COMMUNITY ARTS

RESEARCH PROJECT

The Community Arts Research Project is all about communities having time and space to develop genuine relationships with artists in order to co-create amazing artwork.

This opportunity will work with local people to deliver projects that are driven, developed and decided by them throughout the entire process.

Initially we did a call out for community / voluntary groups across Sunderland who wanted to be part of this project. Through a community decision making panel 5 projects were selected to explore a research question specific to them and their local community.

The Projects

ICOS

‘An exploration of personal stories through creativity of Eastern European women’s journey of migration to Sunderland, and what are the barriers they have experienced along the way? How can a peer-to-peer support network help them to overcome these barriers?’

ICOS are working with artist Sabina Sallis to explore this question.

Headlight

“Arts and crafts are well documented to contribute to positive mental health and aid recovery, as is outdoors in a garden environment. How can we combine these two things together to produce a mental health wellbeing garden at our organisation?”

Headlight are working with artist Rachel Brook to explore this question.

WWIN

“How can Art impact on the emotional wellbeing and recovery of women and children who have experienced domestic abuse?”

WWIN are working with artist Cloe Sparrow to explore this question.

Houghton Le Spring

The Old Rectory, Space 4, and Houghton le Spring Residents CIC are working together for the first time on a partnership project linked to Houghton Rectory Park, to ask local people;

‘What does the Park mean to you?’

The Houghton Le Spring collective are working with artist Sally Anderson to explore this question.

Stockton Road United Reformed Church

“Would the guests of the Ashbrooke community lunch (a partnership with the Church and FoodCycle) like a cultural, arts, crafts social space to be developed after the lunch? If so, what would that social space look like?”

Stockton Road URC have worked with a variety of artists who have delivered a range of taster sessions, which has led to a craft pack project with artist Kate Hunter Parker.

What do we mean by co-creation? 

  • A process whereby artists/creative practitioners actively engage, listen to and collaborate with people from communities to create an artwork, project or activity together (including devising, planning negotiating, disseminating, evaluating).

  • Co-creation is about bringing diverse groups of people with different experiences, skills and knowledge together, united around a common aim/issue/challenge, to work in collective and non-hierarchical ways.

  • Co-creation is any artistic process in which creative responsibility, authority and agency are shared.

  • Co-creation is working together for the same purpose, aims and outputs ensuring that a project can achieve a strong legacy and have a positive impact on people’s lives.