Here’s the proof that art works
A leap of faith has led to long-term arts engagement that really supports the local community. Susan Eardley, resources manager at Artworks Creative Communities, explains.
Artworks began in 1998 as the dream of Bev Morton. Morton had spent many years working in the arts and had benefited from creative activities while growing up. She knew that creative interventions could have a real impact on the regeneration of disadvantaged communities. With the support of local partners St Margaret’s Church and The Thornbury Centre, Morton set up Artworks as a three-year Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) funded project in the Newlands area of Bradford.
Artworks was the first organisation of its kind in Bradford, providing creative opportunities that aimed to deliver real outcomes. Supporting it in the early days constituted a true leap of faith by the funders and The Thornbury Centre.
When I joined Artworks in 2000, I’ll happily admit that I didn’t quite understand how arts projects could really make a difference. My mind was changed within the first week. My induction was to help a team of 10 artists deliver summer scheme projects across five estates, working with people as young as four years, and up to the age of 19. For these children, particularly the younger ones, this was the first time they had ever been able to take part in an arts project.
Together, we renovated youth clubs, working through the design, and letting the young people make the decisions about what they should look like and what facilities were needed. We created murals, graffiti walls, performance areas, chill-out rooms, outdoor signage and artwork, sculptures – even a totem pole. We also provided activities such as dance, drama, crafts and circus skills, all of which were taken up with a level of enthusiasm that had never before been seen during the school holidays. It was great to see both the children and the workers throw themselves into every task we gave them. Needless to say, I was hooked and totally committed to Artworks’ goal to enable everyone to access the arts, creating positive approaches to regeneration. Since these early days, Artworks has gone from strength to strength. In 2001, we separated from The Thornbury Centre and were given a new name, Artworks Creative Communities. We also registered as a charity in 2002, which enabled us to further expand the reach of our work. This year, Artworks delivered its 500th project in Bradford, and we have now worked with approximately 15,000 people across the district.
Over the years, we have developed a focus on specialist areas, using the arts in the fields of health, youth, training and community development. Our mission – to use creativity as a catalyst for change – is the focus of all of our work. Our health projects use creative interventions to help people to look at the challenges they face, Here’s the proof that art works A leap of faith has led to long-term arts engagement that really supports the local community. Susan Eardley, resources manager at Artworks Creative Communities, explains including alcoholism, drug use or obesity, or those related to living with a disability. We work with young people using relevant art forms, including urban arts, to promote better sexual health or to move them back into education or training. Working with community and voluntary groups, we use creative approaches to organisational, people and service development.
Creative solutions
Now, we are a respected provider of training for the community, voluntary and creative sectors, delivering training for artists and creative practitioners, ensuring the skill base needed to deliver projects effectively. We also provide training to front-line staff, to give them creative skills that can be used in their work. Artworks prides itself in providing a bespoke service to all of our customers, and in being able to find a creative solution to any issue. Of course, as a charity, Artworks is as much at risk as the rest of the sector because of the recent economic climate, and in particular, the recent spending cuts imposed by the Coalition Government. We are determined to get through to the other side of these hard times stronger and more resilient, ensuring that we can continue to offer people in disadvantaged communities a real opportunity to have creative experiences and to tackle the issues that remain for these communities.
We are working hard, and continuing to provide evidence of the benefits of creativity, and to provide the much-soughtafter Social Return on Investment that is required by funders. It is going to be a challenging few years, but through hard work and by applying our own bit of creativity, we are confident that we will come out on the other side better for it all.
