Added to Creative Stoke, 22nd February 2010

^{New! 22.02.10}     The Staffordshire Hoard is currently on show at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, and also at the British Museum in London. The donations total is growing, but the appeal to puchase the Hoard for Staffordshire still needs to raise another £2.5m by April. Sadly there’s still no sign yet of PayPal as a donation option, but you can donate online by credit card here.

North Staffordshire’s Chamber of Commerce Business Broker Team are holding a Staffordshire Hoard “Business Breakfast Event” on 26th February 2010 (£10 inc. VAT), enabling local business people to beat the crowds.

^{New! 22.02.10}     Added to the Events list:  In partnership with the Design Council, North Staffs Chamber of Commerce is holding a “Design Your Way Out of the Downturn” morning on 13th April 2010 (9am – 12am at Commerce House, Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent). This is a free event and will be led by an experienced design manager with a background in solving business problems.

^{New! 22.02.10}    
Job: Cheshire Dance is seeking an exceptional full-time Youth Dance Development Officer (£23k – £26k p.a., contract until March 2011). You will working with a partnership involving YDE, The Lowry, ACE, Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East, Warrington and Halton Borough Councils. Application deadline: 22nd March 2010. For an application form please contact Lesley-Ann Parry at: lesleyann@cheshiredance.org

^{New! 22.02.10}    
Birmingham-based Maverick TV are seeking innovative Midlands inventors / product designers to appear on a new BBC Retail series. See how your original new product sells, when placed on the shelves of leading High St. shops! For more details please contact: highstreet@mavericktv.co.uk

^{New! 22.02.10}     Keele Hall, at Keele University, is organising a one-week retreat for writers. The intensive residential retreat will run from 25th July to 30th July 2010. Poets Jacob Polley and James Sheard, and authors Gwendoline Riley and Joe Stretch, will lead workshops and mentor participants. All have extensive experience of the teaching of creative writing, as well as being established writers in their fields. Writing undertaken during the writing retreat can also be converted into credits towards Keele’s M.A. degree in Creative Writing. The retreat costs £525, inclusive of accommodation and meals. There will be a discount available for local writers who do not require accommodation. Further information about the Keele Writing Retreat can be had from Kath McKeown at:  k.c.mckeown@his.keele.ac.uk

^{New! 22.02.10}    
Arrow Small Business Finance is a Midlands investment firm which currently has over £600,000 to lend between now and the end of March 2011. The not-for-profit fund is looking for entrepreneurs who want to set up or grow a small business. Loans of up to £10,000 are available to small businesses that cannot obtain the finance they need through the banks. These can be part of a package of finance, or standalone. Further information from:  enquiries@arrowsbf.co.uk

^{New! 22.02.10}    
Job: The Arts Development Team at nearby Telford & Wrekin Council are looking for a self-employed person with who can lead Kreative Kidz. Kreative Kidz is an established project providing disabled children and young people with opportunities to work with professional artists, to explore creativity outside of school hours. You’ll work on the Kreative Kidz project with a team of five artists, and will manage the coordination of the arts development and delivery from April 2010 to April 2011. Project budget: up to £12,000, at £12 per hour. Closing date for applications: 17th March 2010. For full brief and how to apply, please contact: Naomi Middleton at  naomi.middleton@telford.gov.uk

^{New! 22.02.10}     Job: Chirbury Primary School, a small rural school located south-west of Shrewsbury, is seeking four all-ages Creative Practitioners for a 2.5 day project between March – July 2010. The fee is £240 per day, plus travel, subsistence and accommodation where necessary. The school wishes to examine hidden meanings and double-meanings in the arts, and to be able to discuss the arts in a deeper manner. The project will be partly linked with Maths teaching. Interested? Deadline for applications: 11th March 2010. For further information please contact Felix Pepler (Creative Agent) on: 01562 700400 or 07967 36415.

^{New! 22.02.10}     Added to the Directory: Crewe & Nantwich MMU ceramics student Katrina Nowotynski.

Added to Creative Stoke, 18th February 2010

^{New! 18.02.10}    
The BBC is going to be filming in Stafford on 29th April – 1st May, and is seeking local young people as work experience assistants.

^{New! 18.02.10}    
Job: The nearby town of Shrewsbury requires a Freelance Cartoon Artist to run workshops for years 8 & 9 (age 12-14) and also with local community groups. This work will be part of the outreach for the Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival. Eight workshops will take place in late March – early April 2010, and will be complete before the Festival start date of 24th April 2010. Workshops should fit with the festival theme of “Myth, Magic and Mystery”. They are budgetting for… “about £250 per day to include expenses and some materials”. Interested Cartoon Artists should email a statement of interest to:  joy.durrant@shropshire.gov.uk

^{New! 18.02.10}    
Local writer Gaz Mayer is seeking participants in a new comedy group, to perform live comedy sketches in aid of Cancer Research and the UK Army Benevolent Fund. Interested? Contact Gaz at:  gazmayer69@aol.com

Added to Creative Stoke, 16th February 2010

^{New! 16.02.10}    
Job:  A Digital Media Practitioner is required by Muxton Primary School, in nearby Telford. You’ll help to explore creative approaches to improving writing skills. A total artist fee of £3000 is available to include all planning, delivery, evaluation and expenses. Application deadline: 4th March 2010. More information from Iain Armstrong, Creative Agent at: iaincp@phonoscope.co.uk quoting “Muxton Primary”.

^{New! 16.02.10}    
Added to the Directory: Print Digital Ceramics, based in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, can offer ceramic transfers for printing photos and designs onto ceramic items.

^{New! 16.02.10}    
Added to the Directory: Rob Spuffard is a product, portraiture and stills photographer, based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.

^{New! 16.02.10}    
There’s a £1,000 competition for short animation to promote the national UK ‘Museums at Night’ weekend…

“… of late-night museum openings […] There are sleepovers, ghost hunts, torchlight tours, illuminations, pop up bars and many other kinds of entertainment […] animations should be humorous and fun”

Closing date: 31st March 2010.

Added to Creative Stoke, 12th February 2010

^{New! 12.02.10}    
Added to the Events list:  The Wedgwood Memorial College now has details of 2010 workshops for adults. Workshops are residential and are held over several days (usually weekends) at the Wedgwood Memorial College, near Stoke-on-Trent. Running in 2010 are: Papermaking in the Garden; Lacemaking; Playing Saxophone; and Putting People in Paintings, among others. See the website for the full list, prices, and booking details.

^{New! 11.02.10}    
Added to the Events list:  The Guild of St. George’s Campaign for Drawing is running a one-day workshop for adults, titled “Drawing, a Tool for Design”, on 24th March 2010 (10.30am to 4pm). The venue will be The Burslem School of Art, Stoke-on-Trent. The event is free, but is only open to… “advisory teachers, heads of Art & Design / Design & Technology in secondary schools, … artists and youth leaders and professionals who use drawing in their work/practice”. Those attending will receive a copy of the 32-page booklet Drawing: A Tool for Design. To book a place, please e-mail Emma Thatcher at:  emma@campaignfordrawing.org

^{New! 11.02.10}    
Stafford’s Rising Brook Writers group now has a page of over 40 oral history MP3s, recorded during 2009 for their forthcoming book and DVD on memories of seaside holidays. The book will be published in May 2010, with a launch event on 17th May at the Shire Hall Gallery. Forthcoming group events also include a Drama Day at the Gatehouse Theatre on 24th July 2010.

^{New! 11.02.10}    
The UK Higher Education Academy invites students on art, design or media higher-education courses to enter this year’s essay competition and answer the question…

“Learning to live sustainably — how can your subject-area contribute?”

…in an essay of around 1,000 words. The winner will receive £250. All submissions that meet the criteria and make use of the guidance will be published on the HEA website. Deadline: 26th March 2010. Full details are here.

Added to Creative Stoke, 10th February 2010

^{New! 10.02.10}    
Making Music West Midlands now has its 2010 small grants application forms online. The maximum amount available is: £300. Application deadline: 30th April 2010. Money must be spent before July 2011 — but for some promoting groups, by December 2011. More details on the application form (Word .rtf file).

^{New! 10.02.10}    
Microsoft XNA GameCamp, in Birmingham on 19th-20th February 2010… “is a marathon gamecamp where students and indie developers use Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio 3.0 [free software] to create a game in less than 48 hours.”  According to the website today there are still four places available to West Midlands’ game makers.

^{New! 10.02.10}    
Added to the Directory: the Etsy page for Flame Born Beads, hot glass creations of North Staffordshire’s Lesley Nixon.

Cthulhu phone-dangle, from Flame Born Beads.

^{New! 10.02.10}    
Square Mile is asking artists to work with ecologists to undertake linked surveys of both biodiversity and arts activity in a one square mile area. There’s currently one Midlands example — in Smethwick, north of Birmingham.

^{New! 10.02.10}    
Are you a young person running a successful business? The 2010 Enterprising Young Brits awards are now open for nominations. Applicants must be aged 30 or under. There’s also a special ‘Teen’ award (for those between the ages of 13 and 19). The winner of each category receives £1,000. Nomination deadline: 5th March 2010. See the website for more details.

Added to Creative Stoke, 9th February 2010

^{New! 09.02.10}    
Are you a West Midlands playwright, screenwriter, poet, or prose writer? Would you like to develop a new piece of work for the stage, and see it presented in October 2010? The Theatre Writing Partnership is offering six writers/artists a supported process to help develop their ideas for new plays. With a bespoke team of creative mentors, directors, actors and other artists, they’ll help you develop the script and present a sharing of your work. Deadline for submissions: 12th February 2010. More details here.

^{New! 09.02.10}    
Theatre Writing Partnership and Writing West Midlands are collaborating to offer bursaries to two Midlands’ writers to create “theatre for the ear”. Soothing, titillating, terrifying and intimate, Ears Wide Open will offer you solitary and communal experiences, manipulating your mind by triggering your imagination. Deadline: 28th February 2010. Details of the bursaries are here.

^{New! 09.02.10}    
Lustre is a pre-Christmas craft sales event which is pitching itself as… “the Midlands’ premier selling opportunity for contemporary, innovative craft”. Lustre 2010 is now welcoming applications from crafts makers working in all forms and materials including metal, jewellery, ceramics, glass, wood and textiles. Application deadline: 19th March 2010. The selection panel meets on 24th March 2010. A stall for a standard exhibitor costs £350 (recently graduated students: £250).

^{New! 09.02.10}    
South Staffordshire’s British Glass Biennale is now calling for entries for the 2010 event. The Biennale is open to artists, designers and crafts makers, working in all areas of contemporary glass practice or using glass as a key design element. There’s £7,500 in prize money to be won, alongside the press coverage from participating the leading showcase for British makers. Deadline for submissions: 26th March 2010.

^{New! 09.02.10}    
A nation-wide UK Young Artists competition will take place later in 2010. Winners will represent the nation at the Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean. Work should be new, and can be from any art form including fashion. Artists must be between 18 and 30. Sign up for the notification email service, to be informed when applications are being accepted.

^{New! 09.02.10}    
Skillset are offering bursaries of up to £800 towards ‘multiplatform’ skills training for freelancers working in TV and media production. Application deadline: 26th March 2010.

Added to Creative Stoke, 8th February 2010

^{New! 08.02.10}    
The Buxton Festival’s fringe Film Festival (7th-23rd July 2010) is currently seeking shorts and documentaries. Contact them via the website form.

^{New! 08.02.10}    
Job:  Stoke-on-Trent’s FRONTLINEdance are now seeking up to four workshop assistants for four integrated after-school dance clubs. The application deadline for assistants is 10th Feb 2010. Weekly workshops will take place during term-time, starting the week beginning 1st March 2010 at the following venues:

  1. Mon @ Heathfield Special School, Chell Heath, Stoke-on-Trent
  2. Tue @ Blackfriars Special School, Newcastle-under-Lyme
  3. Weds @ Leek High School, Leek, Staffordshire Moorlands
  4. Thurs @ Kemball Special School, Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent

The fee for an assistant at each club is £15 (freelance): 3:30pm-5pm. Interested? Contact Rachael Lines at: rachael@frontlinedance.org.uk

^{New! 08.02.10}    
The Acoustic Festival of Britain comes to Uttoxeter Racecourse in May (21st-23rd May 2010). There’s also: a traditional Hurdy-Gurdy Festival (6th-9th May 2010) at Youlgrave in the nearby Peak District; and The Uttoxeter Mayfest featuring six morris dance teams + maypole dancers (2nd May 2010).

Having all these together in the same month seems like a prime opportunity for someone looking for a subject on which to make an audio documentary.

^{New! 08.02.10}    
Added to the Directory:  Animators Carse & Waterman. Formerly based in Hereford, the duo are now based in Stoke-on-Trent and have recently completed work for The Prodigy and Santander.

^{New! 08.02.10}    
Added to the Directory: Nemesis Now, based in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. Nemesis make gothic / steampunk / pagan / fannish collectable figurines, and ceramic containers. Nemisis has a turnover of £3 million a year.

Added to Creative Stoke, 7th February 2010

^{New! 07.02.10}    
The British Animations Awards films come to Staffordshire University (Stoke campus, just around the corner from the train station) over three nights: Prog 1: Mon 8th Feb / Prog 2: Weds 10th Feb / and Prog 3: Thur 11th Feb 2010. Includes the first cinema showings of Moonbird by the West Midlands duo the Brothers McLeod. Sure to be a good networking opportunity as well as entertaining. More details from: m.weston@staffs.ac.uk

^{New! 07.02.10}     The University of Manchester has launched a UK Schools Computer Animation Competition called Animation10. Children aged 7 to 19 are eligible. Films should be one minute or less. You’re limited to using Flash or education-ware such as Greenfoot, Alice, or Scratch. Deadline: 1st April 2010.

^{New! 06.02.10}    
The Light House in nearby Wolverhampton is offering a two-day workshop in Post Production for HD (22nd to 23rd Feb 2010, from 10am–4pm each day). This practical training workshop will cover aspects of high-definition video post production, including operation of Final Cut Pro and Avid HD suites. The cost is £105 + VAT. Lunch included. Applications for this workshop must be submitted by 12th Feb.

Added to Creative Stoke, 5th February 2010

^{New! 05.02.10}    
The Unwanted Gift Shop at The New Art Gallery, Walsall, is seeking unwanted gifts or bad purchases tucked away at the back of your wardrobe. Donate an item to have it transformed into works of art! Just visit artist-in-residence Mitra Memarzia at The Unwanted Gift Shop (Monday – Saturday and Bank Holidays 10-5pm, Sunday 11-4pm, until 18th April 2010).

^{New! 05.02.10}    
Added to the Directory: Gallery@12, a new selling gallery located at Eccleshall (between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent).

^{New! 05.02.10}    
This sounds deliciously likely to annoy museums that claim ‘copyright’ on Flickr pictures of their public-domain works: the month-long Britain Loves Wikipedia event…

“is a scavenger hunt and free-content photography contest running in museums and cultural institutions across the UK during February 2010. The aim is to increase the number of pictures available to illustrate Wikipedia articles, and to inspire new articles”

^{New! 04.02.10}    
The “Platinum Artist Development Scheme”, publicly funded via Arts Council England West Midlands, is being re-launched. It aims to… “develop your work, [and help you] make useful and helpful connections”. More details are online here. Application deadline: 5th March 2010.

Two more opportunities added today

^{New! 04.02.10}    Would you like help to employ a graduate for a four-week paid work placement? A new Graduate Advantage scheme gives your firm a graduate bursary of £800, paid through the local University, to which you would add £200. The business would then need to run the graduate through your payroll, at £250 per week for four weeks. At the end of the placement, there will be the possibility of converting to an unpaid internship through the West Midlands Graduate Internship scheme. The scheme is also available to public sector organisations &mdash the organisation would receive a bursary of £400, and would contribute £600. More information about local opportunities on this scheme can be had from:  jobzone@staffs.ac.uk

^{New! 04.02.10}    
Added to the Events listing: The Producers Forum is to hold a New Producer Training afternoon at Staffordshire University (Stoke Campus), on Monday 22nd February 2010 from 2pm until 5pm. This free event for local filmmakers will look at…

“the reality of working in the film industry, from four of the region’s most experienced producers who will talk about their career as film and television producers and they will be on hand to answer your questions.”

You can sign up for this free event using this form.