Evaluation Development Project
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...
Read MoreCapacity Building Programme
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...
Read MoreLong Night – Light Night
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...
Read MoreDataculture
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...
Read MoreFamily Friendly
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:...
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