art + power

Funding for Filming

2009-01-08T15:29:00.003Z

After the successful completion of our film 'Condemned to Darkness', we are now all ready gearing up to planning our next celluloid project, thanks to receiving funding from South West Screen. We will be touring the film to festivals and venues to get more potential actors, writers and film makers involved in our next film project.

Would you like to be involved in our next film project? Please give us a call!

art + power = Business!

2009-01-08T15:25:00.002Z

Last session's NVQ in Business Enterprise was a very lively and entertaining session. Everyone is busy getting their project descriptions together, so that 2009 is the year to make their business aspiratins into reality. We had fun with the 'values' exercise. We all came up with a value, which was really important to us and which we wanted to carry throught to our business. We had lots of fun guessing which 'value' belonged to which artist.

If anyone would like to offer a business master-class this year, then please get in touch.

Betty's Story

2008-11-05T12:56:00.003Z

A BOY CALLED WINDOW

The boy called Window went out for a walk and he found a ball. He started to play with the ball and decided to take the ball home with him.
His mother said, "Time to go to bed." He went up to his bedroom with his ball.
He put his ball down the side of the bed. He went to sleep. Then in the middle of the night the ball lit up, it was a very bright light. The ball didn't make a sound, but it woke up the boy.
He looked at the light and said, "I wonder if i can make a wish?" He made a wish, he wished he had a lot of new clothes. All of a sudden the window opened and all of his old clothes flew out of the window. the other window opened and all new clothes came in through that window, in to the bedroom.
He wondered if he should have another wish, he said to himself, "Yes, I'll have another wish."
He said, "I wish I could go on holiday and have a very good time."
He went on that holiday, and had a good time.
When he got back home he found the was gone!

New Beginnings of art + power!

2008-11-03T09:55:00.005Z

Morning, I hope you all had a good weekend!

Last Tuesday, art + power introduced our new system to the artists, actors and writers. We have been working hard throughout the summer to transform the organisation.

At the Information Day, art + power staff presented our new way of working - our campaign for creativity, aiming to end cultural exclusion. Staff explained the updated Personal Arts Support Scheme (PASS) and the process of creating empowering arts. 16 new participants signed up to PASS and we look forward to welcoming more people in the future!

Every Monday morning there will be a coffee morning at the art + power studio. It will be open to all and provide an opportunity to check what's happening during the week and to find out what projects are on offer.

Also at the Monday coffee morning there will be the opportunity to book a hot desk, computer, mentor session or volunteer help.

Don't worry if you can't make it, you can phone us and we'll let you know, or you can check out what's happening here on the blog every Monday morning - we'll let you know the Top 5 activities happening this week.

This week, we are preparing for the showcase. We are working on visual arts, writing and performance for our 10th birthday party on 27th Nov.

Top 5 things this week:

1 - Van required to collect free wood from IKEA

2 - Actors required to create scripts for live performance

3 - Artists required to design and create their human silhouettes

- Draw around yourself on a piece of wood.

- Use paint spray paints to show who you are on the profile

4 - Come along on Wednesday to devise a performance involving the profiles.

5 - Sign up new PASS if you haven't joined yet - contact us for an induction meeting and we can give you more details.

art + power is turning ten!

2008-10-29T16:10:00.002Z

Make a Smilebox greeting

You are invited to join us and celebrate art + power's transformation and empowering arts!

During the celebrations, there will be installations, lead by the participants. You can expect to see visual arts, performance, film and interactive audience board.

This event also marks the start of new campaign for creativity. This will help to release the arts in every individual and with art + power's new way of working, all can be involved in the process of creating empowering art with the shared aim to end cultural exclusion.

We hope to see you at Spike Island on Thursday 27th November, from 6pm until 8pm!

Paint it Pink.

2008-10-24T10:25:00.004+01:00

Paul Blakemore came to Boston Tea Party on the launch day, he took the photos of the murals for the Evening Post, here it is!

Writing Forum returns

2008-10-03T11:13:00.004+01:00

The hugely successful art + power Creative Writing Forum has begun again after a well earnt Summer break. The Writing Forum has so far this year produced a month long writing exhibition and installation along with the publication of a group Anthology "We made Us Do It". Also several of the groups poets have had individual sucess in publishing and performing their work.

The group meets on Fridays 10-4pm at The Arnolfini, Narrow Quay, Bristol. In the Morning there are lots of visits, excersises and games to get your imagination going while the afternoon group concentrates on helping individual writers to progress whilst working towards group writing projects. Writers are encouraged to share their work and recieve feedback. Some of the workshops planned for this year include script writing, writing for film and performance poetry.

Because the group has grown so much we are also looking for volunteers to help out with the group. If you have an interest in any aspect of creative writing and would like to be part of art + power then please call in.

Foe more details about joining the group or becoming a volunteer call Angie Belcher on 01179468630

The Boston Tea Party Mural Launch

2008-10-03T10:24:00.005+01:00

The Boston Tea Party Mural launch was a huge success on Tuesday. art + power have completed a tea inspired mural downstairs in the Park Street cafe. The Boston Tea party approached art + power for the commision after seeing the fantastic street mural produced with The People's Republic of Stokes Croft back in March. Artists, business's and supporters joined together to toast the success of the project and register their interests in forming partnerships with art + power. The event was also covered by BCFM radio and The Evening Post. The Boston Tea Party also made a donation to art + power following their recent fancy dress fundraiser.

A Darren Starr Original in the Council House

2008-10-03T09:56:00.002+01:00

This week Darren Starr delivered his cardboard masterpiece of "The A bond" to Helen Holland , Leader of the Council. Helen fell in love with the artwork after officially opening art + power's exhibition"Transformartive" back in July. Helen said she was thrilled to receive the work and is going to hang the piece up in her Council House office. Darren is now busy completing commissions for portraits and is planning a solo exhibition for next year.

art + power + coffee = Boston Tea Party's Masterpiece.

2008-08-27T12:44:00.004+01:00

We are in the Venue Magazine this week! See below for more information about the Mural project (Wed 30th July).

Watch Out Kate Moss!

2008-08-27T12:41:00.003+01:00

Jack Mundy has accepted an offer to become a model for Photosymbols; he enjoyed spending the afternoon posing in front of the camera. If you are interested in becoming a model, please let art + power know, as Photosymbols would be happy to take on more models.

Cheers!

2008-08-27T12:35:00.003+01:00

Frances Neville and Matt Roche have accepted an offer to exhibit their work at The Leap Pub in Downend. After deciding on the best and most suitable layout for the paintings, this newly refurbished pub has been transformed with the lively, vibrant display of Matt and Frances' paintings. If you live close to Downend, why not pop in for a drink and enjoy the art work!

Bye Bye Sam and Kate!

2008-08-27T12:32:00.002+01:00

art + power's fundraiser Sam Williams is unfortunately leaving to start a new job as a Project Manager for UWE. We wish Sam the best of luck for the future. Also, Kate Cotching, a long term volunteer for art + power is returning for her homeland, Australia. We wish Sam and Kate the very best of luck for the future and would like to thank them for all their hard work.

Bristol City Council's Support

2008-08-27T12:27:00.002+01:00

Good News! We have received 3 years funding from Bristol City Council which is fantastic. However, we still need to raise a lot more money to ensure art + power can continue to support disabled and socially excluded artists to find their own power through the arts.

Thank you Bristol City Council!

Disability Arts Online Feature.

2008-08-15T10:29:00.003+01:00

Kate Cotton from Disability Arts Online has managed to visit our TransformARTive exhibition on its last day at Grant Bradley Gallery. See her feature about her experience with art + power - click here to visit their website : Disability Arts Online

art + power has been quiet since the exhibition finished, but we are still open for you to use the hot desks and all the staff are working hard on planning for the future of art + power. So enjoy the holidays!

Boston Tea Party Mural

2008-07-30T11:48:00.004+01:00

Artists at art + power have just completed a giant mural for The Boston Tea Party Cafe on Park street in Bristol. The Cafe commissioned us to do a mural after seeing our Jamaica street Mural completed earlier this year.

The Cafe Mural showed a wonderful world of tea where strange animals mingled amongst a tea inspired landscape.

The cafe are very pleased with the mural and all the hard work put in by the artists, and would like to work with us again soon. The Artists were supported By Lead artists Kate Cotching and Matt Roche who spent 2 weeks planning the project and designing the mural.

This project was also Kate's last one, as she has now returned to Australia so we presented her with a painting by Cris Rose so she will always remember us.

Art for All

2008-07-15T12:34:00.004+01:00

Guess what?

We were in the Evening Post Seven Magazine last Saturday! If you haven't seen the article, don't worry - you can still read it here - click below:

There are also related stories about Matthew Roche, Sylverine D'zenyo and Frances Neville and their art work.

Well Done!

Chris Rose Commission for Whitecliff Bay

2008-06-26T13:11:00.005+01:00

This is the painting of Humphray in the Humphray Club, at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park, on the Isle of Wight. I showed James and Christie, of the ents team, the painting I had made at Art + Power of Humphray Bear and they asked me to create a mural to make it look nicer for the kids. They let me go backstage to look at what Humphray wears so I could get it right in the painting. I really liked doing it and look forward to going back in the future.

TransformARTive Preview

2008-06-24T11:27:00.005+01:00

TransformARTive : Friday 20th June 2008

Finally, the big day arrived! All the hard work from our artists, writers and actors was brought together to celebrate the preview of the 'TransformARTive' exhibition at Grant Bradley Gallery, Bedminster Parade. Over 50 people attended the preview and everyone was very impressed with the exhibition, which was opened by Helen Holland, the leader of Bristol City Council. It was exciting to watch the audience enjoying the work and the added challenge of bidding for several paintings throughout the evening!

The speeches by Jonathan Barr-Lindsay, Jack Mundy, Marsail Edwards, Dave Pearse, John Vowles, Daniel Bryan, Simon Conway, Jeffrey Jones and Alex Kyriacou were expressive and thought provoking. They shared their artistic experiences and goals through poems and stories.

Thanks to Sidz, the photographer who has been involved in teaching Photoshop to the group of artists during the Timescape project (which can be seen in the gallery), for his beautiful photos of the exhibition. Have a look at his website under "recent projects and events" for photos of our preview evening: Click here for the photos. Enjoy the photos.

Don't miss the Arts Cafe performance on Tuesdays 10am - 4pm, an 'Arts Waiter' will give you a special arts menu. The arts menu is a way for you to choose your own interpretation of the art in the gallery.

Places

2008-05-23T21:38:00.005+01:00

Today's challenge for the aspiring writers was to write a piece of writing describing a place. We used photographs for inspiration and the aim was to make the writing as descriptive as possible. We wanted a reader to be able to picture the places in their mind. We decided to share Chris's work with you. See if you can imagine the place that he is describing.

Heaven by Christopher Stone

It is green.
And a rainbow of flowers
In heaven.
Weeds.
And a tree.
Beautiful flowers
And some daisies
In heaven.
And some lilies.
Where is it?
It looks like Spain.

"Most Powerful Artist at Spike Island Open Studios" Award

2008-05-23T10:19:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Angela Lizon who has won art + powers "Most Powerful Artist at Spike Open Studios" Award.

We ran the competition over the Bank-holiday Open studios and asked visitors to Spike to vote for who they felt should receive the award.

Runners up were Darren Starr and Simon Conway who are are on our Professional Arts Support Scheme.

Well done Angela, Darren and Simon!

The Imaginary History of The Arnolfini

2008-05-16T23:05:00.015+01:00

Do you ever wonder about the history of any buildings that are familiar to you? Do you think about what the building was used for in the past? What did it look like ten years ago, 100 years ago or 200 years ago? Who might have lived or worked there?

The Aspiring Writers meet each week at the Arnolfini. Today we started to think about the history of the building and imagine what it might have been like in the past. We explored the inside and outside of the building looking for clues and everyone wrote their imagined version of a time in its history or a vision of its future.

Christopher Stone

100 years ago the Arnolfini was a fish warehouse. The fish were checked in at the reception. Inside there were boxes and litter. It smelled horrible. There was a fishy smell. It was noisy. It looked similar to today but not painted. Outside there were warehouses and steam trains. It smelled fishy and it was noisy. There was a box lifter who worked there. He brought in boxes of fish and was very nice.

Mary Lansdown

150 years ago the Arnolfini was a music hall. Inside it was very smoky and noisy.

Edward Philips

100 years ago the Arnolfini was a cinema. All the rich people went there. Inside it was small and dingy and played black and white films. It was pongy and no one ever cleaned. You could hear music. At this time, the building was brand new. Outside people were riding horses and bikes. A young usherette worked there. Her name was Margaret. She wore a red uniform. She worked at the Arnolfini for twelve years before she left.

Alex Kyriacou

There comes a time when the choices we have aren't determined by us. In America, from the 1940s to the 70s, the government had extra terrestrials held for experiments. Area 51 in Nevada was the most famous of these sites but there were many more and not only in America.

The experiments were on the use of ESP and telekinesis to control the human mind. In the following 1940 years the total collapse of America as a global power has led to the dispersal of wealth to other countries, which are friendly to America (of which there aren't many) including the U.K.OFA (United Kingdom of America.)

Finally, these experiments have led to new technology. Using a mixture of ESP and telekinesis to control the populations urge for self-expression and to prevent thoughts.

One centre is based in Bristol and located in a former art gallery. The building was chosen for its stone construction and internal walls, which offer excellent natural sound proofing. This is vital so that the workers don't affect each others' thought processes. All the internal walls are painted with anti-radar paint to prevent the population from using their thoughts to affect the work done within.

This work is vital as the UK now has a population of 80,000,000 people and having that many people on an island is dangerous anyway but if they all think for themselves then society will grind to a halt.

But now everything is a crime. You can't discuss and issues regarding race or religion and comedy has a total lock down. The population have become senile and under control. We have succeeded.

Daniel Bryan

The Arnolfini was created in 1961. It was a prison and held musical shows. It was old and ancient, damp and wet. It smelled of poo and tobacco. There was chatting and lots of noise. Outside the building there were letters, books, windows and fire exits. There were flowers that bloomed in the trees. It smelled funny. There was a canal and docks, boats and bridges and the SS Great Britain. There was the sound of digging, stamping, clacking and slurping. Someone like Bill Owens (the artist) worked there. He worked on art and the whole building.

Marsail Edwards

100 years ago the Arnolfini was used as an indoor swimming pool called Pirate Pleasure. It had a changing room, smelled of chlorine and it was bright blue. Outside was the sound of pipes laughing. Inside there is a person called Paul. He wears glasses, is 22, has black hair and works at the swimming pool on a Sunday at any time.

Jonathan Barr Lindsay

185 years ago, it was the 1920s and the Arnolfini was an old people's home. Old people lived in the Arnolfini and they had a nice hall and nice rooms. They all had servants to work for them. The people lived in flats. They had old cars, nice shops and it was nice and posh. Jeeves and Wooster lived there too. Outside there were old cars, horses and carts and gas lights. It smelled of cooking, bread and cake and was noisy.

Phillip Davis

It was 1641. I was ten. I didn't have a family to lean on so was all alone until the day when a woman took me into her arms with a big smile. She had a job in a pub with her Dad. It was all right but there was too much fighting when the sun went down. So I got a job with my Mum in the pub; helping out and other stuff. When I had the time, I wrote a book of my life.
The pub was called Arnolfini. It was a weird name to call it but it supplied beer and so it would do.

Outside of the Arnolfini, there were people selling and so on. There were lots of women selling themselves for money to live on. The people didn't make much noise but they smelled a lot. But it was nicer to live here than in London because of that guy running around with a knife killing women.

Photos by Daniel Bryan and Edward Philips

Interviewing the Artists

2008-05-03T12:33:00.002+01:00

This Friday, the Aspiring Artists spent some time looking at the exhibitions at the Arnolfini by the artists Saskia Holmkvist and Torsten Lauschmann

Everyone came up with a list of questions they would like to ask these two artists about their artwork. Next time you are in art gallery think about what questions you might ask the artist if you had the chance to interview them.

We decided that our favourite questions were:

Saskia Holmkvist

Have you ever pretended to be someone else?
Do you have an identity crisis?
Why did you become an artist?
What is your work about?
Are you in any of the films shown in the gallery?
Why can't you stop the film?
Is there a message behind your work?
Do you think telekenisis is real?
Why did you make this art?

Torsten Lauschmann

Do you like the dark?
Why did you hide the conventional art behind your installations?
If you are so interested in logic then why did you put a peacock in an art gallery?
How did you get the idea for this artwork?
How did you make the shapes on the walls in the gallery?
Do you think your art is good?
Do you like beauty but are irritated by a lack of logic?
How did you make the star projection on the wall?
Why did you make this art?

Next week we are going to try answering these questions by imagining that we are the artists.

The Open

2008-05-02T13:28:00.003+01:00

The Open at Spike Island is an annual event which takes place on the first May Bank Holiday Weekend. Please check their website for more information: http://www.spikeisland.org.uk/

art + power is exploring a new way of assessing art which we want to share with artists, educators, venues and the public. We will give out a free explorer's kit to help people make the most of the art on show which also includes a vote for which artist in Spike Island they feel has the most powerful art and why. At the end of 'Open Studios' we will give an award to the most powerful artist voted for by you.

Well Done to everybody who has worked very hard to get our studios ready for the weekend, and now we are waiting for people to turn up!

What do we want? ART! When do we want it? NOW! Creative Fusion- Filming Day

2008-04-22T11:02:00.007+01:00

Heloooo..... Just wanted to post some great pics from filming last week. This was our final filming day for our project about a futuristic world where art is banned. We were filming on location at an abandoned warehouse and the scene we were completing was at the point when artists decide they are not going to let The Ministry Against Decoration ban art. The scene showed artists protesting loudly.. But the Ministry then decides to use some heavy handed techniques to break the protesters up.

We had a brilliant day...The highlight for me was watching everyone get into character for The Ministry's violence scenes... I didn't know you all had so much rage!