Creative Conversations at Home
In Spring 2020 the project was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with the support of Community Foundation for Staffordshire & the NET Coronavirus Appeal, Shropshire Council (Arts, Libraries, Museums), Connexus, and The National Lottery Community Fund, it has developed an additional online participatory strand, ‘Creative Conversations at Home’, which will continue through to 2021.
In fact, prior to the Spring lockdown, in direct response to feedback from Creative Conversations’ participants and partners, and inspired by the At My Home Helsinki pilot, we had begun to consider how we might better support people unable to travel to take part in Creative Conversations’s programme of activities.
We simply sought to create new routes to taking part in the arts for those most at risk of isolation and loneliness, by utilising available technology, providing one to one support in using the tech, and by working with artists, performers and cultural organisations to develop “virtual friendly” models of participatory activity. Connexus social housing joined us as a partner and funder. The Creative Conversations - At Home pilot got underway.
When Covid-19 struck, the relevance of developing a virtual model became all too apparent! We moved quickly to support a number of the Creative Conversations artists in their development of a virtual approach that related to their artform practice. Creative Conversations supported artists development time, provided advice and guidance, and facilitated a number of test runs, trialling new arts participatory approaches using video conferencing, bringing together focus groups who have provided feedback from a range of societal and artform perspectives.
We are having to find new ways to offer tech support whilst face to face home visits are not appropriate so we hope to recruit Digital Buddies, volunteers who will help provide tech support and encouragement, where needed.
We have established new partnerships for the new “virtual” development (Connexus Housing: 25 supported living communities across Shropshire) and we have achieved new investment from the Community Foundation for Staffordshire & the NET Coronavirus Appeal, Shropshire Council (Arts, Libraries, Museums), Connexus, and The National Lottery Community Fund. Whilst this development enables us to continue delivering artist-led activity with older people during the pandemic, our commitment to this way of working remains long-term, post-pandemic.
In fact, prior to the Spring lockdown, in direct response to feedback from Creative Conversations’ participants and partners, and inspired by the At My Home Helsinki pilot, we had begun to consider how we might better support people unable to travel to take part in Creative Conversations’s programme of activities.
We simply sought to create new routes to taking part in the arts for those most at risk of isolation and loneliness, by utilising available technology, providing one to one support in using the tech, and by working with artists, performers and cultural organisations to develop “virtual friendly” models of participatory activity. Connexus social housing joined us as a partner and funder. The Creative Conversations - At Home pilot got underway.
When Covid-19 struck, the relevance of developing a virtual model became all too apparent! We moved quickly to support a number of the Creative Conversations artists in their development of a virtual approach that related to their artform practice. Creative Conversations supported artists development time, provided advice and guidance, and facilitated a number of test runs, trialling new arts participatory approaches using video conferencing, bringing together focus groups who have provided feedback from a range of societal and artform perspectives.
We are having to find new ways to offer tech support whilst face to face home visits are not appropriate so we hope to recruit Digital Buddies, volunteers who will help provide tech support and encouragement, where needed.
We have established new partnerships for the new “virtual” development (Connexus Housing: 25 supported living communities across Shropshire) and we have achieved new investment from the Community Foundation for Staffordshire & the NET Coronavirus Appeal, Shropshire Council (Arts, Libraries, Museums), Connexus, and The National Lottery Community Fund. Whilst this development enables us to continue delivering artist-led activity with older people during the pandemic, our commitment to this way of working remains long-term, post-pandemic.
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MediaActive Projects C.I.C.
Wem Town Hall High Street, Wem Shropshire, SY4 5DG |
email: [email protected]
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