Responding to Government moves to make Shakespeare study optional, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has invited schools to stage an assembly as part of a ‘Stand Up For Shakespeare’ week in January 2009. It will supply a short film of messages from RSC actors such as Dame Judi Dench, Tamsin Grieg and Michelle Gomez (pictured, in a recent workshop). Jacqui O’Hanlon, Director of Education, said, “We hope that primary and secondary schools across the country will join us in this national conversation about the importance of Shakespeare in education today.”
w: http://www.rsc.org.uk/standupforshakespeare
The Garrett Prize for lifetime achievement has been awarded to Michael Lynch CBE (pictured), the outgoing Chief Executive of Southbank Centre, at the Arts & Business Awards for excellence in the field of cultural partnerships and sponsorship. During his time at the Southbank Centre, visitor numbers increased by 62%, Jude Kelly was appointed as its first Artistic Director and £111m was raised for the Royal Festival Hall Transformation project.
w: http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama will undergo a £22.5m redevelopment to celebrate its 60th birthday next year. The new building, which includes a concert hall, theatre, studios and a gallery, is scheduled to open in September 2010. Eighty per cent of the money needed has already been raised, including a £10m grant from the Welsh Assembly Government. The college will also become the UK’s first all-Steinway Conservatoire at the beginning of 2009, with 60 Steinways, including 19 new grand pianos.
e: helen.dunning@rwcmd.ac.uk
Dance South West, the regional strategic agency for dance, is working in partnership with Bournemouth Borough Council to create and run a dance centre at the 1920s-built Pavilion in Bournemouth. Due to open in 2010, the centre will offer new dance studios for both professional and public use, and a new studio theatre with a capacity of 190.
w: http://www.dancesouthwest.org.uk
‘Connect Through Art’, a four-month pilot project, is combining art practice and art therapy in order to benefit young people who have experienced, or are likely to develop, psychosis. Launched in Birmingham, the project is being run by Full Potential Arts in association with Birmingham and Solihull’s Mental Health Trust.
The Government is preparing to make a decision on whether to implement the ‘Artist’s Resale Right’ fully by applying it to artists’ heirs and beneficiaries. The EU Artist’s Resale Right Directive was introduced in the UK in 2006, and currently guarantees a royalty payment only to living artists whose work has been resold. Ninety per cent of respondents to a consultation wrote in favour of full implementation of the new rights as soon as possible.
w: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/draft/20063820.htm
Four pilot projects, covering primary and post primary institutions, will provide the basis of a new education programme at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister, Gregory Campbell, launched the scheme, funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, which aims to encourage young people to participate in the arts. Schools involved will be able to stage their own professional productions, some pupils will have the chance to act, and other students will be given the resources to further their professional ambitions.
Nine grants of between £500 and £2,000 have been awarded by Arts Trust Scotland, an independent charitable trust, to support the purchase of new instruments, develop new theatre work and support exhibitions. The Trust aims to support artists and emerging artists who live and work in Scotland to develop their skill, ideas and potential. Several projects have an international dimension in countries as far afield as Japan, Canada, Israel and Palestine.
w: http://www.artstrustscotland.org.uk
A new initiative for East London schools and music services has been launched, in partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), the Local Authority Music Services of the ten East London Olympic host and gateway boroughs, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Barbican Centre. ‘LSO On Track’ sees the LSO giving special concerts for 13,500 pupils, 50 visits to schools by musicians and 40 music technology workshops. Students will also have access to free digital technology workshops, an A-level seminar and a series of masterclasses by LSO principal musicians. Teachers can sign up for a range of one-off and ongoing professional development courses.
w: http://www.lso.co.uk/lsoontrack
Following the publication of the joint DCMS/Arts Council England (ACE) report, ‘Our Creative Talent – the voluntary/amateur arts in England,’ ACE will be developing an action plan for the voluntary and amateur arts. The Voluntary Arts Network will be leading on a number of strategic themes and is asking for feedback via an online questionnaire.
w: http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map8221.doc
The management contract for the White Rock Theatre in Hastings will be transferred from Hastings Council to HQ Theatres on 1 February 2009. This new acquisition will bring the total number of regional theatres now operated by HQ Theatres to six. The organisation currently manages The Cliffs Pavilion and The Palace Theatres in Southend, The Wyvern Theatre in Swindon, The Beck Theatre in Hayes and Wycombe Swan Theatre.
e: esmith@hqtheatres.com
The Anne Peaker Centre for arts in criminal justice is producing a new arts magazine for ex-prisoners, ‘The A Word’. Written and compiled by ex-prisoners, the magazine will be circulated initially to prison libraries and writing groups, and subscription is free. An online gallery for contributors who would like their work exhibited is also being planned.
w: http://www.apcentre.org.uk/arts_on_the_out/index.html
Preparations for the appointment of the new Poet Laureate are underway, as Andrew Motion’s ten-year term is due to end next year. The DCMS will consult widely in the poetry sector, and is inviting written suggestions for candidates from members of the public. There will not, however, be a public vote, as the Poet Laureate is an honorary position awarded by the Queen to a poet whose work is of national significance.
w: http://www.culture.gov.uk