Shakespeare’s Globe is launching its own record label, Globe Editions, aiming to reflect the creative ethos of the organisation and offer a new approach to the way that early music and spoken word is presented and performed. The first release will be Elizabethan Street Songs, a collection of music played by Globe musician Jim Bisgood and his band Tarleton’s Jig (pictured), which uses modern studio techniques to capture the atmosphere of 16th and 17th century street life.
A new partnership between Youth Music and zavvi, the largest independent entertainment retailer on the high street, will give zavvi staff the chance to host regular events in-store for some of the 94,000 young people who get involved in creative music-making activities through the 22 Youth Music Action Zones around the country. Events will include band nights, sponsorship busking and music quizzes; staff will be encouraged to be involved in payroll giving, volunteering and mentoring; and customers will be able to contribute by making donations via collection boxes at tills.
A scheme has been launched to promote the cultural value of the Scottish Highlands. Financed by Highland Council, the Highland 2007 Legacy Programme, which grew from the original Highlands bid to become the European Capital of Culture 2008, will have a yearly funding pot of £500,000 to support events, festivals and activities that raise the profile of the region. Community organisations, promoters, artists, performers, youth groups and schools are now being encouraged to create their own legacy.
w: http://www.highland2007.com
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has become the first museum able to have its in-house training nationally accredited. Training is already provided for both V&A employees and other museums, and the V&A has worked with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and exam board EDI to develop its assistant curator programme as a Level 4 Diploma.
A new report giving details of findings from Voluntary Arts England’s ‘Arts in Adult Education Thinktank’ and from a national survey of learners, has been produced as a contribution to the debate around proposals by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills to reduce funding for non-vocational adult education. Entitled ‘Edutainment’, the publication also provides case studies from learners and tutors, and demonstrates links between the arts, adult learning and the Government’s skills agenda for ‘hard-to-reach’ excluded groups.
w: http://www.vaengland.org.uk/
Axis, the charity that provides an online information resource and community for artists, arts professionals and contemporary art enthusiasts, is launching an annual selling show in Leeds in November, featuring the work of 50 artists selected from the Axis website. The 50 artists chosen are a mix of recent graduates alongside artists with established reputations.
w: http://www.axisweb.org/future50
The National Campaign for the Arts is seeking views and experiences from the arts sector relating to the 2012 ‘Inspire Programme’, which is designed to reward non-commercial organisations undertaking creative cultural projects in the run-up to the Games. Inspire does not offer funding itself and will not fund projects receiving alternative commercial sponsorship, but successful applicants will be allowed to reproduce the Inspire Mark across their marketing material.
e: <a href='mailto:{campaigns@artscampaign.org.uk">{campaigns@artscampaign.org.uk}
read:write, a new publication commissioned by Arts Council England to explore ‘digital possibilities for literature’, provides an overview of the new opportunities that digitisation offers to writers, publishers and other literature organisations. It also considers ways that funded organisations can reduce their costs, develop audiences and increase participation by making use of technology and digital media.
w: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications
A new website has been launched for the National Co-Mentoring Programme, which matches education sector participants with partners from the creative and cultural sectors. Funded by Creative Partnerships and led by The Sage Gateshead, the REFLECT co-mentoring model aims to help participants engage in a collaborative learning process and reappraise their professional practice from a new perspective. Those interested in taking part can now register their interest online.
w: http://www.reflectco-mentoring.com; e: reflect@thesagegateshead.org
The value of creative arts degrees, both to those who graduate and to society, is to be assessed through a new study into the careers of graduates of art, design and media courses. The nationwide survey will reveal the different working patterns of creative arts graduates, including unpaid work experience, and freelance and short-term contracts. More than 23,000 people who graduated between 2001 and 2004 will be quizzed on how well they were prepared for the labour market, their current activities and future aspirations. The study is being undertaken by the Institute of Employment Studies, funded by the Council for Higher Education in Art and Design, the University of the Arts, London and other partners.