Wednesday 14 May 2014

The loss of my beautiful game

Long long ago I fell in love with football, we played in the street, we played in the school yard, I was really crap and never scored a goal but I loved it. Living in Merthyr there was a dearth of opportunity to watch top class teams; Cardiff was the nearest club, in the Second Division at that time, and always in Europe as the club invariably won the Welsh Cup which qualified them for the European Cup Winners Cup.

I stared going to watch Merthyr Tydfil (FC) then in the Southern League Premier Division I learned what it was like to win and to lose. Merthyr was going nowhere but they were my team.
Sometimes I, with friends, would go to Cardiff, it was easier to get to Cardiff than it was to Swansea, who were in a lower division at the time, and so my love affair with football grew.

Going to college in Liverpool I regularly attended Anfield, never comfortable in the swaying kop of the mid 70’s I watched a Liverpool team, at the beginning of its dominant phase of English football, from the Anfield Road end of the ground, and so my love affair with football grew.

Fast Forward ........... to now and what has happened to that love affair.

This season Cardiff were relegated from the Premier League, they had only been in it one season, the Manager and the Chair fell out and the Manager got sacked, fans were unhappy because the owner changed the colour the team played in from blue to red and they got paid £62 million from television rights, for coming last. The top payment to Liverpool, just over £97 million and even Manchester United, who had a really bad season received  £89 million.

I work with groups that are looking for thousands to run community sports programmes, play schemes and coaching programmes.
I watch community coaches’ work with children in a park on a rainy day because they believe in giving something back to the community. These people are not alone there are hundreds, thousands, of such people throughout the country that give their time to work with and develop youngsters.

These groups, these individuals scramble around for funds, competing with all the others for a diminishing public and charitable purse.

Footballers earning over £200k per week, teams that come last being paid £62 million and ticket prices  of £50+ per game. These ‘important issues’ fill our newspaper, consume our Saturdays, spawn a myriad of television programmes and celebrity punters, all for the beautiful game I fell in love with as a boy, but out of love with as a man.


Oh yes and every now and then, VERY rarely, television produces a ‘community interest’ item celebrating the people I now go and watch, and work with, in the park on Saturday; instead of watching, what I still believe to be a beautiful game, made ugly by losing its relevance to me. 

Community Arts, Arts in the Community - Hall Green District – Art Works

Hall Green District – Art Works

This discussion document is a response to Arts and Culture Steering Group Hall Green District following its Artworks conference on  March 29th 2014.

“There are no hard to reach audiences there is only hard to reach art” Phil Jones, Senior Lecturer in Cultural Geography, University of Birmingham; Cultivating Cultural Symposium – Local Arts in Birmingham, 18th March 2014.
Introduction
On March 29th 2014 Hall Green District held a conference celebrating and planning how community arts and culture could be developed, within the District, over the next twelve months. I could not stay for the whole event but I have composed some thoughts based on the presentations I heard.
The presentations at the conference encompassed not only ‘arts and culture’ activity but identified, and focused on, a number of other objectives.   
These were not distinct or subversive objectives that people were trying to sneak into an arts conference but were parallel objectives, and subsequent activities, that are developed or delivered in tandem with arts and culture activities.
I firmly believe that arts and cultural activities can be at the core of any community development and engagement. I also believe that other objectives can be achieved by using arts activities as a conduit in a multi objective development.
However, a multi objective approach can have the role of masking, confusing or diluting all of the objectives, with the result that the final product fails to deliver any measurable or sustainable results under any of the individual objectives.
I believe it is essential that we therefore clarify our objectives, and therefore our activities, within any arts and culture provision, understanding their purpose and the participant experience. 
In trying to unpick additional objectives to celebrating the arts I have categorised them into three headings:  Community Engagement, Assets (including venues and people) and Overcoming prejudice and participation
The first and primary agenda is of course celebrating and planning community arts.
Community Arts
A pedantic definition of community arts are events or activities that have, as their primary objective, an aesthetic experience for the participant. This encompasses visual arts, verbal, performance, aural arts and music that is delivered in the community, by the community, for the community.
Any other objectives beyond the aesthetic, makes art the conduit, and therefore it has to be classified differently.
The inclusion of other objectives does not necessarily lessen the aesthetic experience - they may heighten it. If community art is the conduit through which other primary objectives are achieved, then development of aesthetic appreciation, alongside the achievement of a primary objective, adds value to both.
The dual role needs to be acknowledged and planned for from the start - this enables artists and community activists to be clear about roles and expectations.
Community engagement 
The process of utilising the arts, arts activities and events to engage people in communal and community activities is well established. Spoken word - theatre / performance, poetry;  fine arts – murals, embroidery, ‘yarn bombing’; 3D arts – sculpture, installations; music in a variety of formats, and dance, have all been used to provide communities with a voice to  express issues and concerns as well as engaging them in an activity that has aesthetic merit.
In addition to these activities there are performances that celebrate and educate, celebrate local individuals of significance as well as providing historical information on a geographic area, community or topic.
The success of community engagement programmes entails the utilisation of local and accessible venues as well as the involvement of local people in the activities.
Assets including venues
Whether the arts and cultural activity within a District is an aesthetic experience or a community engagement activity, it is essential that it takes place in an accessible venue where the target audience and local, demographic, communities feel comfortable. Fortunately, there are a number of ‘physical’ community assets within the District that can be utilised as venues to develop activities. There are also a number of public ‘assets’ where larger community events can take place.
But assets are not just buildings and venues. The production of arts and cultural events, in their own right, or as community development activity, depends on an array of individuals who are involved in the development and delivery of an event. The involvement and development of these individuals needs to be acknowledged and supported as part of any arts and cultural programme.
Overcoming prejudice and participation
 It is essential to acknowledge that a programme or activity that has, at its core, purely aesthetic objectives, has major barriers to overcome in some communities and demographic groups. 
There needs to be a recognition that, while some people may be enthusiastic about the arts, others may not. While we acknowledge the diversity of the community within the District, we need to seriously examine what we mean by inclusion.
Poverty is a major influence on people’s life in some parts of the District - this isn’t only monetary poverty but poverty of aspiration and participation. Arts and culture programmes need to target engagement and participation from where people are at, not where we require, or believe them, to be.
An initial question that needs to be asked is this: Are we creating community events and engagement that acknowledges our diversity, or are we expecting the diverse communities to engage in established community events and arts and cultural activities?
We may have to view inclusion from a different perspective.
Conclusion: Action issues
This section is not necessarily an action plan but I have identified pointers and discussion issues under six headings.
Developing Community Arts
Engaging community artists to enhance the development of activities whether they are of an aesthetic or community nature.  
The need to commission arts activities that encourage engagement of all communities within events and activities.
Engaging and promoting arts that are both culturally sensitive and culturally inclusive while primarily aiming to provide people with an aesthetic experience and/or a community experience - as long as we are sure which is the priority. 
Exploring how the traditional ‘western’ art mediums - performance, painting, dance, carnival, language, music etc. - can accommodate the diversity of cultures and communities within the District.
Role of Artists and quality delivery issues 
Art activities should be of a high quality and have as high production values as is possible within resources.
Commissioned (external) artists and events managers will work in tandem with community (local) arts providers to enhance their skills, the quality of events and thereby the quality of the participants’ experience.  
Promoting Community engagement
Developing awareness within a community of specific issues, local history, heritage and culture through taking part in artistic activity is an appropriate objective to be included in any arts and cultural programme.
However, it should be acknowledged that current provision may be dominated by ‘established and traditional’ arts activities / provision. If we are to engage people in community activities, as well as arts activities, there needs to be recognition of the significant cultural changes that have taken place within geographic communities - these changes may have an impact on how communities engage with arts and cultural activities.
Support offered though a District arts programme needs to ‘challenge or enhance’ activities and delivery by organisations to ensure that they are aware of how their activities meet the needs of District communities while also fulfilling other ‘engagement’ objectives.
Besides having some form of cerebral development and engagement, art and culture can be used to make activities fun and enjoyable, an aesthetic experience in itself, but we don’t need to complicate it – street theatre, carnival, costumes and dressing up are all legitimate activities for the arts. They also provide comfortable and uncomplicated engagement of communities.   
Assessing Assets for the arts
In developing a database of the physical assets that exist in the District that may / can be used for arts activities and community events physical assets should be defined in the widest possible sense – venues, meeting places, streets, parks etc.  Developing such a database of venues and locations for activities will provide an important resource for the commissioning and development of arts and cultural activities. This will enable the identification and utilization of spaces in the community that are accessible and where people feel comfortable.
Aligned to the resource database would be an organisational database, listing community groups that have an interest in, and experience of, delivering community and arts events.
An asset register will enable the District to explore the development of arts events in non traditional spaces, not included on an initial or existing database; this has the impact of growing the data base and widening participation.
Exploring street events and closure of streets for community activity, with the support of Birmingham Council is another way of widening participation.
Developing the events management skills of community activists will have the impact of greater sustainability of activities and ensure that community events are undertaken in a safe and legal environment – safe, in that appropriate risk assessments and stewarding procedures are in place; legal, in that the appropriate insurances and licences are in place and adhered to. The identification and development of a programme that ensures that local individuals, who want to be involved in the production of community activities, develop the appropriate skills is an essential component of any District development.
Overcoming prejudice and participation - the separation between people and the arts
This may require a wider, more thorough examination of how current activities, delivered in the District, can help develop the community’s aesthetic experiences, provide educational and informative events, as well as developing enjoyable events and engaging the community in the enjoyment of participation
The first step is a creation of a current provision database of arts and events activities within the District – under the headings of provider, audience, venue, demographics and purpose.
Developing a circular monitoring process linking community arts activities to community assets and community engagement, exploring new methods of evaluation and measurement of engagement. 
Participation in the arts
There needs to be recognition that participation cannot just be covered under a nebulous title like ‘inclusion’ but needs to acknowledge that there are other issues that prevent people from engaging.  
Arts programmes can be categorised as having three distinct objectives, targeting specific demographics:
Activities for those who will go to arts activities
Activities for those who ‘are thinking about it’ or ‘willing to try’ if it is physically and fiscally accessible
Activities for those who have never thought about it but will come to low level, high impact activities, carnivals, pantomimes etc.
Arts activities used as conduits for community engagement have a completely different set of objectives, and these need to be very clear from the outset. This enables the quality of production and expectation to be matched to the level of engagement and development of the community. 

©Ted Ryan -  RnR Organisation April 2014