Updates and News from Claire at Culture Northumberland
May 2023
Hello and Welcome,
Culture Northumberland is a sector led cultural development project supported by Northumberland County Council and North East Cultural Freelancers.
The project was created in 2020 with support from Cultural Development Manager Wendy Scott at Northumberland County Council.
It’s currently managed by freelance Creative Producer and Engagement Consultant Claire Venus with support from Content Creator Bethanie Wardell.
This is our new home for the newsletter (previously hosted on mailchimp) and a space to celebrate the cultural sector and those who work in it here in Northumberland.
You are welcome to contact us if you’d like to submit an activity, event or some news for us to share here in the newsletter or on our blog over at Culture Northumberland.
Kind Regards
Claire and The Culture Northumberland Team
www.culturenorthumberland.co.uk
So far this year…
We have added the details of two new strategic cultural projects pages to our website. Berwick CCZ and Cultural Co-working.
We attended the Creative UK and Rural Design Innovation Centre funding workshops back at the start of the year. Many artists, makers and creatives were successful in their funding applications to bring ‘challenge fund projects’ to life.
One example is that artist Trina Dalziel is calling out with your support for her research on mapping the funding sector in a visual way.
We have a growing facebook group ‘Northumberland Artists and Creatives’ of over 280 people which we use to communicate opportunities and news each week. The group is for those who live, work or want to work in Northumberland’s cultural and heritage sector.
We’ve also been profiling artists and cultural freelancers, supporting cultural venues and organisations on our blog and added a monthly funding round-up blog to help inform sector knowledge. Feel free to pop over to our blog to see those articles.
A reminder the Cultural Strategy is downloadable from our website too.
We are working on an Arts Council Project Grants Application to solidify and stabilise the future of Culture Northumberland project and the impact it can continue to have.
Our Blog on the Culture Northumberland website.
We publish a weekly blog and invite guest writers from the cultural and heritage sector to share updates and behind the scenes processes as well as writing our own news, opportunities and updates blogs.
There are well over 100 blogs published and we are growing this space and reaching more people every single week.
We have three sections on the blog;
Artist Spotlight - sharing stories and interviews with makers, writer, artists and cultural freelancers and heritage professionals.
Culture Northumberland Updates - updates about the way we work and the work we’re doing.
Cultural Sector News - wider sector news, Northumberland based projects, opportunities, jobs and funding.
Our Community
We have a thriving community on our Facebook group. You are welcome to join us or write in the comments here on Substack.
Over on Facebook, we host monthly threads for profile raising for freelancers and small cultural companies. We also allow posts from other cultural organisations and venues to advertise their work.
You’re also welcome to leave a comment or a question here below or reply directly to this email.
NEW NEWSLETTER SECTION
What’s on in Northumberland?
It would be almost impossible to profile all of the cultural sector events and activity in the county. We want to support both individuals and organisations so in each newsletter, we’ll hand pick and profile an event across a range of mediums taking place in the next month or so.
If you’d like us to consider profiling your event please email us and we’ll discuss the best way to do that in the timeframe you have.
Other places you can promote your work, activities and offers include our facebook and twitter pages - you need to tag us and we’ll retweet/ share when we’re next online.
You can also write a guest blog for us. You could also try contacting Advance Northumberland, Discover our Land, Visit Northumberland, Cultured North East and promoting via Tourist Information/ Libraries (physical print/ posters are best.
Onto our cultural sector news and Northumberland based events…
Plans for a new building
Plans have been agreed for a brand new cinema in Blyth. Read the article from BBC News here.
An event for Families
Wind in the Willows runs at Alnwick Garden for a month over summer. It’s suitable for children age 3+ and their families and tickets are available here.
An event by a National Portfolio Organisation
Retake, Remake by Lawnmowers Theatre Ensemble at Queens Hall Hexham in July.
An event by an artist
Co-working in Cultural Venues. Artist Yvette Ja is hosting monthly co-working in Hexham along with Chloe Smith in Berwick and Claire Venus in Alnwick.
A dance event
HUMAN is an explosive performance of mesmerising solos, exploring the joys, the sorrows, the idiocies, and the brilliance of anything human by Eliot Smith Dance.
An event by an author
Forum Books host and share regular author events across their three independent book shop sites including The Accidental Bookshop in Alnwick and Forum Books in Corbridge. Caro Giles is promoting her recently launched book - read our interview with her here.
An event by a small arts company
Jumpers for Goalposts from Northumberland based Meta4 Dance is back and the company have some very exciting plans. They are currently calling out for an apprentice - check their Facebook page for more information.
An event that is somewhere unexpected
Listen to Josey, the indignant daughter by November Club online anytime.
Homegrown Podcasts and Audio
We have a wealth of podcasts being produced in the county. We are building a new webpage to list them all but here’s a sneak peek to save for later!
The Good Ship Illustration by Berwick based illustrators Katie, Helen and Tania is a brilliant listen for creatives, artists and illustrators
Unseen Podcast by Bridie Jackson and Queen’s Hall Hexham share behind the scenes of performance, music, theatre and more.
Company of Two is a podcast that explores being, balance and business in motherhood cohosted by Creative Producer Claire Venus.
Thanks for joining us and reading our update. It’s our intention to send our emails every other month. We look forward to staying in touch and supporting you, your work and your projects and campaigns.
hello@culturenorthumberland.co.uk
Culture Northumberland is a project supported by Northumberland County Council and North East Cultural Freelancers