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Festival of Creativity for Artists and Creative Practitioners at Ushaw Co. Durham

Ushaw is a fantastic new art facility quickly establishing itself as a centre of contemporary creative practice with studio and exhibition space.

It’s a wonderfully inspiring place for artists, performers, designer-makers and participatory artists to get away from day to day matters and focus their energies purely on their create work in the company of peers, master practitioners and commissioners.

Supported by a team of talented artists, Durham Creatives is hosting this lively two day Creative Festival to enhance connectivity across the creative sector, stimulate new ideas, highlight new commercial opportunities, and to inspire and enthuse.

Confirmed contributors to date include; light installation artist Mick Stephenson, furniture designer-maker Nick James, illustrator Bethan Lake, poet Katharine Goda, musicians Gary Chaplin and Johny Brown, Visual artist Betty Brown, Community Arts Officer Debbie Connell, poet Ian Horn, Visual Arts Officer Lucy Jenkins.

This two-day residential ticket includes all activities, lunch, dinner, en-suite overnight accommodation and breakfast for 16th and 17th November. The residential price is £45.00. Charges for accommodation and activities are very heavily subsidised through European funding:.
Programme

Day One: Friday 16th November

09.00: Check-in
10.00: Welcome and intro to the Festival
10.30: Professional development workshops

You will have the option to choose from a range of workshops that will give you an in-depth understanding of how to align your work with the needs of buyers operating within distinct markets. These will be supported by ideas generation sessions that will bring you together with commissioners to stimulate the co-creation of new work and opportunities.

Contributing artists will share their experience of developing commercially successful businesses including; the arts of marketing, using social media and online platforms to generate sales, arts project management, responding to tenders, working collaboratively and applying for funding.

12.00: Lunch

13.00 Professional development workshops (cont.)
14.30 Refreshments
14.45 Creative Activities

You will work collaboratively in artist-led workshops to create new site-specific work to be installed/performed within the grounds of Ushaw. These works will embrace the use of light, music, textiles and illustration.

17.30 Installations and performances
18.00 Social media blitz
18.30 …and breathe! Time for a drink and a chat

19.30 Festival dinner
21.00 An evening of live entertainment

We’re lining up a variety of performances that, to date, include a poetry jam and music from Gary Chaplin and Johny Brown (who will perform their Northern song cycle Sally Wheatley with visual narration by Sean Keeble), and from Quarterlight.

The evening will conclude with drinking, dancing and general merriment.

Day Two: Saturday 17th November

08.30 – 09.30 Breakfast
09.30 Creative activities in Ushaw’s buildings and grounds, including poetry and photography walks
11.30 Gather together to show and share
12.00 Close of Festival