Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium

Let’s Work Together – Conference Report published

Director — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:30:23 +0000

Let’s Work Together was a national conference of leading arts sector figures interested in sharing good practice and some of the critical understanding needed to realise future opportunities for collaboration, both within and beyond the sector. It took place on Tuesday June 21st 2011.

The full report on the “Let’s Work Together” conference has now been published and can be downloaded here.

In addition to the full conference report LARC has also published a paper containing participant feedback and recommendations for further action. This paper can be downloaded here

Let’s Work Together – sharing and shaping collaboration in the arts

admin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:27:00 +0000

On 21st June, Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium hosted a national conference of leading arts sector figures interested in sharing good practice and some of the critical understanding needed to realise future opportunities for collaboration, both within and beyond the sector.

At the conference members of LARC were able to pass on their learning and experience from the LARC model of collaboration, alongside speakers such as Clore Leadership programme director Sue Hoyle, Director General of the English-Speaking Union Michael Lake, Chief Executive of &Co Alison Edbury, Piali Ray the Director of sampad South Asian Arts, DCMS Head of Research Dr Adam Cooper, Dave Moutrey, Director and Chief Executive of Cornerhouse. Speaker Biographies are available to view online.

The conference was specifically designed to examine:

models of leadership in collaborative practice
art and artist-led examples of collaborative practice
collaboration in rural settings
how collaboration can unlock new business models
collaboration within the changing public sector landscape
plus new methodologies and expectations for demonstrating your case

Each delegate was able to register for a couple of practical workshop sessions, that were designed to encourage open and pragmatic exploration of collaboration models and approaches, which included lessons from Thrive projects from across the country and LARC itself.

The conference programme is still available to download if you would like to see more details from the workshops.

A full conference report will be available shortly, in the mean time an online resources document has been compiled from the contributions of a number of the speakers and delegates at the Let’s Work Together conference. You can read it online below or you can download it.

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Innovative Intrinsic Impacts Study released

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:04:37 +0000

How Audiences and Visitors are Transformed by Cultural Experiences in Liverpool

In this collaborative pilot study, eight arts and cultural organisations in Liverpool (acting together as the Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium, or LARC) surveyed audiences and visitors about the impacts of their experiences over the 2009-10 season.

This report discusses the range of findings with respect to audiences’ ‘readiness to receive’ the art and the six constructs of intrinsic impact: captivation, emotional resonance, spiritual value, intellectual stimulation, aesthetic growth and social bonding. The results of the study have stimulated conversations about artistic programmes, audience engagement, customer service and other topics, and also helped to advance a longer arc of learning about impact assessment underway in the U.K., U.S. and Australia.

Together with the wide range of smaller cultural organisations and other major venues in Liverpool, LARC represents a cultural infrastructure that is among the best of any of the major English regional cities.

For this project, Baker Richards Consulting worked in partnership with WolfBrown, combining significant experience across research, data analysis and marketing in the cultural sector.

WolfBrown has pioneered the development of this type of research in the cultural sector in the US and this would be a groundbreaking study for the arts in the UK. WolfBrown helps foundations, government agencies and non-profit organizations understand their potential and fulfill the promise of their missions.

Documents

Intrinsic Impacts Pilot Study Report, June 2011

Press Release: Intrinsic Impacts

North Liverpool Mapping Project

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:26:27 +0000

This project provides an overview of current cultural activity in North Liverpool, and identifies how LARC could work most effectively with community and cultural organisations based or working in North Liverpool.

Purpose of the research

It is intended to inform the development of partnerships with other agencies and programmes working in North Liverpool, including Liverpool First (the local strategic partnership), Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Vision, Step Clever, and the Primary Care Trust.

The final report was undertaken primarily to inform the development of the Liverpool Thrive programme, but will also contribute to Find Your Talent. The research was undertaken between September 2008 and February 2009.

Key Findings

Some of the main findings that have come from the report are:

Successful projects are directly linked to strong relationships with cultural partners
The growing projects in North Liverpool need stronger support through resources and skills training
Strong networks and links to community partners foster successful projects

The full findings and recommendations of the report can be found here: North Liverpool Mapping Report

Because of the mapping project LARC and othe cultural organisation have been able to implement stronger links and projects in North Liverpool including:

The Capacity Building Programme and The Evaluation Development Project

DOCUMENTS

Thrive North Liverpool mapping report

Evaluation Development Project

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:25:19 +0000

LARC has initiated a programme to support community & cultural organisations working in North Liverpool to help them develop their evaluation capacity.

This programme will assist organisations as they develop specific evaluation skills relating to participatory arts programmes. It will support them in learning new techniques for gathering data and documenting results in a way that demonstrates the contribution that cultural projects can make to achieving local (and national) regeneration priorities.

The team is being led by Francois Matarasso, an internationally recognised consultant and writer on community-based arts practice and its impact. Francois has worked for national and local government, foundations, arts organisations and international agencies in over 30 countries.

The team started work in May 2009 with the programme set to be completed in December 2010. The programme has so far run various seminars on evaluation techniques, whilst providing in-depth support in small group sessions (as well as 1-1 support) with a core group of arts practitioners and organisations in Liverpool

The results from this information sharing will lead to individual evaluation toolkits for each organisation so they can confidently evaluate themselves on their work.

Capacity Building Programme

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:24:05 +0000

As part of its Liverpool Thrive! Programme, Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium has appointed The Hamilton Project to develop a tailored capacity building programme.

They will provide support to a number of community & cultural organisations in North Liverpool, helping build their cultural programming skills and working with them in securing resources for their creative ideas.

The Capacity Building Programme will run until December 2010 and will include a range of engagement methods such as seminars, small group workshops, 1-1 sessions and online support services.

Long Night – Light Night

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:21:52 +0000

One of the main objectives of the Liverpool Thrive programme is to help create a more audience and people friendly city centre. As part of this objective, a series of events have taken place that provide an alternative to the pubs and bars, and help to create a sense of greater ownership and enjoyment of the city centre at night amongst people who might otherwise be put off coming into the city centre at that time.

The Long Night / Light Night are the first in this series. The vision is for a range of visual arts venues to be open from the Tate Albert Dock up to Fact on Bold Street, and to provide some animation on the walking routes between venues, including light projections and street performance. It is also hoped to include live performance within the visual arts venues.

The Long Night proposal is inspired by Long Night of the Museums events that take place in Europe, e.g. in Berlin, Cologne and Amsterdam and also the national Museums at Night events that take place every spring in Britain.

A Long Night of the Museums event involves visual arts venues only, but the Long Nights/Light Nights go further, with shops, restaurants and a range of cultural venues all opening late.

A key aspect of creating a more people friendly city centre is to address the negative impacts of the heavy drinking culture. An event such as the Long Night can make a contribution, by providing an alternative activity that might encourage some people to “slow down” the night, and reduce the amount of alcohol consumed.

The first Long Night took place in 2008 as “The Long Night of the Biennial” and in 2009 was known as the “Long Night of the AND festival”. In 2010 we will have the 14th May as the “Light Night” and the 18th November sees “The Long Night” return for a third year.

More information on the Long and Light Nights can be found in the News section.

Liverpool Light Night

Dataculture

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:20:37 +0000

This is a regional scheme to map audiences across the North West. It aims to provide bespoke intelligence to each participating venue, and to inform collaborative working, audience development and marketing activity. It will also be key to identifying and benchmarking trends, demonstrating impact and informing strategic developments.

The majority of performing arts venues in Merseyside have committed to join the scheme. Discussions with each of the visual arts venues are now underway to identify how a consistent system for mapping visual arts audiences can be developed.

Family Friendly

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:15:41 +0000

In March 2008 the LARC Heads of Marketing group, with additional support from Liverpool Culture Company, contracted Arts About Manchester to set up a listings website for family friendly cultural activities, building on AAM’s successful track record in this area.

The audience development team developed local arts organisations’ communication with family audiences via the Family Friendly website which is > www.familyfriendlymerseyside.org.uk and monthly e-newsletters, as well as running stalls at family focused events to build families’ trust in the brand and to build the e newsletter subscriber list. The organisations signing up to the website now encompass a broader range of organisations beyond the LARC partners, for example Southport Arts Centre and the Empire Theatre.

Email: info@familyfriendlymerseyside.org.uk

Audience Development

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:12:48 +0000

The LARC Marketing group initiated an audience development programme in Spring 2008, to help address some of the strategic gaps that were left on the closure of TEAM in June 2007. TEAM was previously the audience development agency for Merseyside. Support was given by Arts Council England North West from Grants for the Arts, and the LARC partners have also contributed financially to the programme.

Unity Theatre led the project on behalf of LARC, contracting Arts About Manchester to deliver the programme. This served as an opportunity to pilot a new approach to working with Arts About Manchester, which has now developed into the audience development agency for the North West - All About Audiences . The LARC audience development programme will continue to be delivered in partnership with the new regional agency.

Phase 1 of the programme ran from July 08 to August 09, with a dedicated staff team based in Liverpool. The programme is still in operation, and is being delivered by Arts About Manchester in its new regional role. It includes:

Family Friendly Merseyside

Open City

Dataculture