The "Platinum Artist Development Scheme", publicly funded via Arts Council England West Midlands, is being re-launched.
It aims to... "develop your work, [and help you] make useful and helpful connections".
More details are online here. Application deadline: 5th March 2010.
New! 04.02.10
Would you like help to employ a graduate for a four-week paid work placement? A new Graduate Advantage
scheme gives your firm a graduate bursary of £800, paid through the local University, to which you would add £200. The business would then need to
run the graduate through your payroll, at £250 per week for four weeks. At the end of the placement, there will be the possibility of converting
to an unpaid internship through the West Midlands Graduate Internship scheme. The scheme is also
available to public sector organisations &mdash the organisation would receive a
bursary of £400, and would contribute £600. More information about local opportunities on this scheme can be had from: jobzone@staffs.ac.uk
New! 04.02.10
Added to the Events listing: The Producers Forum is to hold a New Producer Training afternoon at Staffordshire University (Stoke Campus), on Monday 22nd February 2010 from 2pm until 5pm.
This free event for local filmmakers will look at...
"the reality of working in the film industry, from four of the region's most experienced producers
who will talk about their career as film and television producers and they will be on hand to answer your questions."
You can sign up for this free event using this form.
New! 04.02.10
Expressions of interest are invited from entrepreneurs who have recently established a social business/project. £15,000 is available, plus non-financial support for a year,
from UnLtd. Your venture must be operational, and have an established track-record of meeting a clear social need.
More details at the website.
New! 04.02.10
There are currently three funded Masters degree studentships on offer
at Birmingham Institute of Art & Design (BIAD), in Birmingham city centre...
Eligible Programmes for Professional Preparation Masters Awards: M.A. Design Management; M.A. Interior Design; M.A. Jewellery,
Silversmithing and Related Products; M.A. Product Design; M.A. Textiles, Fashion and Surface Design.
New! 04.02.10
Final-year B.A. students who stay on to take a taught Masters (M.A.) programme at Keele will be eligible for a £1,000 discount on their postgraduate tuition fees.
The Keele Graduate Bursaries are available for all taught postgraduate courses, other than those where financial enticements are already available (such as healthcare, social work, education).
All students graduating from a first degree programme this year at Keele are eligible, and there are no additional forms or paperwork.
The £1,000 will be deducted from the second payment instalment of postgraduate tuition fees. More details from this Web page
or from Helen Johnson at: bursaries@acad.keele.ac.uk
New! 04.02.10
Are you a creative student at Keele University? There's a newly-formed student society at Keele called MAD (Media, Art & Design). MAD caters for those engaged in all forms of creative production,
and hopes to create opportunities for students via work placements, exhibitions, portfolio developement, etc.
Interested? More details from Amy Moran (Treasurer, MAD) at: madsoc.uk@googlemail.com
New! 04.02.10
Job: A small rural primary school, serving the villages of Hope and Hathersage in the nearby Peak District, is seeking a Creative Practitioner (theatre and drama, street dance, animation and filmmaking).
They are seeking to show how creativity can help children understanding religious faith, and enable them to learn about new customs, traditions and beliefs.
The project will be delivered between March and June 2010. More information from: michelleworrell@hotmail.co.uk or notjilly@hotmail.com
New! 04.02.10
The Black Cat Theatre Company runs dance, drama and singing workshops for local children between the ages of 6 and 14.
As part of their activities, the Black Cat project "Action" runs most school holidays in
various venues across the Potteries. The company are all professionally-trained actors, choreographers, directors and musicians.
If you're in Staffordshire or South Cheshire and are interested in signing up for a half-term workshops, then please use the contact form on the Black Cat website.
Black Cat Theatre will also be holding weekly acting classes for young actors, following LAMDA examination procedures. These will be based in Stoke-on-Trent. Again, they would love to hear from you
if you're interested in these.
New! 25.01.10
Job: British Waterways is seeking a creative community artist to design site-specific art pieces to be located along the two canals
which run through the City Waterside and Middleport areas of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. Through a series of workshops, the successful artist would
be required to involve, engage and consult the remaining members of the local community in these areas. Consultation and workshops would start in
February / March 2010, with the finished design completed in May 2010. Artist Fee: £7,000 to include all development work, workshops, workshop materials,
production of designs, installation supervision and expenses. Application deadline: 8th February 2010. Full details from: louise.north@britishwaterways.co.uk
New! 25.01.10
Added to the Directory: Chris Hepburn is a talented young photographer from Staffordshire. He has a
special talent for making stock images, and his work is for sale at iStockphoto and Getty Images.
New! 25.01.10
Added to the Directory: Staffordshire Moorlands photographer Chris Lees has a new website for
his special boudoir photography services.
New! 25.01.10
Added to the Directory: Klair Scattergood is a local children's artist and illustrator. Klair also has
an Etsy shop
selling her unique artwork, jewellery pieces, journals and cards. Klair can also teach workshops in creative bookmaking and bookbinding classes for adults, both online and in the classroom.
"Time for a brew" by Klair Scattergood.
New! 24.01.10
Job: Over in the East Midlands, Nottingham Castle is offering a £9,000 Fellowship for a 6-month guest curator. This is timed to coincide with the re-hanging of the permanent collection at the Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery.
The Curatorial Fellow will work with the team to plan the new installation of the collection and devise a new exhibition for the Museum and Art Gallery for the 2011 programme.
Application deadline: 8th February 2010. The start date is negotiable, but is anticipated to be in September 2010. More information from:
nationalprogrammes@contemporaryartsociety.org
New! 22.01.10
Want to do a professional Masters degree in a creative subject? There may be a rare funded opportunity at Lincoln. The Arts and Humanities Research Council are currently offering funding to universities which do not hold a Block Grant Partnership (BGPs are allocations of postgraduate studentships in specific subjects).
The AHRC states that it...
"expects the majority of successful proposals to be in the area of Creative and Performing Arts, and that the awards will tend to be Professional Preparation Masters Schemes."
The deadline is 6th May 2010, but there are likely to be internal application deadlines before that. All eligible universities have been capped on the number of
submissions — many will only be allowed to submit five applications to the AHRC, making this scheme as fiercely competitive as other AHRC-funded
funded studentships are. Currently, from the West and East Midlands only Lincoln University is
known to be bidding. Lincoln is somewhat accessible (2hrs 50mins) via train from Stoke-on-Trent station — and the main Lincoln campus is right next to the train station.
New! 22.01.10
As of this week, all of the DAZ 3D human base-models are now free.
These are add-on packs for the free DAZ Studio 3.0. DAZ Studio has proven to be very useful human-figure reference software, used
by figurative artists ranging from painters to graphic novelists.
New! 22.01.10
Added to the Directory: University of the Third Age branches in Alsager, Congleton,
Crewe, and Leek —
several of which offer many affordable (£1 per session) classes in crafts and creative activities. Sadly, there doesn't appear to be a UTA branch in the Potteries?
New! 22.01.10
The best young crime writers in North Staffordshire are being sought in a national micro-story competition, organised by the Crime Writers' Association.
The competition is open to anyone aged 18. Deadline: 19th February 2010. Stories can be up to 1,000 words, and can be submitted via any of
Stoke-on-Trent's local libraries.
New! 21.01.10
Crewe Amateur Dramatics Society is looking for young male actors (17 years and up) for a production of Hello Dolly (Crewe Lyceum, 16th-20th March 2010).
Rehearsals are on Thursdays from 7.30pm, at St Michael's Church Hall, Ford Lane, Crewe.
More details from: 01270 763837 or 07850 185860.
New! 21.01.10
The Performing Rights Society "Awards to Promoters" scheme is now open for 2010 applications. You can apply for £3,000 if you:
have at least one year's track record of promoting events; will be promoting at least eight events over a 12 month period;
and will be programming new British music of any genre. The first deadline is 12th February 2010. Full details are available at the website.
New! 21.01.10
Job: A musician or music industry professional is being sought to establish a pilot record company at a school in nearby Telford, Shropshire.
This project involves a core team of 10 children and supporting staff, and will support school-based musicians to develop their understanding of the music
business and also offer opportunities for career development. The position is paid at £220 per day, for an inital contract of up to 12 days
(with the possibility of further days pending) between January and July 2010. For further information about the school and project contact either
Felix Pepler (Creative Agent) on 01562 700400 / 07967 364315 or Andy Calderbank (Head of Music) on 01952 387400.
New! 21.01.10
In the 2nd Annual Stoke-on-Trent Ceramics Lecture, Terry Woolliscroft will tell "The Tale of the Toilet". Plunging deep into the city's archives, the talk will trace the
milestones in the history of this vital aspect of bathroom product design, and the role of the Thomas Twyford's famous factory at Cliffe Vale (Stoke-on-Trent) in inventing and designing the flushing toilet.
The venue is Stoke-on-Trent City Archives (Hanley public library) on Weds 10th February 2010, 2pm. Further details from: natalie.baker@stoke.gov.uk
Tickets cost £4.
New! 20.01.10
PiCL (formerly Creative Partnerships Stoke-on-Trent) is offering a series of seven free learning events to local creative practitioners
in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. More details from the web page above, or from Programme Coordinator Iain Perry at: iain@picl.uk.com
New! 20.01.10
Job: An experienced West Midlands Film Producer is wanted for a short film to be made in association with Screen West Midlands and the UK Film Council.
An award-winning Director and Cinematographer are attached to the £8,000-£10,000 budget project.
The Producer fee is negotiable. You need to start as soon as possible, and be available until the film's completion.
Filming will take place in the West Midlands. More details from: ryan.vernava@googlemail.com
New! 20.01.10
Keele University is to provide up to 30 PhD studentships across the four research Institutes that make up the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Expressions of interest for these highly competitive awards are now invited, for research proposals in the following areas: cultural and social history from the local to the global;
musicology since 1900; creative applications of music technologies; and interdisciplinary approaches to life-writing.
Application deadline: 28th February 2010. Full information from: h.farrell@ilpj.keele.ac.uk
New! 20.01.10The Coalfields Regeneration Trust is inviting applications from local groups in North Staffordshire to apply for up to £30,000 capital or revenue funding.
This is a one-off opportunity. Grants will be paid on 1st April 2010 and will run for a maximum of 12 months. Projects should address a need arising from the current recession.
Applications deadline: 5th February 2010. Full details from: neil.topliss@coalfields-regen.org.uk
New! 20.01.10
Keele University has launched a new graduate internship scheme in the West Midlands, called "Project Future Industry Training" (FIT). FIT will provide
unemployed graduates with six-week work experience placements in local firms in the digital industries, professional services, and the ceramics industry.
Formal applications are not yet being invited, since these industry placements will run from April and September 2010. But companies and graduates can register their interest now,
by emailing: internships@uso.keele.ac.uk
New! 20.01.10
There's to be a second Pecha Kucha night at Fat Cats bar in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent (7-10pm, 11th March).
Each participant will give a short presentation (20 slides in just over 6 minutes).
If you're interested, please email stokepechakucha@yahoo.co.uk
New! 20.01.10
Stoke-based Anna Francis is inviting all photographers to obtain one of her "There is Beauty In The City" magnetic labels, and to photograph your magnet in a beautiful location in
Stoke-on-Trent or any other city you may visit. Send the photo in to thereisbeautyinthecity@yahoo.co.uk (as a normal .jpg file, no more than 2Mb).
You can get your magnet by emailing your postal address to the artist Anna Francis, and she will send you one; alternatively, you can download the template
from her blog and print out your own 'There is Beauty' sign. In 2010 the project aims to exhibit
in the UK and beyond, and is also considering a publication.
New! 19.01.10
The Crafts Council is undertaking a major national research project ahead of the 2010 General Election, to help make the case for public-funding of crafts in the UK.
The project is titled Making Value : the economic and social contribution of craft makers, and for it the Council is now seeking to profile: independent crafts makers
who have a portfolio practice; makers who apply their craft skills in community arts activities and workshops; crafts makers in industry (e.g.: ceramics, architecture);
and back-stage crafts workers engaged in set-design, model-making or prop-making for films and TV. They also want to hear from people working in ways that are 'off the radar'
of official bodies. A key element of the research will be short telephone interviews. Research documentation, including case studies, will be launched at a Crafts Council conference on 22nd June 2010.
Interested? Please contact research@craftscouncil.org.uk by 15th February 2010.
New! 18.01.10
"The Art of Microbudget Filmmaking" is a rare West Midlands event on the topic.
The day of screenings and seminars will be held at The Electric Cinema in Birmingham city-centre (at the back of New St. station)
on 25th January 2010, from 9.30am until 4pm. Members of Birmingham's Producers Forum get a free ticket,
and for everyone else the cost is £80 + VAT for the day. More details from: info@producersforum.org.uk
New! 18.01.10
The first national conference for Creative Partnerships schools, of which there are many in North and Mid Staffordshire,
will be held on 3rd March 2010, at the ICC in Birmingham city-centre. The registration form is here.
New! 18.01.10
The Victoria Mill Art Centre is a new arts centre in Congleton. The Centre
is now seeking tenants for the few final remaining studio-spaces, before the opening day. The new centre will be launched as part of Cheshire East Council's
Artsweek (from 20th February 2010).
New! 16.01.10
Job: Moorlands Radio, based in Leek, Staffordshire, require a full-time Station Manager to lead the team of paid and voluntary staff.
The successful candidate will be an experienced radio professional and will have worked within community radio, commercial radio
or the BBC. A good knowledge of the Staffordshire Moorlands is essential, as well as good editorial judgement.
Deadline: 24th January 2010.
New! 16.01.10
Local product designers may be interested in the "How To Design and Market your Electronic Product" seminar. This is an IET event in March 2010,
at the Ruxton Technology Centre, Beaconside Stafford Campus, Staffordshire University.
More details from: s.o.wane@staffs.ac.uk
New! 16.01.10
It's short notice, but there's a Therapeutic Creative Writing course at Hartington Hall in the nearby Peak District, from 20th January 2010.
Local writer Kath Morris is offering workshops as part of a "Wonderous Stories" retreat in the beautiful setting of Hartington Hall.
Workshop price includes lunch and refreshments. The retreat price of £160 includes full board, with three-course dinner in the award-winning restaurant.
More details from: kathmorris100@tiscali.co.uk
New! 16.01.10
Added to the Directory: Rising Brook Writers. The group
is based at the Rising Brook Library in Stafford.
New! 16.01.10
Added to the Directory: Moorlands Radio, based in Leek, Staffordshire.
New! 16.01.10
Added to the Directory: No Redemption, a gothic / industrial-metal band from Stoke-on-Trent who have recently
written and recorded the music for the Philip Gardiner/Warner Brothers' film The Stone.
Their MySpace page has links to recent press coverage and to the
BBC Radio Stoke interview. The band also have a YouTube Channel.
New! 14.01.10
Job: Artists are invited to submit an expression of interest in relation to a Research Residency in nearby Derby. This is intended to lead to a commission of temporary art
to celebrate the regeneration of Derby city centre. Fee: £6,000. Deadline: 27th January 2010. The full brief is here.
New! 13.01.10
The European Entrepreneurship Video Award 2010 is now inviting entries. The deadline is 9th April 2010.
Simply produce a short video (one to two minutes, animation or camera-based work) that deals with the following questions: What is entrepreneurship about?
What could encourage people to become entrepreneurs? What could counteract old prejudices and offer new visions of entrepreneurship? Prizes of up to 3,333 Euros
are available to the winners. There are also special prizes are reserved for film-makers aged 25 or younger.
Entry is not limited to schools and universities — business and management schools, members of business networks and associations,
entrepreneurs and professionals, and intellectuals are all are invited to portray their own experiences in the field of entrepreneurship.
Full details at the website.
New! 13.01.10
At the start of a year which will see huge funding cuts to the arts and their supporting public services, whichever party wins the election, it's probably useful to point out that
the National Campaign for the Arts now has a newly-launched revamped website.
New! 13.01.10
Tickets are now on sale for the two-day professional animation conference in Stoke-on-Trent. The conference is part of the
Stoke Your Fires animation festival and will happen
from 26th - 27th February 2010. Leading industry speakers include Christian DeVita (lead storyboard artist on Fantastic Mr. Fox),
and professional voice artist Marc Silk (Roary the Racing Car and Fifi and the Flowertots).
To book you place email: info@stokeyourfires.com
New! 12.01.10
'Ears Wide Open: a creative adventure in sound' is a rare funded opportunity for a creative from the West Midlands to collaborate with someone in the East Midlands.
Two writers (one from the West Midlands and one from the East Midlands) will be selected to collaborate and write a series of short plays in response to locations
in Birmingham and Nottingham. There is a bursary of £2,000 to each selected writer, aiming to make a series of recorded stories/dramas/narratives which
will be experienced by listeners in locations in both cities as part of the Birmingham Book Festival and the Momentum New Writing Festival.
Expressions of interest are invited from East or West Midlands -based writers. Send your C.V., a sample of your writing (no more than 15 pages),
and a side of A4 which outlines what kind of sound piece or radio play you would like to create to be heard by a listener in a city centre location of your choice.
Deadline: 28th February 2010. The working/writing period will be March to June 2010, with publication later in the year.
New! 12.01.10
The Prince's Trust Business Programme can provide support
to people aged between 18 and 30 who are unemployed or working less than 16 hours a week. The type of support available includes a low interest loan of up to
£4,000 (up to £5,000 for a partnership); ongoing advice from a business mentor; access to a wide range of products and services. This includes a free legal
helpline sponsored by Barclays Bank; a grant of up to £1,500 in special circumstances (subject to local availability); and a test-marketing grant of up to £250
(subject to local availability). Applications to the programme can be made at any time.
New! 11.01.10
Staffordshire University has launched a series of guest lectures, aiming to inspire greater confidence and collaboration among North Staffordshire businesses.
Stoke-based entrepreneur Mark Lewis, CEO of the MSL Adventure Group, will be the main speaker at the first event of 2010 on 21st January.
John O' Reilly, Managing Director of Ladbrokes Online and a former lecturer of Staffordshire University, is to speak on 15th April.
Anyone who wants to find out more can contact Jodie Cochrane at: business@staffs.ac.uk
New! 11.01.10
Added to the Events List: The Design Council is running a "Designing Demand" free half-day workshop on 25th February 2010. It'll be held at the Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent —
from 8.30am to 1.30pm. The aim is to help local businesses discover how to become more innovative, more competitive and more profitable by using design.
To book a place please visit the website and book online.
New! 11.01.10
Added to the Directory: The New English is a design-based ceramics firm located in Stoke-on-Trent. Their aim is to be
"the Vivienne Westwood of the tableware world".
New! 11.01.10
The West Midlands cultural sector recession survey for the October–December 2009 quarter is now live.
Cultural venues and heritage organisations based in the region are invited to complete the survey.
Deadline: 13th January 2010.
New! 11.01.10
Job: Staffordshire University Business School require a full-time Projects Officer, Enterprise & Entrepreneurship (ref: BS09/6).
Based at the Stafford campus, you'll develop facilities for local entrepreneurs and business start-ups, specifically the Student Placements for Entrepreneurs in Education Project (SPEED).
Deadline: 25th January 2009. For full details, email: jobs@staffs.ac.uk quoting reference BS09/6.
New! 10.01.10
"The Right Funds for You" is a business event to be held at Acton Trusell near Stafford, on 26th Jan 2010 (3.30pm - 7pm).
If you're a small to medium sized firm based in the West Midlands, and are seeking to fulfil high-growth potential through investment, then this
is the event for you. The seminar is fully subsidised for companies in the West Midlands and will be presented by four industry experts
who will cover grant, debt, venture capital and business angel finance options. There will also be an opportunity to network over light
refreshments following the presentations. More details from: helen@connectmidlands.org
New! 09.01.10
Added to the Directory: Lampros Kalfuntzos is a digital fantasy artist based in Stoke-on-Trent. He has a new website,
and his work has been featured in Advanced Photoshop magazine...
New! 09.01.10
Added to the Directory: Revive Creative is a newly-formed freelance graphic-design and creative artwork service in Stoke-on-Trent,
with over 13 years of studio experience in marketing design.
New! 09.01.10
Added to the Directory: The West Midlands Golfer magazine, edited from Leek in the Staffordshire Moorlands and published from
Stoke-on-Trent. Issues can be read online...
New! 09.01.10
Added to the Directory: David Lawrence Barber, a painter from Newcastle-under-Lyme.
New! 09.01.10Urban Vision North Staffordshire is holding its 5th annual photographic competition and exhibition, and is asking people
to visualise "What's New? in North Staffordshire". Competition entries will be exhibited at the Burslem School of Art from 19th March 2010, and awards for
the best photograph in each category will be presented at the exhibition launch event. Deadline: 26th Feb 2010.
Creative Stoke has the entry form here (PDF link, 1.2mb)...
New! 09.01.10
The Light House in nearby Wolverhampton is running a free five-week course in video editing, starting on 2nd February 2010.
The course runs on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, from 10am - 4pm on each day.
For more information, or to arrange a time to attend an informal advice and guidance session on Fri 15th January 2010, please
contact Kelly Jeffs at: kelly@light-house.co.uk
Also at the Light House, on 12th Jan 2010, is Screen Forum's free premiere of film produced on the Digishorts scheme. Digishorts is an annual production scheme that offers film-makers
the chance to develop and produce a short film with support from Screen WM and the UK Film Council — and a budget of up to £10,000.
The six films funded in 2008/9 will be shown, and after the screening there will be a Q&A with some of the filmmakers who will be offering insights
into their experiences. To reserve a free place, contact: info@light-house.co.uk
New! 08.01.10
There's a new freelancers social network on Ning. Freelance Local aims to support Staffordshire-based creative freelancers.
New! 08.01.10
With Avatar in the cinemas, your editor has been asked to research and recommend a complete and affordable
suite of "virtual movie-making" software for schools. This isn't about cameras, lenses and costumes — these movies are computer-generated using videogame-like tools
and advanced audio-generation. My costed briefing on the topic is available here (PDF file).
New! 08.01.10
Stoke-on-Trent's Stoke Your Fires Festival of Animation now has much of its 2010 programme online —
and has confirmed the VFX Tutor at Escape Studios, Lee Danskin, as leading a masterclass on 25th February 2010.
New! 08.01.10
"The Engine Room Pitch" is an intensive two-day proposal development and pitching workshop, to help documentary film-makers prepare for UK and international funding.
Applicants must be West Midlands-based film-makers. The cost of the workshop is £30 for all attendees, and it will happen at the
The Bond, Birmingham, from 23rd – 24th March 2010. More details from: charlie@sidf.co.uk
New! 08.01.10
Are you a design-based business, exploring the use of new advanced materials? Midlands' universities have a new £20m scheme
to open up their labs to small and medium-sized firms. Contact Birmingham Science City Advanced Materials for full details.
New! 08.01.10
The Central Youth Theatre in nearby Wolverhampton are seeking an experienced part-time Freelance Theatre in Education Director
in arts and health. Deadline: 15th January 2010. More details from Jane Ward at: twwajane@aol.com
New! 01.01.10
The National Youth Theatre will be auditioning in Stoke-on-Trent soon, seeking members for the 2010/11 company.
The NYT is inviting applications from all young actors, and also from theatre technicians (acting, costume, lighting and sound, scenery and prop making, or stage management).
Membership is open to anyone between the ages of 13 and 21 for acting applicants, and ages 16 to 21 for technical applicants.
Auditions and interviews will be in February 2010. Interested? The first step is to fill out this online application form.
Application deadline: 15th January 2010.
New! 01.01.10
The West Midlands Centre for Advanced Training in Dance is offering free dance workshops to specialist schools,
youth groups and dance schools in the West Midlands. Half-day 'taster' workshop will introduce three dance styles (kontemporary, kathak, and bharatanatyam).
These workshops are fully funded and are offered on a "first come, first served" basis. The workshop will seek to boost awareness and understanding of
the CAT course, and encourage gifted and talented students to audition for the 2010 CAT programme in Birmingham.
To book a free dance workshop, please contact Anita Srivastava, Project Manager (Outreach) at: anita@newdimensions-arts.com
New! 01.01.10
The European funding scheme MEDIA has a new MEDIA Call Alert out for development funding.
There are several strands. 1) Development of Single Projects, aimed at companies who have produced at least one previous project which
has been distributed recently, and who now wish to invest in the development of another project. 2) Development of Slates of Projects, aimed at
medium-sized companies which have experience at an international level and strong financial capacity. 3)
Development of Interactive Projects, aimed at companies who have produced at least one previous interactive project
which has been distributed recently, and who now wish to invest in the development of another interactive project which complements
an audiovisual project. The deadline for all applications is: 12th April 2010.
New! 01.01.10
The Burslem Regeneration Company is running a three-stage design and development competition for architects and developers.
They are seeking radical modernisation options and designs
for the Wedgwood Institute (the former Burslem public library) — offering new long-term uses for the building and its surrounding area.
New! 01.01.10
The 2010 Stoke Your Fires festival of animation is staging a competition for amateur and school-based animators.
Entries are invited in three categories; under 12 years old, 12 – 16 years old, and over 16 years old. Winners from each category will win a set of
Kudlian educational animation software.
New! 01.01.10
Young animators can book a place on a three-day animation workshop in claymation, brick film and flipbooks, taking place on 2nd, 9th and 16th January 2010. These sessions in Stoke-on-Trent will be lead
by Burslem-based animators Big Red. A series of animation techniques including claymation, brick film and flipbooks.
The cost is £10. Call 01782 232323 to make a booking, or e-mail mailinfo@stokeyourfires.com for more details.
~ Christmas & New Year ~
New! 23.12.09
Job: The National Dance Teachers Association requires a visionary Director (3 days per week). The Association is based in Lichfield, Staffordshire.
Application deadline: 29th January 2010.
New! 23.12.09
The arts development team at nearby Telford and Wrekin Council, in partnership with NHS Telford and Wrekin, is seeking to creatively explore children and
young people's understanding of emotional health and well-being, and influences upon it.
They are seeking to recruit a team of artists / performers (from any discipline) to work with young people aged 5-19. Due to the age range, timescales and complexity of the work
they feel an established arts company, with previous experience of creative consultation in this area, would be best placed to deliver this work.
Deadline for applications: 22nd January 2010. Full details from: helen.chesters@telford.gov.uk
New! 23.12.09
Job: Telford-based Towers Above are looking to recruit a pool of visiting artists to work in collaboration with
their Lead Artist on a collaborative project in the area of arts for mental health. They currently have a group
of twelve participants per group, in two groups that run weekly.
You would be contracted to deliver five sessions for both groups, meaning ten sessions in total (plus one planning session).
Application deadline: 22nd January 2010. Full details from: helen.chesters@telford.gov.uk
New! 23.12.09
Are you reading Creative Stoke from just over the border in Derbyshire? Five bursaries are now available to Derbyshire writers and publishers,
to cover the cost of a conference ticket price and travel expenses to attend The Writing Industries Conference 2010.
New! 23.12.09Designer Maker West Midlands will be running a new initiative in 2010 — portfolio sessions for West Midlands makers
who want a sounding board to discuss their work, marketing and practice with experienced arts professionals.
Each maker will be given a 45 minute slot to ask questions.
Application deadline: 21st Jan 2010. For more information, visit the website.
New! 23.12.09Designer Maker West Midlands have three Spring 2010 residencies for West Midlands makers, which will be undertaken at The Art House in Wakefield, Yorkshire.
On offer to each successful maker is a bursary of £750 for materials, maintenance and travel expenses. Full details at the website.
New! 23.12.09
Job: The North Staffordshire Creative Learning Network is calling for ideas for mini-projects from self-employed
artists and developers, which explore...
"creative ways of learning about digital tools in North Staffordshire communities. We are calling for ideas to develop mini-projects
that will connect communities of North Staffordshire. A small amount of funding is available to facilitate four mini-projects. They
might include, for example: games using digital equipment, engaging ways of conveying information using screens or other technology,
temporary installations that encourage self-expression or provide a gateway into the World Wide Web."
Project budgets are £500 each, including the artists' time, paid only on production of evidence of expenditure or an invoice for work. You must be self-employed to invoice for this work.
Deadline: the mini-project must be fully reported by the third week of March 2010.
Full details from this web page.
The Network also plans to be running workshops in early 2010.
New! 23.12.09
The Heritage Crafts Association are inviting crafts makers to respond to a short survey that explores the opinions and experiences of crafts people also working in traditional crafts.
The survey will close on 31st January 2010.
New! 22.12.09
Planning a new business, a business expansion, or an export drive? Just launched from Stoke-on-Trent, the free search-engine FUSE (beta). FUSE is a specialist
business research engine for finding high-quality free academic journal articles, theses and reports. It searches over 700 open-access ejournal titles,
and over 1000 selected sources of open academic texts on business topics. FUSE excludes the trade press, and all purveyors of uncritical material
such as press-releases and 'advertorial' articles.
New! 22.12.09
Job: Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council's Arts Service is seeking a professional freelance photographer(s) to document future exhibitions and projects.
They envisage pooling a small number of professional photographers, with the view to employing freelance photographers on an 'as-and-when' basis.
They will be requiring such photographic services from early March 2010 onwards.
To express your interest, forward your full contact details, fee details, C.V., and a small selection of JPG images and / or a website photo-gallery link to: tina.ball@newcastle-staffs.gov.uk
Deadline for expressions of interest: 4th February 2010. For more information, contact Tina Ball on: 01782 619 705.
New! 20.12.09
Stoke-on-Trent's Victoria Hall has announced a new children's theatre project for Easter 2010, the "Musical Theatre Performance Project", Victoria Hall.
Children aged 10 years or older are invited to participate in Gulliver's Travels.
No previous experience is needed — you'll have a go at acting, dancing and singing, with support from a
professional artistic team who have extensive professional experience as directors, musicians, and actors.
Participants must be available to attend every day (morning and afternoon) on the following dates in 2010: April 6th, 8th, 9th, 12th, 13th and 14th.
The performance will be on 14th April, in the early evening.
Places: £40 each. Bookings at: joblagg@theambassadors.com
New! 20.12.09
Whitgreave Primary School — located at Featherstone, Staffs (near Wolverhampton) — is seeking a drama, music or film-making individual or organisation. You'll work with the
school planning group on a project to develop an "effective creative voice". There is £10,000 available for the drama and music
element of the project, and £4,800 for the film-making element. Both these include all fees, planning and evaluation time, travel and any
necessary resources. Application deadline: 8th January 2010. Full details from Richard Bradbury, Creative Partnerships School Co-ordinator, at: staff1@whitgreave.staffs.sch.uk
New! 20.12.09
Added to the Directory: Nicholas Ferenczy, an artist based at Nantwitch.
New! 16.12.09Future Forward 2 is the second phase of a mentoring programme for West Midlands mid-career designer makers.
You'll be mentored by a professional for approx 9 and a half days, over 9 to 10 months, aided by a bursary of £2,100 for materials,
promotion, marketing, travel expenses. Deadline for applications: 15th January 2010. See the web page for full details.
New! 16.12.09
The Prince of Wales Foundation for Children & the Arts is inviting
U.K. arts organisations to apply to be involved in their Start Programme. Start will introduce children to a local cultural venue, to experience the very best of
the arts. The Foundation is seeking to recruit between 6 and 10 new partners for the 2010/11 academic year.
Deadline for Stage One applications: 15th January 2010. See the web page for more details.
New! 16.12.09
Job: Wolverhampton's Central Youth Theatre is seeking expressions of interest from highly creative theatre set and costume designers based in the West Midlands,
for a number of 2010 projects at small-scale venues in the spring and summer. Previous experience is essential.
Work will be on a freelance basis, and you must have your own reliable transport. Application deadline: 11th Jan 2010. Please send a C.V. and
supporting letter outlining your previous experience, by email to: twwajane@aol.com
New! 16.12.09
Would you like £25,000 to help your amateur groups to "adopt a composer"? The PRS Foundation enables voluntary music groups to have a new piece of music
especially composed for them by some of the UK's most talented young composers. BBC Radio 3 has also committed to recording performances of all the
resulting work from this year's programme. Once selected, six groups and six composers from around the UK are arranged into pairs, and each pair
is mentored by an established professional composer. Over one year they work together to produce a work that is tailor-made
for the skills of the group's members. For more information contact Sarah Robinson at Making Music at: mailsarah.robinson@makingmusic.org.uk
New! 15.12.09
A new £8 million early-stage equity fund, the Early Advantage fund, was announced yesterday by regional development agency Advantage West Midlands. It will provide another much-needed source of investment finance for
local small and medium firms. The fund can make an initial investment of up to £125,000, generally matched by a private sector investor, or investors providing at least the same amount
— resulting in up to £250,000 of investment into the business. The fund can invest up to a further £125,000 in subsequent funding rounds (again, this must be matched by the private sector).
The Early Advantage fund is now looking for West Midlands investment opportunities which meet the following criteria:
* early-stage SMEs, with or without revenues
* high-growth companies (potential to return a multiple of the investment in 3-7 years)
* SMEs interested in raising investment of up to £500,000
Interested? Contact the fund managers, Midven Limited.
New! 15.12.09
Job: Youth Dance England is offering a two-year contract at a £21,000 salary (pro rata), requiring just one day's work per week as the Youth Dance England Contact
for the city of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire county, based at the Victoria Hall in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.
You will... "ideally have a dance/arts degree, understand how computers work and can work efficiently independently".
Deadline for applications: 4th January 2010. Full details from:
joblagg@theambassadors.com
New! 15.12.09
Job: Staffordshire University require a permanent Senior Lecturer in Fine Art (0.6) (Ref: AMD09/4). You'll be an excellent teacher with a postgraduate qualification, have a
strong record of academic research, and also be a successful practicing artist. Application deadline: 4th January 2010. See the web page for more details.
New! 15.12.09
Added to the Directory: Secondnature, based in Congleton, create
metal laser-cut sculptures and wall plaques.
New! 15.12.09
Volunteer posts: West Midlands-based arts group Talking Birds are offering recent graduates an opportunity to work on their new theatre show.
They have four graduate placements, in 2 week slots, between 11th Jan and 12th Feb 2010. Successful applicants will work
as Production Assistants on a Talking Birds/Foursight Theatre co-production "Forever In Your Debt", which is being rehearsed
at Warwick Arts Centre (located on the outskirts of Coventry) before going out on a national tour of medium-sized theatre
venues. Interested? Email: jeanne@arts-media.org
New! 15.12.09
Job: Derby Feste is an annual arts festival in nearby Derby.
The festival organisers wish to appoint a Branding Expert to undertake a brand development exercise. A comprehensive brand needs to
be created for Derby Feste which informs both visual identity and organisational direction. Few clear ongoing messages are currently in place.
You'll undertake consultation which will allow you to understand the festival through the eyes of key staff,
local stakeholders, and audience members. You'll create a "brand bible" and logos and typefaces, a process to be managed in partnership with the marketing group and steering group.
This needs too be complete by February 2010 at the latest. Total budget: £3,500 to £5,000. Deadline for applications: 6th January 2010.
Full details from Adam Buss at: adamb@derbyquad.co.uk
New! 14.12.09
North Staffordshire pottery makers and ceramicists are invited to apply for grants from the Craft Pottery Charitable Trust.
The Trust runs an annual grant scheme. Applications for the annual grant scheme must be submitted by 15th December 2009.
See the website for more details.
New! 13.12.09
Congratulations to Stoke-on-Trent's FRONTLINEdance, for obtaining funding from the BBC Children In Need appeal
to put on four after-school dance clubs from February 2010. The clubs will be funded for two years, and
will be fully inclusive of disabled children and young people (5 to 16 years old)
The clubs will be in Fenton, Chell Heath, Leek and Newcastle-under-Lyme — please contact the FRONTLINEdance office
for more details, at: admin@frontlinedance.org.uk
New! 13.12.09
The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust makes awards, ranging up to £15,000, to crafts makers of all ages
to help them further their careers. Since 1991 the Trust has awarded £1.35 million to 208 crafts makers
aged between 17 and 50+, for study, training and work experience. There is no age limit. But you need to
demonstrate you already have a high level of skill, and are firmly committed to your craft or trade.
Application deadline: 8th January 2010.
New! 13.12.09
Newcastle Borough Museum & Art Gallery are calling for participants in their 2010 "Gifted" Christmas exhibition.
They would like to hear from professional artist and makers of contemporary art, and makers of craft and design objects,
who are interested in exhibiting as part of this selling exhibition planned for 13th November – 24th December 2010.
For the first time ever the gallery will be using all its spaces simultaneously to exhibit the work of well over
50 artist makers. This exhibition will be open to artists nationally, but there will be a preference for artists from
the Midlands. To express your interest, please email up to 5 images of your work (please do not send files over 1Mb each)
and an artist statement, to Tina Ball at: tina.ball@newcastle-staffs.gov.uk
Deadline for expressions of interest is: 28th January 2010.
New! 13.12.09
Job: Hollywall Primary School — near Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent — is seeking
a theatre company, set designer/stylist, or an installation artist, for a project with a total
budget of £10,000. You'll collaborate with pupils and staff on revisiting traditional indoor school spaces such
as the classroom role-play areas, the classrooms themselves, the corridor spaces and the school hall.
Project planning, delivery and evaluation will take place from January to July 2010.
Deadline for applications: 4th January 2010. Full details from Andrew Fox (Creative Agent) at: quadra22@mac.com
New! 13.12.09
Job: Stoke-on-Trent City Council is seeking to appoint an artist of the highest calibre, to make and install a permanent work of public art
in 2010. The work will be sited in Hanley, and it will celebrate the 1910 Federation of the city's six towns. The most likely site
is the Broad Street side of the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. Total budget: no more than £135,000, excluding VAT. Application deadline:
18th January 2010. Full details from: peta.murphy-burke@stoke.gov.uk
New! 06.12.09
The PRS New Music Award is a national competition run by the
PRS Foundation. It offers a £50,000 cash prize to help individuals, music groups, arts
organisations, and music venues to create, compose and perform... "a groundbreaking new piece of original music".
Deadline: 8th January 2010.
New! 06.12.09
The Birmingham-based contemporary photography development agency Rhubarb-Rhubarb are to visit Stoke-on-Trent in 2010, to meet
"new and emerging photographers" as part of their Roaming tour of the
Midlands. They'll be at the AirSpace Gallery in Haney, on 11th February 2010. Bookings for thirty-minute slots can be made between 10am and 4.30pm.
Interested? Book via Sean McGarry at: admin@rhubarb-rhubarb.net
New! 06.12.09
Jobs: Partners in Creative Learning (PiCL) has another new opportunity at a nearby school.
New Invention Junior School — at Willenhall, near Wolverhampton — are seeking a Landscape Architect, Landscaper, or outdoor practitioner to help then plan and develop the school
garden. You will will work with the design team, a class of year 5 children, and their teacher.
Total budget: £4,100. Deadline: 17th December 2009. More information from Iris Bertz, Creative Agent, at: ibertz@gmail.com
New! 06.12.09
Added to the Directory: Print Digital Ceramics, based in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent.
New! 06.12.09
Added to the Directory: Jude Theatre Company, a youth theatre based in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
The group meets on Tuesdays in Crossheath.
New! 06.12.09
Hardship grants of up to £500 are available for students studying in North Staffordshire who are suffering financial hardship... "which is affecting their ability to continue their course of education".
See the web page for more details.
New! 30.11.09
The Creative Communities Unit at Staffordshire University is to run
two new courses in the new year, for local people who want to make a difference in their community.
"Speaking Up" will help residents to find out what is going on in your community and how to influences decisions.
"Taking Part" will look at working together with other people and planning a community project.
Visit the Unit's Courses pages for more details.
New! 30.11.09
Those seeking funding for heritage-related cultural projects may like to know that
the Heritage Funding Directory has just had an overhaul, database update, and re-launch.
New! 30.11.09
Added to the Directory: Steven Harper is based in Stoke-on-Trent and offers a wide range of
musical services including piano lessons, singing lessons, wedding pianist and wedding singing.
New! 29.11.09
Added to the Directory: Concept Art World has a wonderful online gallery for the fantasy and sci-fi paintings of Stoke-on-Trent artist Alex Figini.
Alex also has a home-page on DeviantArt. One of his paintings looks like it might have even have
been inspired by Stoke-on-Trent train station...
New! 29.11.09
Train builder Bombardier, which has a significant presence at nearby Crewe, has a new interior design competition
for ideas about "train interiors of the future". First prize: €2,000. Deadline: 16th December 2009.
New! 29.11.09
Are you an innovative information visualiser, or a hyperlocal media producer?
Do you have ideas about how to create and present innovative new map mashups online? As the Ordnance Survey gears itself up
to release its mapping data to the public in spring 2010,
it's backing a new competition called GeoVation.
The winner of GeoVation will be given £10,000 to develop their idea, with runners up being given £5,000 each. Deadline: 4th January 2010.
New! 28.11.09
The October 2009 report Growing the Ceramic Cluster in North Staffordshire, by
Dr Stewart Brown of SQW Consulting, is now available online. The report
gives an overview of the current ceramic industry in North Staffordshire, suggests critical measures for success in the immediate future, and
suggests the required initiatives and structures for long-term future success.
New! 28.11.09Skillset is now inviting applications for their £200,000 TV training fund, offering
professional development training
in TV multiplatform production issues. Professionals awarded a bursary can use it to attend one of 38 multiplatform training courses approved
by the Sector Skills Council for the Creative Media Industries. 500 bursaries are available.
New! 28.11.09
South Staffordshire College has created an opportunity to both develop new work and to present a solo exhibition in the
Wedge Gallery at the College (based in Lichfield). Expressions of interest are sought from recent Fine Art graduates or those undertaking
postgraduate study. Succesful applications will be offered a two-week residency in the gallery, including the use of the
space for the creation of new work, followed by a four-week exhibition. Full details are online here.
New! 28.11.09
Job: Shropshire Council is seeking a freelance researcher to create full, accurate and up-to-date database of the
festivals in the county of Shropshire.
The work must be finished by mid March 2010. The freelancer will use their own knowledge of tourism and the festivals sector in Shropshire.
Experience of using a database is essential. The budget is from £5,000.
Please email for a job description/brief. Closing date for applications: 16th December 2009.
New! 28.11.09
From the blogs: Cooper-Willis documents an unofficial artwork
that stretches from Morley Street to Robson Street in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. The Bod
remembers Grace, a North Staffs art-school rock band of the late 1970s.
The WMRO notices that West Midlands arts attendance has not increased since 2005, despite all the public money
poured into audience boosting measures, audience research, and attracting 'new audiences'.
New! 28.11.09
Added to the Directory: Ghost Voices magazine, which is edited and published from Congleton.
New! 23.11.09Stage Productions are calling for people to audition for the musical The King & I at The Regent Theatre,
Stoke-on-Trent (March 2010). The King & I principal auditions took place on Sunday 22nd November 2009 for Dancers and Company (excluding Children). Sunday 29th November is the audition day
for Children and Principal Casting recalls. This is an Open Audition. Details of the audition process will be emailed following registration.
Interested? Fill in the online application form.
New! 23.11.09
Jobs: Staffordshire's Partners in Creative Learning (PiCL) has another three new opportunities at local schools:—
1) Cooper Perry Primary School — located in Seighford, Staffordshire —
requires a Skilled Radio Practitioner to explore the topic area of "Stafford Then and Now"
Working with our year 3 and 4's, the school would like to research areas such as Memories of
Stafford, Life in Elizabethan Stafford, World War Two in this area, and local place names. They would like to do this
through the medium of radio interviews, and possibly radio drama shows written and performed by the pupils.
The school has a 12-track Spirit Folio Mixing desk, a separate performance room with viewing window, six
professional microphones, radio microphones, an Alesis Micro Verb FX processor, and Denon separate recorders –
MP3, Mini Disc, C.D and cassette, power amplifiers. A speaker/broadcast system linked to every room and
corridor in the school. Budget: £4,000. Deadline: 18th December 2009. Full details from Emma Wynne: headteacher@cooperperry.staffs.sch.uk
For an informal discussion on the project please telephone Andrew Fox (Creative Agent) on 07870 656488.
2) Christ Church Church of England Primary School — located in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent — is looking for
Two Creative Partners to help investigate the question: "Could giving all members of the school community experience
of a range of outdoor learning environments, inspire their investigations and enquiries, make them more engaged, confident,
motivated and therefore successful learners?" They are particularly interested in receiving applications from creative partners with experience of
outdoor learning and also practitioners specialising in practical, experiential drama. There is a budget of up to £12,000 for project work.
The project will run from Jan - June 2009 and will be devised and delivered with both staff and pupils across the whole school.
Application deadline: 25th November 2009. Full details and brief from either: sbradbury@sgfl.org.uk or kevinmrayner@hotmail.com
3) Paget High School — located in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire — would like to work with a Textiles Practitioner on the enquiry question:
"How can we develop creative teaching and learning methods to inspire and enthuse KS3 students to produce innovative, sustainable and
desirable products using textiles technology?" Budget: £4,000. Deadline: 18th November 2009.
For a full brief / informal discussion please contact: Mike Barker (Creative Co-ordinator) at m.barker@paget.staffs.sch.uk -or- Andrew Herbert (Creative Agent) at andrew.herbert@hotmail.co.uk
New! 22.11.09
Congratulations to David Burgess of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, who's launched a fine-looking website for his new children's book
Waldo the Worm...
New! 22.11.09
The organisers of the Advantage Proof of Concept Fund are to stop inviting new ideas — six months earlier than originally planned
— after being inundated with inquiries from Staffordshire. The £5.8 million Fund — which helps
small firms to develop innovative new products and ideas — was featured on Creative Stoke's "What's New?" page on 15.08.09.
New! 22.11.09
The new Artist to Artist 2010 programme aims to bring together artists to initiate dialogues with artists from the Middle East area, enabling pairs of artists to enter into
new working relationships on an open-ended and informal basis. Professional, practising UK-based artists can apply to invite an artist of their
choice to visit the UK. The selected overseas artist will spend two weeks in the UK between 8th - 21st March 2010 (fixed). The emphasis is on the development
and research process, rather than creative production. Application deadline: 5th December 2009.
Please contact Adam Knights for application forms and further details about the scheme, at: application@visitingarts.org.uk
New! 22.11.09
Jobs: Creative Health CIC is offering the following work opportunities in Staffordshire. The application deadlines are both: 27th November 2009.
1) Creative Remedies. Creative Health CIC require an enthusiastic and creative person to generate discussion and debate around arts and health in Staffordshire,
to encourage information sharing, share case studies and best practice,
and increase the sense of an arts and health community via the Creative Remedies website.
The total fee is £2,220 — which includes £250 to cover student fees for the Artist Professional Development Programme.
2. Sub-Regional Arts & Health Strategy. Creative Health wish to appoint a development worker to assist in developing a new sub-regional
arts and health strategy for Staffordshire County Council. The total fee is £3,120 —
which includes £250 to cover student fees for the Artist Professional Development Programme.
Interested? Please send Creative Health your C.V. and a short statement saying which one you are interested in, why you would be suitable,
and the amount of time you would be willing to commit. Send this to: info@creativehealthcic.co.uk
New! 18.11.09
Added to the Directory: Letting in the Light, a Newcastle-under-Lyme based
community arts group, with a particular interest in working with groups and communities that don't often have a voice.
Letting in the Light banners project. Unknown photographer.
New! 18.11.09
Added to the Events listing: The National Association for Ceramics in Higher Education is hosting a Graduate Forum in Stoke-on-Trent, to co-incide with the graduate
Fresh exhibition (see Creative Stoke's photo gallery of the show)
at Emma Bridgewater Pottery. The Forum will be at Emma Bridgewater Pottery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery on 27th November 2009, 11am – 5pm, and will...
"provide an opportunity to examine the value of engagement with creative practice in schools, how this translates into higher education ceramic-based courses".
Cost: Free to students, others pay £10 to cover refreshments. Application deadline: 23rd November 2009. For further information and to book a place email: info@britishceramicsbiennial.com
New! 18.11.09
Do you deliver creative workshops and similar support to those with health problems? Are you concerned about how best to
present the results to funders? Staffordshire County Council's Health Development Team are planning to deliver
free training for voluntary and community sector organisations who want to use the "Activities and Outcomes" database.
This database was developed for small third sector organisations wanting to demonstrate
their activities and outcomes, particularly their 'softer' improvements in mental health outcomes, to commissioners from Health and Social Care agencies.
Interested? Full details are online here (Word .doc)
Readers may also like to know that community and voluntary organisations are being
invited to submit bids to the Health for Older People grants scheme. This
will aim to improve the lives of people aged 50 and over, living within the county.
Small community groups can apply for grants of £500. Larger voluntary organisations can apply for grants between £1,000 and £10,000.
New! 18.11.09
Are you a young dance manager in the making? YDE Stride! is an annual dance programme for 14-19 year olds (or up to 24 years, for disabled applicants)
which offers non-performance based skills such as leading and managing dance projects and activities. The programme is run by Youth Dance England
and they are now inviting applications. Successful applicants will be provided with a mentor and will participate in an "action-packed" residential
with one of the YDE Stride! hosts (Dance4, Dance South West or East London Dance with Sadler's Wells), followed by a placement to help
develop skills and experience essential to building a career in dance. You should be able to download an application from the
Youth Dance England website
from 2nd December 2009. Deadline for applications: 15th January 2010.
New! 18.11.09
Added to the Directory: Bernard Charnley is one of the key artists with a working studio at the
AirSpace gallery in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.
Bernard Charnley, photo by Stephanie Rushton of London.
New! 18.11.09
Added to the Directory: Andrew Johnson is a freelance designer and illustrator based in Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent.
New! 18.11.09
Added to the Directory: Sew Kitch, a crafts unit at Slaters Craft Village, Baldwins Gate, where Lauren Chamberlain and
Lavinia Miller produce crafts, art and handmade gifts.
They can also run workshops in felt making, jewellery making, card and scrapbook design, and cushion-making.
New! 18.11.09
Added to the Directory: Mook 109 Design is an illustrator and graphic designer, based in Stoke-on-Trent.
New! 16.11.09
Job: Stoke-on-Trent City Council is seeking a Ballroom Dancer to deliver dance workshops in the city as part of its People Dancing programme.
Six x half-day workshops will happen at different venues before 31st March 2010. Deadline: 4th December 2009. The full brief and application details
are available here.
New! 16.11.09
The Birmingham Producers' Forum is having internal discussions on how to link with other creative industries producers' groups in the West Midlands region.
They propose the idea of a quarterly regional networking meeting. Interested? Please contact Rebecca Watkin at: info@producersforum.org.uk
New! 16.11.09
Added to the Directory: Anita Harris Studio, producing colourful and collectable ceramics from Longton, Stoke-on-Trent.
New! 16.11.09Stoke Art Pottery, a Biddulph-based online shop selling ceramics from
a variety of small and medium-sized potteries in Stoke-on-Trent.
New! 16.11.09
Cath Ralph writes from the Burslem School of Art in Stoke-on-Trent, to say that they have recently had an excellent junior
designer and arts technician there. He was on a placement through the Flexible Routeways
employment scheme — but then sadly the funding did not come through to make his job into a regular paid appointment.
Cath would like to recommend this person to others, as a potential employee or as a trainee. Interested?
For further details, please contact Cath Ralph on: 01782 810808
New! 16.11.09
Local landscape photographers might be interested in a ranger-led early winter walk along the Staffordshire and Cheshire border, on Sunday 22nd November 2009.
The team from Staffordshire County Council will lead visitors along the Staffordshire Way, up and over the Cloud and on to Rushton Spencer, before
returning to Timbersbrook via Bridestones. The ramble will cover seven miles and take approximately four hours to complete (if the weather is good).
If the weather is poor, the distance covered will be reduced to four miles, which is expected to take around two hours. People should wear warm clothing and sturdy footwear,
and bring a packed lunch. The event will start at 10am from the village car park at Timbersbrook. The event costs £2 for adults to attend, but is free for children to take part.
For more information telephone: 01782 302030.
New! 16.11.09
It's reported in the press that Manchester Metropolitan University's nearby campus in Crewe and Alsager is to cut 50 jobs,
and 127 jobs in total across all MMU campuses. The Crewe and Alsager campus specialises in Contemporary Arts.
The news comes on top of similar news in August, that nearby Wolverhampton University is having to cut 250 jobs.
New! 13.11.09
Film students and amateur film makers are being invited by Staffordshire University to produce a short (3 minutes or less) widescreen film on "Cycling in Stoke on Trent". There are currently
77 miles of new local and National Cycle Network (mostly off-road) bicycle paths throughout the city. Together with the adjacent Newcastle-under-Lyme,
there over 100 miles of paths in our immediate area. The following are all possible topics you could consider, or you can think up others on your own:
* The health benefits of cycling
* Great cycle routes in Stoke-on-Trent
* Recreation cycling
* Air quality and cycling
* Advice for motorists on considering cyclists
* Themed routes (i.e.: devise your own themed route)
* Cycling and the new University Quarter
You are encouraged to be as creative as possible — feel free to use animation or CGI effects, etc. The winning entries will be hosted on websites
and receive cash prizes: 1st Prize £300; 2nd Prize £200; and 3rd Prize £100. The deadline for submitting films is: 16th April 2010.
This is set as a long deadline, so that lecturers and teachers can incorporate the competition into assessment schedules.
Full rules are available from the website or from Jon Fairburn at: jon.fairburn@staffs.ac.uk
New! 11.11.09
Job: Trefonen Church of England Primary School in nearby Shropshire are looking for a Creative Practitioner (or team) to work with a class of Year 3/4 children
on their Creative Partnerships enquiry project. You'll help them explore the question:
"How can we use skipping to develop children's sense of rhythm and rhyme and increase their confidence?".
For example, work could be developed by creating new skipping rhymes, which could then develop into performance, writing or recordings.
Fee: £3,200, with a separate budget for materials and resources. Activity must take place during the second half of Spring term 2010.
Application deadline: 3rd December 2009. For a full brief please email the Creative Agent, Kate Buttolph, at: play.on@ukonline.co.uk
New! 11.11.09
The Stoke-on-Trent British Ceramics Biennial is running free creative drop-in sessions,
at the Wedgwood Institute (formerly Burslem public library), in Stoke-on-Trent. There is no need to book a place.
1) Denise O'Sullivan will run "The Way We Are" session on how to make a decorate beer mat tiles, by using photography, stamping, and mark-making in clay.
Historian Fred Hughes will also be on hand with stories about Burslem. 14th, 21st, and 28th November 2009 (11am-1pm).
2) Camila Prada will lead a tour of the show "Our Objects" and show how to decorate your own ceramic item with transfers ("decals"). 14th and 21st November 2009 (2pm-4.30pm).
3) C.J. Neill will talk about surface pattern design, designing ceramic objects, and how to use vintage transfers to decorate ceramics. 28th November 2009 (1pm-3pm).
New! 11.11.09
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, is inviting applications from artists working in interactive new media — for possible inclusion in a 2011
exhibition titled "Erasure". The theme of the exhibition will play on the idea of removing or erasing something, to create something new.
There will be an informal chat and short presentation on the exhibition on 18th November 2009 at the Burslem School of Art in Stoke-on-Trent, from 5pm to 7pm. Light refreshments will be available.
Artists selected to have their work on display will be asked to 'open source' their source files and code. Further details
from the exhibition weblog or from: katie.shipley@stoke.gov.uk
New! 11.11.09
Malia Pimblott writes to say that she is looking for actors and is holding auditions at The Graduate pub in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent,
on the 15th and 16th November 2009. Malia is looking for a male and female, aged 19 to 30. Interested?
Contact Malia on Facebook.
New! 11.11.09
Staffordshire Arts and Museum Service would like to hear from all visual artists and makers who wish to create new work for the summer 2010 "Sense of Place" exhibition at
The Shire Hall Gallery, located in Stafford town centre. The show will focus on Staffordshire's many different environments. Full information from:
Kim Gould, Gallery & Exhibitions Development Officer, at: kim.gould@staffordshire.gov.uk
New! 11.11.09
Young Staffordshire musicians may be interested in a couple of dates for their 2010 diary. Staffordshire Performing Arts
should be able to put you on the mailing-list for details on how to involve your school in these events...
1) The rock music event 'Staffordshire Rocks Grand Final'
will be on 26th June 2010 at The Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford.
2) The classical music 'Staffordshire Young Musicians Final' will be on the 17th July 2010 at The Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford.
New! 11.11.09
Job: A Senior Web Developer is required by a company in Trentham Lakes, Stoke-on-Trent.
New! 11.11.09
Congratulations to a group of students from Staffordshire University's Stafford campus, who have won a leading prize at the regional final of The Royal Television Society Awards.
Their film "Olivia" won in the fiction category. They were presented with the award at the ceremony
attended by industry professionals representing BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Screen West Midlands, among others.
Click to play "Olivia", made by the winning B.Sc. (Hons.) Film Production Technology team of
Oliver Trusswell, Stuart Hackshaw, Alistair Little and Matt Holmes.
New! 11.11.09
Modders seeking to move from modding to full-blown 'back bedroom' games production will be interested to hear that the popular Unreal Engine 3
has just been released for free in the form of the Unreal Development Kit.
It has everything you need to make a professional videogame — but if you release your game commercially you pay Unreal 25% of revenue after you make your first $5000.
Other than your own labour, though, there are no up-front costs involved in developing a game. Now is an excellent time to start developing for a PC release circa 2012 —
given that the next generation of gaming consoles are likely to be delayed by around two years due to the recession, the PC as an open gaming platform is likely to hit a
sweet spot by about 2012. The Unreal Dev Kit joins the ranks of a variety of free commercial-grade game development kits, ranging from
Microsoft's XNA to the royalty-free
indie point & click engine Wintermute.
New! 11.11.09
Creative Stoke has junked the Addiply ad system — it was an interesting two-week experiment, but a hand-picked selection of relevant Amazon books seems much more suitable
for the site. You'll see them featured in sidebars and on the front page. If you click through to Amazon and buy a featured book, then Creative Stoke will get a tiny slice of what you spend.
New! 10.11.09
Job: A Creative Co-Ordinator is required at the University of Wolverhampton.
You'll identify creative craft concepts for the retail and educational marketplace, create innovative packaging solutions, and bring design concepts to market.
You'll produce media content for publications and communications, including photography of products in use, as well as online video content.
You should have a 1st or 2:1 degree in Design or a related subject. Deadline: 20th November 2009 at 12 noon. Further details can be found at www.ktponline.org.ukNew! 10.11.09
Should you want to venture up into the nearby Peak District before the snow settles in, the 5th Peak Festival starts on 27th November 2009 and is offering
the chance to hear talks from a variety of independent authors, particularly those who have gone through the process of writing and publishing their life stories.
More details at the website.
New! 10.11.09
Want to be a theatre producer? There's a rare chance in the West Midlands to attend a starter training
workshop for creative theatre producers. Maverick Theatre and the Birmingham Rep (in Birmingham city-centre) is running the workshop on Saturday 21st November 2009.
It will look at... "everything needed to put on a show or start a production or theatre company, from the local pub,
to a national tour, to the West End of London." See the Maverick Theatre website for more details.
Also of possible interest to West Midlands theatre people is a free debate/event, also in Birmingham,
"How can we create a better future for theatre, here, in the West Midlands?"
It's at the Crescent on 26th November 2009.
New! 10.11.09
BBC Radio Stoke is having a rare Open Day, on Sunday 22nd November 2009, from 10am - 3.15pm.
The tour will take about 45 minutes, and booking is essential. You can
book a place on: 03709 011227.
New! 09.11.09
Job: Stoke-on-Trent's "People Dancing" programme requires a belly-dancer to deliver four workshops in the city.
Four workshops, each two-hours long each and catering for up to 25 participants, will be devised as taster sessions in a number of community venues across the city.
30 "shimmy-belts" will be provided. Application deadline: 24th November 2009. More details from: vanessa.darlington@stoke.gov.uk
New! 09.11.09
Job: Leighswood Primary School — located in Walsall — are looking for an artist who can help make something to show links with other countries.
You'll work with children in years 5 and 6 (aged 9-11). The result of the project could possibly be a finger-post.
Budget: £1,500. Application deadline: 23rd November 2009. Full details can be obtained from the Creative Agent, Alison Haynes, at: alisonhaynes@talktalk.net
New! 09.11.09
Readers may be interested in a new 5 x 15 minute BBC Radio 4 series "Whatever Happened to the Teapots?"
in which Roger Law (one of the Spitting Image team) examines the state of the ceramics industry in Stoke-on-Trent. Programmes are available
to listen to online, for seven days after broadcast. The first programme was broadcast today.
New! 09.11.09
Readers visiting Creative Stoke from nearby Derbyshire may be interested that the call for the annual Derbyshire Open Studios event (29th to 31st May 2010)
is now live. Check their website for more details.
New! 07.11.09
In the south of the West Midlands, the Hereford Photography Festival is now calling for applications for its programme of "Common Land" creative commissions. The three commisions available
are themed as: "Sport Play & Creativity" (CL03) to be based around young people who meet and play in public spaces; "Hereford Cattle" (CL04) to work with modern farming communities as well as engaging with archive material;
and "Hereford Bulls" Football Club (CL01) to work with young local football fans as well as engaging with archive material from Hereford United Football Club.
Application deadline: 19th November 2009. Full briefs and application details from Jaime Jackson at Hereford Photography Festival: jaime@photofest.org
New! 07.11.09The Light House in nearby Wolverhampton is running a Post Production for High Definition workshop on 16th - 17th November 2009.
The two-day workshop will examine the advanced techniques required for HD video production, using Final Cut Pro and Avid HD editing suites,
examining issues of colour correction, the various HD tape formats, and how working with HD can effect editing styles.
The workshop costs £105 + VAT and includes lunch. The workshop is open only to applicants who have some professional experience
of working in the film & TV industry. The application deadline for this course is 13th November. Interested? Contact Kelly Jeffs at:
kelly@light-house.co.uk
New! 07.11.09
The Charity Commission has launched a new, simplified "model constitution" for charities with an income under £5,000.
The constitution is specifically designed for charities which expect to stay small — it is not meant for charities that own a building,
employ people or intend to register with the Charity Commission. Small groups which are not charities are being invited to use this model constitution,
though they would not be covered by charity law.
New! 06.11.09
Jobs: Staffordshire's Partners in Creative Learning (PiCL) has another three new opportunities at local schools:—
1) Burnwood Community Primary School — located in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent — are seeking Multimedia Artists, Musicians/Bands
for their Year 2 - Year 5 Project Work on "Creative Wheels in Motion". There is a budget of £8,000 available
for the Spring/Summer Terms 2010. Application Deadline: 12 noon on 19th November 2009.
For a full brief please email Sharon Ayres at: sharonayres@msn.com
2) Paget High School — located in nearby Burton-on-Trent — is seeing Creative Practitioners in Textiles who help answer their question: "can we develop
creative teaching and learning methods to inspire and enthuse Key Stage 3 students to produce innovative, sustainable and desirable products using textiles technology?"
Working alongside staff, you will be involved in innovative classroom based work in order to raise the profile of textiles and to increase student engagement.
There is a budget of £4,000 available. Deadline for applications: 18th November 2009.
For a full brief please email Andrew Herbert: andrew.herbert@hotmail.co.uk
3) Perton Sandown First School — located a few miles west of Wolverhampton — is seeking a Creative Practitioner
to work with 32 x Year 2 children around cultural learning about Africa. "You may be a specialist in African culture, or
you could be skilled in delivering and exploring many cultures and the wider world through your Practice."
Application deadline: 1pm on 20th November 2009. Budget: £4,000. For a full project brief please contact Andrew Fox (Creative Agent) on:
07870 656488.
New! 06.11.09
It's short notice, but local volunteers are required by Guerrilla Lighting for a... "professionally designed architectural lighting" project in Burslem & Middleport
on the evening of 19th November 2009. Interested? More information from: john@guerrillalighting.net
New! 03.11.09
Readers may be interested in Culture 24's full report on the winners of the Ceramics Biennial Awards in Stoke-on-Trent.
New! 03.11.09
Readers may be interested in yesterday's New York Timesarticle on the ceramics designer Margarete Heymann
who worked in the Potteries during the 1930s.
New! 02.11.09
The Creative Communities Unit at Staffordshire University has
several short-courses scheduled to run toward the end of 2009 and at the start of 2010. These professional development courses include: the three-day "Making it Happen In Community Arts" (starts 9th Dec 09);
the three-day "Community Arts in Global Perspective" (starts 3rd Feb 2010); and the five-day "Developing Arts For Health" (starts 4th Feb 2010), among others. See
the brochure (PDF link)
for prices and full details.
New! 01.11.09
Congratulations to Dr. Hugh Padley, the businessman who bought Berkshire China at the age of 40 and turned it into a successful business, who has written and
published the new book The Joys of Entrepreneurship.
The book tells the story of his life as a Staffordshire porcelain entrepreneur, and provides detailed insider knowledge gleaned from his experience in the business.
New! 01.11.09
Added to the Directory: Chris Farrow Photography. As well as art-object photography, and portraits of people,
Chris can also offer workshops in landscape/weather photography.
New! 01.11.09Renaissance West Midlands is running a "Best Of The West" awards for the region's museums and galleries.
As part of this, they are offering a commission for a trophy that will be awarded in the Best of the West category. The commission should...
"generate excitement and provide suitable recognition of innovation and excellence in our regional museums and galleries."
The awards will be given in February 2010. In keeping with the Barber Institute of Fine Arts venue, the organisers are looking to incorporate an Art Deco flavour to the ceremony.
The fee is £500 (to include all materials, expenses, and delivery). For further details on this commision, including a full brief, please contact:
Paulette Francis-Green at: paulette.francis-green@birmingham.gov.uk
New! 29.10.09
Added to the Directory: Jo Walker Art. Jo is a Staffordshire visual artist, specialist painter, muralist and creator of handpainted furniture.
New! 29.10.09
Jobs: Heath Park Business and Enterprise College, in nearby Wolverhampton, is seeking two Creative Practitioners, who have backgrounds in
publishing work (journalism, writing, filmmaking, radio, etc) and good contacts in their respective industries, to work with two groups of Key Stage 3 children (age 11 to 14).
The question the school is seeking to answer is: "Can we, through engaging with external partners in our publications project, improve our literacy?”
Application deadline: 6th November 2009. The full brief can be obtained from: irisbertz.blogspot.comNew! 28.10.09
There's a good-looking new website for the Breaking the Mould photography exhibition now on in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent (9th Oct - 29th Nov 2009).
New! 09.03.10
Added to the Events list: Staffordshire University has a free public lecture on cultural masterplans for cities.
Architect Dan Dubowitz will give the talk "Cultural masterplanning: the remaking of cities" on 29th April 2010 (7.30pm)
at the Ashley Lecture Theatre LT1, on the Stoke-on-Trent campus of Staffordshire University.
More information from: c.j.dover@staffs.ac.uk
New! 09.03.10
Youth Music's 
New! 07.03.10
Local 
New! 03.03.10
Stoke-on-Trent solicitors 
New! 18.02.10
The BBC is going to be filming 
New! 16.02.10
There's a £1,000 
New! 08.02.10
Added to the Directory: 
New! 07.02.10
The 
New! 05.02.10
This sounds deliciously likely to annoy museums that claim 'copyright' on Flickr pictures of their public-domain works: the month-long
New! 11.01.10
The West Midlands 
New! 09.01.10
Added to the Directory: 
New! 09.01.10
Added to the Directory: The 
New! 09.01.10
New! 16.12.09
New! 15.12.09
Volunteer posts: West Midlands-based arts group 
New! 06.12.09
Hardship grants of up to £500 are available for 
New! 29.11.09
Added to the Directory: Concept Art World has 
New! 29.11.09
Train builder Bombardier, which has a significant presence at nearby Crewe, has 
New! 23.11.09
New! 22.11.09
The organisers of the 
Letting in the Light banners project. Unknown photographer.
New! 18.11.09
Added to the Events listing: The 
New! 18.11.09
Added to the Directory: 
New! 16.11.09
New! 29.10.09
Jobs: 
