see http://www.edenarts.co.uk/jobs-and-opps/ for full details

Tawny Owl by Jean Wildish

The first of our CANOPY artworks are now on display at National Trust property Acorn Bank and Dalemain Mansion & Historic Gardens. As part of the CANOPY art project a series of artworks are being installed in trees and woodland across the Eden Valley in Cumbria throughout 2013, creating a ‘natural gallery’.

The main CANOPY exhibition is at National Trust property Acorn Bank throughout the 2013 season and features ‘The Woollen Woods’. This exhibit features hundreds of woodland themed woollen artworks; all made using 100% wool, in support of ‘The Campaign for Wool’. The public were invited to take part by making artworks for the exhibition and the project has sparked international interest. The Woollen Woods features work submitted by artists, schools, groups and individuals from throughout the UK and beyond, including Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany and America.

The project is being run in collaboration with The Wool Clip craft co-operative, who have created a unique ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed tree for the exhibition. The Wool Clip and Eden Arts have also been working with local community groups and members of the public, teaching wool craft techniques and creating work for the exhibition. Eden Arts will be adding to the exhibition throughout 2013 and potentially touring during 2014, so it’s not too late to get involved! Visit www.canopyart.co.uk for entry details.

Adrian Lochhead Director of Eden Arts says, “this is another of our favorite projects that allows people to join in, contribute delightful art works, celebrate our great outdoors, and…all using a product very dear to us in Cumbria – WOOL!”

As part of the CANOPY exhibition new work by Liverpool Art Prize Winner Robyn Woolston is also on display at Acorn Bank throughout 2013. An Ash tree has taken up residence within the Dovecote tower, with its own viewing platform at canopy height. ‘Last (Bank)’ (2013) addresses notions of longevity, ecological collapse and economic stability and questions what is lasting? 

Further artworks are being displayed at other venues in Eden throughout 2013, including the ‘Bugs’ exhibit at Dalemain Mansion & Historic Gardens this April. This exhibit features over a hundred insects all made using natural and recycled materials. The insects have been created by year 9 and 10 students from the Art Textiles course at Ullswater Community College, alongside local felt artist Debbie Lucas. This exhibit also forms part of ‘Celebrating Youth’ – a Cumbria-wide initiative, led by Cumbria County Council, aimed at promoting activities for children and young people and recognising the contribution they make to Cumbria’s communities.

The ‘Bugs’ exhibit is on display at Dalemain Mansion and Historic Gardens throughout April and the Canopy exhibition is open at Acorn Bank from 6^th April – 3^rd November 2013, all of the CANOPY exhibits are free to visit. Go to www.canopyart.co.uk to find out more about visiting the exhibition or making artworks for the project.

Festival of Words and Ideas

1^st – 10^th March 2013

Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

Words by the Water Festival offers free tickets for

young people aged between 17-25

The organisers of the Words by the Water festival will once again be offering free tickets for young people aged 17 to 25. The ‘Enquire and Inspire’ bursary scheme offers young people the chance to attend this popular ten-day festival, and listen to some of the writers, politicians, broadcasters and commentators attending, for free. Launched in 2012 it is hoped that the offer of free tickets for young people can remain a fixed feature for the festival in future years.

Festival Director Kay Dunbar explained the significance of the project. “We want to encourage young people to become festival enthusiasts. There is a huge number of regulars who wait with excitement each year to see who is coming to Words by the Water; we want to extend this number to include a new audience of young people “.

There is no doubt that this is a fantastic opportunity for young people who are interested in writing and new ideas or want to learn more about the media, art, psychology, philosophy, politics and current affairs.

The project’s organiser Alice Ling spoke about the benefits for the people who take part. “Those who came last year had a great time and attended events on a range of subjects. There are so many events in the festival programme that whatever your interest it’s likely there will be something for you. We hope to see even more young people take up the offer this year.”

Successful applicants will be given tickets to see up to ten events of their choice.

The Words by the Water festival runs from 1-12 March 2013 at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick. The ‘Enquire and Inspire’ bursary scheme will allow successful applicants the opportunity to hear a wide range of speakers at the festival including Sandi Toksvig, James Naughtie. Claire Tomalin, Jack Straw, Carol Ann Duffy, Alexander McCall Smith  and Tracy Chevalier to name a few. There are also themed days on a range of topics including The Environment, History, Money, Science.

The full programme and a downloadable application are both available online at www.wayswithwords.co.uk. General booking is also now open to the public, and tickets can be purchased via the Theatre by the Lake Box Office: 017687 74411 or online at www.theatrebythelake.com

Those interested in more information about the Words by the Water ‘Enquire and Inspire’ bursary scheme should email alice.ling@wayswithwords.co.uk or call 01803 867373

NOTES FOR EDITORS:
- The Words by the Water Bursary Scheme is offered to young people between 17-25yrs.
- Each successful bursary applicant may see their choice of up to 10 different festival events free of charge.
- Tickets are available on a first come first served basis.
- Tickets obtained through the bursary scheme are not transferable

CONTACT:
- Alice Ling t. 01803 867373 or email alice.ling@wayswithwords.co.uk

Artist/Maker brief

Design and construct a ‘tree’ structure for use by Carlisle and Eden Mind (CEM) as a touring engagement tool.

Fee: £3000 Budget: £7000

SUMMARY

Carlisle and Eden Mind in association with Eden Arts wish to commission a large, arresting and movable tree themed shelter for CEM’s ‘GROWING VOICES’ project. Visiting over 35 county shows, festivals and other outdoor gatherings, it will act as a canopy within which volunteers can engage in meaningful social contact with over 1,000 people, reaching a further 15,000 with positive messages about mental health and well-being. Through interaction the project will gather the thoughts, experiences and pledges of the people it encounters, painting a vivid picture of mental health issues in rural communities.

Our initial thinking is that the basis of this structure could be a caravan or trailer, converted to fit the brief; but we are open to other solutions/designs.

The design/maker will be required to stick closely to a strict timescale and budget.

Timescale: project to be completed by 1^st June 2013.

HOW TO APPLY

Please email jobs@edenarts.co.uk and we will send you the full Artist/Maker brief.

If you wish to speak informally about the project please contact Heather Walker at Eden Arts on 01768 899444.

Deadline for applications is Monday 4th March, by 5pm

Interviews will take place W/C 11^th March.

This project has been funded by the Time to Change campaign.

We have launched CANOPY – an exciting new visual art project for 2013! The project will result in a spring/summer exhibition of artworks displayed in trees and woodland throughout the Eden Valley in Cumbria – a natural gallery. We are inviting schools, groups and individuals to get involved in the project by making artworks, absolutely anyone can take part!  

The Canopy exhibition will feature specially commissioned work by Liverpool Art Prize winner Robyn Woolston. The nationally renowned artist will be working on a site specific commission on the shores of Lake Ullswater, following the launch of her solo show at the Walker Gallery in Liverpool in March.

“Canopy offers a fascinating combination of historical locations, world-class landscapes and the interaction of installation and photography as investigative tools. The contemporary rural space of the Eden Valley acts as a crucible within the commission.”  Says Robyn Woolston.  

As part of the Canopy commission The Liverpool Art Prize 2012 winning work ‘Last’ will be re-imagined and reworked. An ash tree will take up residence within the Dovecote tower at National Trust property Acorn Bank, bathed in neon light and equipped with its own viewing platform at canopy height. ‘Last (Bank)’ (2013) will address notions of longevity, ecological collapse and economic stability.

We are inviting the public to join in with the project by making Canopy artworks throughout 2013. To launch the project the national public are being encouraged to contribute to an impressive large scale “Woollen Woods” installation, which will be displayed at Acorn Bank. This new project builds on the extraordinary success of the FLOCK project of 2011/12, which saw over 5000 pom-pom sheep sent in from all over the world to form a large scale art installation. Again Eden Arts are inviting the public to help celebrate the wool craft industry by creating a remarkable woollen art installation – but this time featuring artworks such as knitted birds, felt bats and crochet dragonflies!

Further Canopy artworks will be created and displayed by young Cumbrian artists and students, as part of Cumbria County Council’s Celebrating Youth Project. These artworks will be displayed in trees at venues including Hutton-in-the-Forest, Dalemain House & Gardens and Brough Castle.

For further project details, how to take part and to download FREE Woollen Woods patterns visit www.canopyart.co.uk. The deadline for submitting artworks for the Woollen Woods installation is 28^th March and the artworks will be on display between April and November 2013. We are running free Woollen Woods workshops from 10am-2pm on 2^nd February and 2^nd March in the Soup Shop, Penrith. See our What’s On section for details.  

The Shaun the Sheep PomPom Parade is a baa-rilliant new people’s project to raise awareness and support for His Royal Highness Prince Charles’ Campaign for Wool in which anyone and everyone can participate. The project is a collaborative effort between leading wool interiors retailer The Wool Room, Aardman’s woolly ambassador Shaun the Sheep and Eden Arts brilliant Join the Flock project of 2012. 

The aim is to set a new world record for the largest flock of handmade wool pompom sheep that the world has ever seen! To achieve this we are inviting people of all ages and all locations worldwide to make pompom sheep and post them in. If you already know how to make one you can start right away, if your memory is a little rusty or you’ve never made a pompom before you can download our handy how-to kit from the webpage. The kit also includes fun sheep face and leg templates that you can cut out and attach to your pompoms to give them ewenique sheep personalities, and make sure they stand out from the rest of the pompom flock.

The Shaun the Sheep PomPom Parade has taken its influence from an Eden Arts project called Join the Flock, which managed to collect over 5,000 pompom sheep from members of the public which were then exhibited around Cumbria this summer. With their help and support we are proud to be extending this awe inspiring project and breathe new life into a wonderfully woolly creative project.

The challenge will close in March 2013 when the entire flock will be paraded for visitors inLondonat a venue to be confirmed.

Project manager Jennifer Warr from The Wool Room says, “It’s so exciting to be launching a wonderfully fun and creative project with wool that will raise awareness of the Campaign for Wool and prove to people that wool is modern, fun, fresh and definitely the ‘fibre that has it all’. Since setting this project in motion I have become addicted to making pompom sheep, the creative possibilities are endless!”

To be part of this exciting world record challenge head over to the webpage to learn more, join the facebook page to access baa-rilliant competitions as well as to submit your very own pompom sheep photos for other shepherds to see!

Join in at: www.thewoolroom.com/shaunspompomparade

Follow on facebook: www.facebook.com/shaunspompomparade

Eden Arts 2012 project: www.jointheflock.co.uk

 Director Adrian Lochhead says “C-Art is a fantastic project that is really unique in bringing the county’s visual arts together under one banner; we are really proud of it – though it keeps us busy!  Our problem is how to fit all of the artists and galleries into the catalogue!  It just shows that artists and galleries are crying out for something to help them market themselves, and clearly from the sales and visits there is an appetite amongst the public for the arts.”

Artists, designers, craftspeople and independent galleries based in Cumbria are able to sign up to be included in the 2013 Open Studios trail, which will run from 14 – 29 September 2013. The dedicated website www.c-art.org.uk and catalogue highlights all the studios and galleries opening their doors during the two-week period.

‘We are thrilled to see C-Art grow from strength to strength,’ explains Project Coordinator Donna Marris. “It’s great to see such a variety of work represented in an event like this and hear from individual artists how C-Art is helping develop their practice. The visitor figures for the 2012 event are really encouraging and something we hope to build on in 2013’.

New for this year, participating artists can win the chance to have their work featured on the front cover of the highly covetable C-Art catalogue, which is distributed widely across the region in the run up to the event. 

Cumbrian based artists, designers, craftspeople or galleries who are unable to take part in the open studios fortnight in September can still benefit from the C-Art project by becoming members through the C-Art Directory, which in 2012 featured 172 members in a definitive year-round directory of art, craft and design both online and in print.

Sandra Wood, Cultural Tourism Project Manager comments; ‘It’s brilliant to see C-Art grow in popularity with both the artists involved and visitors to the county. As we know, the Cumbrian landscape has inspired generations of artists and C Art promotes this deep rooted tradition. It highlights the breadth of artists working in Cumbria today and the development of the exhibition at Tullie House continues to cultivate the artists practice. C Art also helps to attract visitors to the area, encouraging them to stay longer and enjoy the cultural side of things in Cumbria, the Lake District.’

Alongside the open studios trail in September, members from the 2012 event were able to submit work for inclusion in ‘C-Art at Tullie’, a specially selected exhibition of applied and fine art at the prestigious Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle.

Marian Jones, Programming Manager at Tullie House, comments: “The calibre of work on show in C-Art at Tullie is outstanding. It is because of our successful partnership with Eden Arts that we are able to provide this platform and we’re very proud to be hosting this vibrant and diverse exhibition of work by Cumbrian-based artists”.

The exhibition, which opens to the public this Sunday, runs until 24 February 2013 and is free admission. For the duration of the exhibition, Tullie House will also be hosting the ‘C-Art at Tullie Pop Up Shop’, where a wide selection of original works will be for sale.

C-Art Open Studios 2013 will run from 14 September – 29 September and is now open for applications from artists, designers and galleries across Cumbria [Deadline Sunday 3 March 2013]. The full list of participating galleries and artists can be found on the C-Art website from the beginning of May. For more information on how to apply, visit the C-Art website here or call Eden Arts on 01768 899444.

Eden Arts wishes to thank Cumbria Life for their support of the 2012 event as Media Partner, and to H&H Reeds Printers for their continued sponsorship for the 2012 -13 events.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

For further information or images please contact Donna Marris at Eden Arts on 01768 899444 – Artists and galleries are available for interview, please contact donna@edenarts.co.uk to arrange.

For further information on the ‘C-Art at Tullie’ exhibition, or to request visuals please contact: Michelle Wiggins, Marketing Manager on 01228 618742 / Michelle.Wiggins@tulliehouse.org or Amy Walker, Exhibitions & Events Assistant on 01228 618774 / Amy.Walker@tulliehouse.org

Eden Arts is an Arts Company based in the Eden District, funded by Eden District Council, Arts Council England, North West and Cumbria County Council. Eden Arts exists to promote, support, develop and advise on arts and cultural activity in the England’s largest and most sparsely populated District (Eden) and across other parts of Cumbria. www.edenarts.co.uk

Cumbria Tourism is the lead organisation for tourism in the county and is at the heart of the Cumbria Visitor Economy. It is also the largest membership organisation in Cumbria with more than 3,000 members. Over 40 million annual visitors to Cumbria contribute more than £2 billion to the local economy and support around 56,500 jobs. To find out more about the work of Cumbria Tourism, visit www.cumbriatourism.org

our need is great and immediate! anyone know of anywhere??

Eden Arts, who are producing the Winter Droving event put out a call recently for artists, musicians, community groups and schools to come together to join in with the event taking place in Penrith.  The Winter Droving will celebrate Penrith’s rich agricultural heritage and marks the beginning of Christmas festivities in the town.  A large-scale participatory fire procession will wind its way through the streets with burning torches, giant lanterns, light effects and atmospheric music.

The team of artists for the Winter Droving met this week to discuss the creative aspects of the procession including fiery elements, giant lanterns and musical accompaniment as well as the animal and masquerade themes which dominate the procession.

“The idea is to get as many people involved in the Winter Droving as possible.  Anyone can join the procession – either as individuals or in groups – all we are asking is that you join in with the fun by wearing a mask – preferably an animal themed mask to represent the herds and flocks that for centuries were “driven” through the town.  We not only want people in the procession to wear masks, but we want to encourage spectators to get involved and join in, make their own masks, children to dress up and there to be a real party atmosphere in the town. We will supply the fire torches for people to carry and we are very busy right now organizing the entertainment for the town celebration.”  Comments Adrian Lochhead from Eden Arts

There are a variety of ways people can get involved in the Winter Droving.  Many groups have already signed up to take part in the procession including Prism Arts, Ruby Tuesdays Belly Dancers, Appleby Brownies, Razzamataz, Penrith Lions and Young Cumbria.  Eden Arts are still looking for more community groups to join lantern, mask and music making workshops, volunteers to help on the day and sponsors for various elements of the event.

There are various mask making workshops taking place in the run up to the 24^th of November for members of the public to join in with.  These will take place every Saturday in November – 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24^th from 1pm to 4pm in the Soup Shop in the Devonshire Arcade.  Materials will be provided, £2 per person.  Blank and decorated mask are also available to buy from The Soup Shop, Eden Arts office, Crafty Monkeys, Penrith, Alston and Appleby Tourist Information Centres and Upper Eden Visitor Centre, Kirkby Stephen.  Mask templates can also be downloaded from the Eden Arts website for free.

The event is going forward with the support of Penrith Chamber of Trade and Commerce, The Pride in Penrith Lottery, Vitality of Penrith Group and the Cumberland & Westmorland Herald.  Other sponsorship opportunities are available including sponsorship of the main event, the band stage and for the individual giant lanterns.

People can find out more and register interest on the Eden Arts website http://www.edenarts.co.uk/winter-droving/

The Big Draw is the world’s biggest celebration of drawing. It has grown into a month-long festival running throughout October all over the UK. Every year more people across the world join in Big Draw events and engage in creative activities. This year Eden Arts and The Soup Shop, Penrith are inviting the public to join in with this year’s theme – 2012 in Lines!

From October 1^st – 25^th  you can contribute to the giant “Eden in 2012” wall drawing in the Devonshire Arcade’s Soup Shop, materials will be provided and its free to take part.

On October 6^th Alex Jakob Whitworth – artist and 3 times winner of “The Big Draw Award” (as part of creative duo A Dab Hand)  will be in residence in The Soup Shop. Alex will be giving free drawing demonstrations from 11am – 1pm and a running confidence building drawing workshop from 2pm – 4pm. The “Think You Can’t Draw? Well You Can!” workshop is £12 per person and material are materials provided. To book a place call Joanne at Eden Arts on 01768 899444 or e-mail joanne@edenarts.co.uk.

Also on October 6th, Penrith and Eden Museum have teamed up with professional artist Karen MacDougall to run their third Big Draw event together. This is for all ages, from 3 – 103, no previous experience is necessary and all materials are provided. NO need to book just turn up between 10.30am and 3.30pm. Find out more information here.