IdeasTap has launched the latest round of Ideas Fund Innovators. This scheme supports people at the beginning of their creative careers who want to take their projects to the next stage. IdeasTap offers ten awards of £1,000.  The awards are open to submissions from any creative discipline by 16 to 25-year-olds based in the UK. For details on how to apply please visit

IdeasTap launches Ideas Fund Shorts, £40,000-worth of funding to help young people realise short film projects.

 Recognising the wealth of talented young filmmakers in the UK, IdeasTap is offering eight awards of £5,000 each for the most original, engaging ideas. Entries must be for films no longer than five minutes and can include documentaries, conceptual pieces, trailers for features, music videos, fashion films and animated shorts.

 Aiming to make the funding process easier for young people, the Ideas Fund is dedicated to providing opportunities for up-and-coming talent.

 Go to www.artspider.org.uk/resources/other_info to get your copy.

Craft Club is a new initiative from the Crafts Council in association with the UK Handknitting Association. They aim to facilitate volunteer groups in running after-school clubs in craft skills, and have enlisted the help of England’s NFWI to provide the skilled volunteers to deliver this. Initially these are for knitting clubs, under the ‘Knit 1 Pass it On’ scheme.

Many federations have already signed up to support the programme, and arrange for their volunteers to be trained to run the clubs. At each training day, volunteers will receive instruction and support to enable them to work in schools and enthuse children about traditional craft skills.

 All training days run from 10am to 4pm.

• Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Friday 12th March

• Crafts Council, London, Friday 19th March

 To attend a training day, please kindly RSVP to

knit1@craftclub.org.uk

at your soonest convenience (or no later than 2 weeks before your preferred event). They will then send a short form for you complete to confirm the place.

Warwickshire User Forum, Community Arts Workshop and Open Up (part of national Mind) are offering a free workshop on Friday March 5^th in Rugby around storytelling.

If you have any contacts who you think would be interested in attending, please do pass on this information.

Open Up can pay travel expenses so distance is no deterrent (within reason!)

If you would like more information, please contact:

01926 335569

07552 161734

44 Holly Walk

Leamington Spa

CV32 4HY

This is a workshop opportunity by Escape

 Compton Verney, Warwickshire (stratford district) CV35 9HZ

 27 March - 20 June 2010
 Preparations are well underway for the opening of our forthcoming exhibition of work by Francis Bacon, who is hailed as one of the most important British figurative painters of the 20th century.
 The inspiration for many of his paintings came from his interest in film and photography. This groundbreaking exhibition displays this source material alongside his paintings for the first time, allowing you to gain a unique insight into the inspiration for some of his well-known works.

 Other Event highlights 2010

Here is a preview of some of the events you can look forward to in 2010;

Easter at Compton Verney

Fri 2 – Fri 9 April

Take our Easter trail around the gallery and join in with our activities for all ages.

Spring sounds at Compton Verney

Sat 29 – Mon 31 May

Listen to live music in the galleries, join in with our creative activities for all ages and follow our storytellers as they bring our Naples collection to life.

Warwickshire Artsweek

Sat 3 – Sun 18 July

See and buy art for your home by local artists as we host Warwickshire Artsweek at Compton Verney.

Folk Art weekend

Sat 17 & Sun 18 July

Inspired by our Folk Art collection, come and celebrate folk traditions through music, dance and craft.

Summer school holidays

Tues 27 July – Sun 5 September

Our ever-popular Summerspace is back – with a great range of creative activities for all ages to enjoy.

1960’s weekend

Sat 13 & Sun 14 November

Step back in time as we celebrate the 1960’s and the finale of our three year Memories of Compton Verney project.

Stay in touch…

Would you like to receive our fortnightly updates with all the latest news, events, opportunities and developments in arts education, within the region and beyond?

Then register with EAS West Midlands now!  Registration is quick, easy and completely free and can be done here.

The website offers artists and arts organisations:

•          online profiles promoting your work and experience, including a gallery space to highlight previous work

•          opportunities to add case studies and example projects to share with colleagues and potential employers

•          promotion of the latest employment opportunities and training events in the region and beyond

•          news and events listings to ensure you are kept up to date with the latest in arts education news

•          discussion boards where you can engage with fellow professionals, share best practice principles or share knowledge of techniques, processes and suppliers 

For teachers, youth workers and other education professionals:

•          access to a growing number of artists and arts organisations with experience of participatory working

•          resources to support the planning, delivery and evaluation of arts projects

•          opportunities to promote your projects, review artists and leave comments to highlight good work

•          resources to support delivery of the new diploma in creative and media

•          the option to search for artists with specific experience relevant to your setting including Arts Award Advisors, the full range of key stages, artists with experience of working with specialist groups such as early years, or excluded young people 

EAS WM provides the tools to deliver opportunities for young people that foster wider participation in the arts, encouraging achievement and opening pathways into the arts, creative and cultural industries. 

Benefits of registration

Discussion Boards

Exchange news, views and opinion with fellow arts and education professionals.

Contributed Content

Publicise your own arts and education related news, events and showcase your work.

Professional Development

Make sure you keep completely up to date with the latest employment and training opportunities within the region and beyond.

The Arts Directory

Search for artists to work with, or review their work so others can learn more about the experience and quality of the many artists and arts organisations listed on site.

Email Bulletins

Sign up for regular updates on the latest news and events in the arts education sector.

Knowledgebase

Comprehensive listings of publications, funders, online resources, umbrella bodies, local contacts and much, much more.

The website provides the tools to deliver opportunities for young people that foster wider participation in the arts, encouraging achievement and opening pathways into the arts, creative and cultural industries. 

EAS WM is set to be THE place educators and facilitators go to when looking for help, inspiration and arts partners and an essential tool for any artists and arts organisations working with children and young people in the West Midlands.  Register now and help us to create a vibrant and supportive online arts education community.

Learn more about how the service can support your work - www.easwestmidlands.org.uk. 

This months SPOTLIGHT! falls on Matthew Dibbens, a local improv comedian. We enter the interview nervously ready to be sliced up on a quick wit and a few verbal silver bullets … but Matt puts us at ease and tells us how we can all benefit from learning the skills associated with his art form…. 

Q. Hi Matt , tell us … What is improvised comedy ?  

A. Comedy Improvisation was made popular by the television show “Whose Line Is It,Anyway?” and is acted by young and old alike. Improvisation,like magic,is the art of creating something out of nothing.What most people do not realise is that improvising,ad-libbing etc is something that we do everyday,as we have no script for our daily lives.

Q. Do you need to be good at acting/drama to be good at it ?

A. You do not need acting experience to improvise.All players will need is some enthusiasim and willingness to let go and have some fun.

Q. What do you think you learn by being able to inprove your ability to improvise?

A. During improv people explore and develop certain skills such as listening,quick thinking,risk taking,self confidence and also team work.Skills that will help acting and public speaking but also good for life in general. This will be done by playing games and  performing sketches.

Q. OK , sounds good.  Can you tell us about what you do… 

A.  I myself have been involved in improv for the past 3 years performing shows at venues throughout the Midlands and London with Coventrys WOW Impro and Impro Vivo troupes.We competeted in the Theatresports show in London against teams from around the UK. In this I won most memorable moment of the match. We have also performed to stand up audiences as well as writing and performing our own sketches.

 Intertested in knowing more ?  ………..Matt is running workshops opporuntinites

Comedy Improvisation Workshops

Fun Workshops In the Summer Holidays To Help Your Acting And Comedy skills.

These workshops will help develop quick thinking,risk taking,self confidence and team work all by playing games and acting out sketches.

If you have ever seen “Whose Line Is It,Anyway?” and thought you would like to have a go,then these workshops are for you.

If interested please call Matt on 07904 448 260 to discuss costs, times etc.