Long 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:...
Read MoreAudience Development
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...
Read MoreOpen City
This is a new audiences project which supports groups who do not normally attend the arts to become confident in accessing and engaging with the arts. It is led by Gin Jacobucci a co-ordinator who is based at FACT in Liverpool for part of the week. The co-ordinator recruits and trains volunteers, then pairs them with community groups. The volunteers then guide their group on a journey of the local cultural scene over a six month period. The emphasis is on developing the programme of arts experiences in response to the group’s needs and interests, challenging perceived barriers, and growing a relationship between the groups and the arts organisations. The long-term aspiration is to build a larger pool of culturally aware and engaged residents in Merseyside. During the first year of the project, it has worked with a range of community groups, with a number of mental health and Dads’ groups joining the scheme. The project is embarking upon its 2nd year currently. open.city@factcentre.co.uk or gin.jacobucci@factcentre.co.uk or on 0151 707...
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