Added to Creative Stoke, 30th November 2010

New! 30.11.10   
Job:  British Waterways is seeking a Willow Sculptor, to engage with local community groups to create site-specific willow sculptures on the two canals running through the City Waterside and Middleport areas of Stoke-on-Trent. Application deadline: 7th January 2011. Artist Fee: £10,000. Further information and a detailed brief from Louise North at:  louise.north@britishwaterways.co.uk

New! 30.11.10   
Job:  Applications are invited for Casual Learning Development Leaders who can deliver formal sessions for groups (inc. children) visiting Stoke-on-Trent’s museums. This post is casual and work is not guaranteed. For application pack and full details, see www.jobsonline.stoke.gov.uk

New! 30.11.10   
Job:  Professional male dance artists are required as leads for Boys Dancing, West Midlands. This project will involve boys in contemporary dance across the West Midlands — including Staffordshire — from early 2011 through to Summer 2012. The organisers say that…

“There is a substantial amount of activity due to take place in North Shropshire, South Shropshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire and we are particularly interested to hear from artists that would be able to work in these areas.”

Full details at this Web page.

New! 30.11.10   
Dates for Staffordshire University Music Technology department’s second NoiseFloor Festival. The festival will be happening 12th – 14th January 2011, presenting a range of sonic arts, contemporary experimental composers, and academic papers on the contemporary sonic arts. The submission deadline has passed, but more details can be had from the website.


Added to Creative Stoke, 29th November 2010

New! 29.11.10   
Unemployed, over 21, and have a passion for media production? Channel 4’s 4 Talent : Kick Start programme Stoke-on-Trent section is open for applications on 1st December 2010. If successful you’ll attend an ‘Inspiration Day’ media skills workshop on 21st February 2011, at Staffordshire University (Stoke Campus).

New! 29.11.10   
Standpoint Futures is offering residencies in London, to visual artists living and working outside the capital. Application deadline: 30th November 2010. See the Web page for full details.

New! 29.11.10   
Stoke-on-Trent’s Stoke Your Fires film and animation festival has a new-look website, and an extended deadline for the 2011 festival: 24th December 2010.

New! 29.11.10   
Job:  Woden Primary School — located in Wolverhampton — requires a creative partner who can help create a community-based radio station based within the school. A project fee of £4,000 is available, plus a separate budget of £3,000 is for materials and resources. The project will be delivered January – June 2011. Full details from Lisa Handley (Schools Project Coordinator) on:  01902 556495.

New! 25.11.10   
The DCMS has announced today that the British Film Institute will be taking over from the old UK Film Council, as a conduit for the distribution of Lottery subsidies to film-makers. The Lottery subsidies (in the form of tax credits) for films are set to increase from around £27 million to around £43 million per year, by 2014. There will also be a government review of the “future priorities” for Lottery funding in film.

The existing regional screen agencies, including Screen West Midlands, will be absorbed into a new organisation called Creative England. Part of this will be Creative Central, which will cover film-making in the West and East Midlands, and will also reportedly have a far wider remit than simply film. Creative England will reportedly support production in… “film, videogames, interactive new media, design, and fashion”. Creative England is likely to emerge in early 2011.

Film London will in 2011 be given the responsibility for promoting the UK as a film-making destination, as a whole.


Added to Creative Stoke, 25th November 2010

New! 25.11.10   
Standing Tone Performing Arts Company — located in Stafford — is offering an opportunity to aspiring contemporary dancers in Staffordshire. Hold Out is a performance at the The Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford, and is based on the paths that we walk through life from childhood to the elderly. The performance will consist of four music tracks which will correlate with he stages of life: childhood; teenage; adulthood; elderly. You must also be free to rehearse every Monday starting from the 17th January till the performance date of Tuesday 29th March, excluding the 21st February for half term.There will be a small charge of £4 per week for the workshop session. These will be held at the Copeland suite in the Gatehouse, from 7pm-9pm. If you are interested in this great opportunity then send your details and a couple of lines to say why you would be perfect for this great opportunity to: standingtone@gmail.com with the subject HOLD OUT! Please make sure that you are free for all of the workshop classes:

Audition: January 17th 2011.

Workshops are every Monday:

January 2011 – 24th, 31st.
February 2011 – 7th, 14th, 28th.
March 2011 – 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th.

Performance Date: 29th March 2011.

New! 24.11.10   
Staffordshire University’s Creative Writing Dept. runs a monthly open microphone event at the White Star pub in Stoke-upon-Trent (Stoke town) on the first Tuesday of each month. The organisers welcome spoken-word artists, musicians, and performers of all kinds. The next event is Tuesday 7th December 2010. For enquiries please contact:  l.s.mansell@staffs.ac.uk

New! 24.11.10   
Fancy a taxpayer-funded trip to SXSW 2011 — the annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival held in Austin, Texas? Those who work in the film, music or interactive media sectors in the West Midlands are invited to come along on 1st December 2010 to the Fazeley Studios in Birmingham, to hear more about the West Midlands’ Creative Mission to SXSW 2011. This is an opportunity to speak to the organisers about the mission, find out how to apply, and ask any questions you have.

New! 24.11.10   
The National Symposium for the Participatory and Community Arts is a one-day event on Monday 29th November at The Crossing at St Pauls, Walsall. The event is free. Email:  jane@empaf.com or call 07984 199477 to book.

New! 24.11.10   
Added to the Directory: am:pm graphics.

New! 24.11.10   
Would you like to be an observer at one of the Burslem-based Urban Vision’s Design Review Panel sessions? If you are interested in taking part or would like to know more about what our Design Review service can provide, please visit the DRP web page or download the Observers Programme factsheet (PDF link). Forthcoming Panel Dates are: Thursday 16th December 2010 / Thursday 20th January 2011.


Added to Creative Stoke, 24th November 2010 – part two

New! 24.11.10   
Blood and Bone China is a vampire drama series currently being filmed in Stoke-on-Trent. Blood and Bone China is a twelve part web-drama series, created and directed by award-winning Stoke-On-Trent based film-maker Chris Stone and starring TV’s Rachel Shenton as Anna Fitzgerald. The series is scheduled to begin in March 2011.


Above: Anthony Miles as Newlyn Howell. John James Woodward as Alexander Pyre.

There’s also a Facebook page for the series.

New! 24.11.10   
Job:  Leek College are seeking a part-time Photography Lecturer. 9 hours per week, teaching at A level and BTEC Level 3. Further information from Liz Brian on:  01538 398866.

New! 24.11.10   
Job:  Parker Software of Stoke-on-Trent require a Web Developer / Webmaster with .NET, VB.NET, ability to install and debug JavaScript, SEO skills, plus the other skills that are usual for such a job. More information from:  careers@parker-software.com

New! 24.11.10   
Job:  Chase Terrace Technology College — located in Burntwood, Staffordshire — requires a Broadcast Journalist to work with the existing school radio station and to help in improving presenting skills. The radio is completely student-run, and they are currently interviewing for presenters, journalists, year representatives and IT/graphic technicians. Application deadline: 3rd December 2010, with interviews held on Friday 10th December 2010. Fee: £2,500 is available for practitioner fees and expenses. To apply, send your C.V. along with a letter of interest outlining your skills and how you might work with us to Antonia Coyne at:   ct_radio@hotmail.co.uk

New! 24.11.10   
The National Youth Theatre is now recruiting for their 2011/2012 company. The closing date for applications is 7th January 2011, with auditions and interviews taking place at venues across the country in January and February 2011. For more information and to apply online, visit the website.

New! 24.11.10   
Job:  The Students’ Union at Staffordshire University is looking for two Web Designers at £6.00 per hour plus holiday pay. Full details at this website.

New! 24.11.10   
Urban Vision North Staffordshire now have the presentations online, from their recent one-day conference A Future For Our Heritage, about bringing North Staffordshire’s under-used and vacant heritage assets back into use. Scroll to the bottom of central panel, to see the links to the presentations.

New! 24.11.10   
Stoke-on-Trent artist Chris Parkes will give a free talk about his work for the upcoming “Leave No Trace” exhibition at the The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent. The date for the Potteries Museum talk is 2nd December 2010 (2pm – time to be confirmed).


Added to Creative Stoke, 24th November 2010

New! 24.11.10   The artists’ SHOP at Stoke-upon-Trent is looking for proposals from a range of artists who are interested in… “intervening in everyday life and subversively engaging with the public.” The projects must be a means of signposting and increasing the visibility of the SHOP project, of Stoke town (the journey into the town from the intercity train Station), and must leave a legacy. You are invited to be as creative as possible within the budget, and the proposal should identify a site or sites for the intervention or commission to take place. The commissions offer a fee of £100 each (with a budget of £75 each for materials, printing or any other costs associated with the project). Delivery period: 10th Dec 2010 – 28th January 2011. Please mark your proposed date of your project clearly. To be considered for the commission please send 3 to 5 images of your previous work, a two-page C.V., and a short proposal. Your proposal should print on no more than one side of A4 paper. Please email your proposal and information to:  shop@shop-stoke.co.uk or send by post to:  116 Church Street, Stoke Town, Stoke on Trent, ST4 1BU. Deadline for proposals: Monday 6th December 2010, 10am.

New! 24.11.10   
The Stoke Your Fires festival returns in February 2011. For the first time the Festival will expand to include film and digital media, as well as animation. There is still time to enter your film or animation — the deadline for submissions is: Friday 24th December 2010. The Stoke Your Fires film and animation award categories are:

  • Best short (less than 30 minutes) animation.

  • Best professional animation.

  • Best fine art/experimental.

  • Best student animation.

  • Best short film (less than 30 minutes) – drama.

  • Best short film (less than 30 minutes) – documentary.

  • Best student film.

  • Best ‘Made In The Midlands’ film or animation.

    New! 24.11.10   
    St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School Stanier Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme, is seeing a Creative Partner in any discipline to focus on the relationship with a school in Tamazi, Ghana. The creative partner will be working closely with the staff and children in Year 3 – two classes of around 30 children each, devising a programme of work with the staff and children. Deadline for applications: 25th November 2010. Full information at this web page.

    New! 24.11.10   
    The European Union Media programme is calling for submissions for Single Project Development Funding. This is aimed at independent media production companies which have produced at least one previous media project (distributed recently), and which now wish to invest in the development of another project. Application deadline: 29th November 2010.

    New! 24.11.10   
    Jobs:  Staffordshire University requires practising specialists in the areas of: (a) Compositing for Film (job ref: AMD10/02) and (b) 3D Computer Modelling and Texturing for Games (job ref:AMD10/09) to teach two days a week each on the successful B.A. (Hons.) VFX and Animation awards. Application deadline: 5th December 2010. Full details are available here.


    Added to Creative Stoke, 22nd November 2010

    New! 22.11.10   Congratulations to Richard Talbot on the launch of his mammoth local history book, the 394-page The Royal Manor of Penkhull. The book is the product of 40 years of research, and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon UK at £25 + free postage.

    New! 22.11.10   
    Added to Directory: Times Square, a Stoke-on-Trent company providing high-quality screen printing on a variety of substrates including ceramics.

    New! 22.11.10   
    Job: Blue Bay Travel require a full-time Web Developer. Two years of experience needed, and the usual baseline software and coding skills. Based at Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent. Full information from:  careers@bluebaytravel.co.uk

    New! 22.11.10   
    Jobs:  Sarah Armitt of the Shelton DJ School writes to tell Creative Stoke about three new jobs:

    1. Freelance IT support tutor, to work with challenging groups of people and help to deliver the DJ Schools program along side the leading arts practitioner. Applicants should have appropriate in IT and relevant teaching qualifications. Also applicants must have experience of working in challenging environments with vulnerable people. Further training will be available regarding all duties, policy and procedures. All relevant training and checks will be provided. Fee: to be arranged. Application deadline: 10th January 2011. For application pack contact Sarah on 01782 205675 info@djschool.org.uk

    2. Drama Tutor (Intern). An intern is required with relevant qualifications. You will work along leading arts practitioner. This is an opportunity to gain experience of working in a challenging environment. Applicants will be working with vulnerable individuals. All relevant training and checks will be provided regarding all duties, policy and procedures. Fee: to be arranged. Deadline: 10th January 2011. For application pack contact Sarah on 01782 205675 info@djschool.org.uk

    3. Commission-based Fundraisers, to raise funds for the charity DJ School Association. To find opportunities to enhance DJ Schools’ profile, and to support the activities and objects of the DJ School Association. Deadline: 10th January 2011. All relevant training and checks will be provided regarding all duties, policy and procedures. For application pack contact Sarah on 01782 205675 info@djschool.org.uk

    New! 22.11.10   
    Mark Brereton has launched his new website at www.photosensor.org.uk

    New! 22.11.10   
    Jobs:  Bishop’s Castle Primary School — located in nearby Shropshire — are looking for…

    1. a Creative Writer to work across the whole school to inspire and enable pupils and staff to become more confident writers, and who is able to work with pupils and staff across all phases from Reception to Year 6. The school would also accept joint applications from two practitioners, to ensure the provision of a range of skills and approaches appropriate for all ages e.g.: storytelling/creating with younger children. A total project budget of £8,000 is available to include planning, delivery (25 days), evaluation, expenses, materials and resources. Delivery: Spring term 2011. Deadline for applications: 8th December 2010. For a full brief including application procedures and any further information please contact the Creative Agent, Iain Armstrong at:  iaincp@phonoscope.co.uk

    2. an Artistic Director to help the school devise and produce a spectacular whole-school performance as part of the Creative Partnerships programme, developing skills in dance, music and drama/physical theatre. Delivery: Spring/Summer 2011. Deadline for applications: 8th December 2010. A total project budget of £10,000 is available. For a full brief including application procedures and any further information please contact the Creative Agent, Iain Armstrong at:  iaincp@phonoscope.co.uk

    New! 22.11.10   
    A call for expressions of interest in workshop space in mid Staffordshire in 2011. Based in “a stunning rural location”, just outside Stafford. The studio is attached to a crafts gallery, and there will be opportunities to use the workshop space for running your own art workshops, at a discounted rate. Makers must be from a craft discipline and will go thorough a selection process. You will be required to use the space a minimum of one day a week, in exchange for a very reasonable rent, and the opportunity to sell from your studio space. To register your interest, please contact:  jcolliertextiles@yahoo.co.uk

    New! 22.11.10   
    Voluntary Action Stoke-on-Trent has grants of from £5,000 to £30,000 available for social enterprises. Apply before the end of March 2011.

    New! 22.11.10   
    Local crafts makers may be interested in Craft Rally : the Industry of Making, a one-day event in Manchester on 8th December 2010…

    “join us for a day exploring the makers’ role in the creation of consumer goods and developing relationships with industry to make extraordinary objects.”

    Tickets via the website.

    New! 22.11.10   
    Job:  University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust seeks expressions of interest from artists wishing to undertake the commission of site specific art work for a main corridor. The Trust also seeks expressions of interest from artists to undertake the commission of a piece of art work for a hub area, a commemorative piece of work along a forget-me-not shrub theme. Application deadline 22nd November 2010. Full details can be downloaded here.

    New! 22.11.10    
    The Red House Glass Cone, located at a unique heritage site in South Staffordshire, has studio space to rent for glass makers. For further information call 01384 815343 or email:  tracey.webb@dudley.gov.uk

    New! 22.11.10    
    10th Annual Rural Social Enterprise Conference 2010 is happening in nearby Shropshire on 25th November 2010. The website is still saying: “A limited number of free tickets are available for West Midlands based organisations”.

    New! 18.11.10    
    20 photos from Stoke-on-Trent’s Light Night launch events.


    Light Night photos

    New! 18.11.10    
    20 photos from tonight’s Light Night events in Stoke-on-Trent.


    Added to Creative Stoke, 18th November 2010

    New! 18.11.10    
    Tonight sees the Light Night events in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, which seems a good opportunity for low-light photographers to test their skills. The main parade leaves the Victoria Hall at 6pm. The full programme PDF is online here.

    New! 18.11.10    
    Cheshire Open Studios is running a special mini pre-Christmas open studios event. 27th & 28th November 2010 (11am – 4pm) will see, among others, four studios open in Congeleton and Hough. Entry is free.

    New! 18.11.10    
    Government minister Francis Maude announced yesterday a new £10m fund to help public sector workers fund the development and business planning costs of new mutual businesses. Public sector workers will be given the right to leave their jobs, form mutuals (or other kinds of social enterprise businesses) and then sell their services back to local authorities and other public sector bodies, no longer tied to supplying only a single local council.

    New! 18.11.10    
    Ecommerce giant Amazon has a new $2.7 million pot for those who submit the best films and film scripts to it in 2011. The new venture is Amazon Studios. There’s no rush — you have all of 2011 to make your submissions, as an original script form or a full-length ‘test’ movie. A ‘test’ movie has to be 70 minutes or longer, and you… “must include imaginative stories with great acting and sound [but] they don’t need to have theatrical-quality production value”. Warner Bros. Pictures is lined up to be the first to cherry-pick from the best projects for real pre-production projects — if that happens then you get $200,000 up-front for the rights, with a $400,000 bonus to those whose movies take more than $60 million in the US box office. It seems that there’s no ‘USA only’ restriction. And there appears to be nothing that says ‘animation isn’t allowed’.

    New! 18.11.10    
    Job:  Park Hall primary school — located in Weston Coyney, Stoke-on-Trent — would like to work with a creative practitioner on themes of: multi-cultural life; outdoor learning; pupil-led learning; school and local community involvement. Fee available: £12,000. Deadline for applications: 24th November 2010. Full details are online here.

    New! 18.11.10     BBC Radio 3 has a new talent scheme for postgraduate researchers, New Generation Thinkers. Up to sixty researchers in the arts or humanities will be chosen to develop their own programme-making ideas with BBC producers. Application deadline: 10th December 2010. Full details are online here.


    Added to Creative Stoke, 15th November 2010

    New! 15.11.10    
    The Exchange is a new artists’ project in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent (to be located just off Piccadilly). The venue is now looking for locally based artists and makers to sell their work, from mid-November to April 2011. All kinds of artists and makers are welcome to submit work for sale — from cards to ceramics, prints to publishing, clothes to jewellery. A small commission will be taken to help support the project, and the terms will be by sale or return. The project will be linking with all the city centre -based festivals within this period. Interested? Please email:  mail@thisisexchange.co.uk

    New! 15.11.10    
    Added to the Directory: Hullabaloo are a group of like-minded artists in North Staffordshire, who have experience of delivering creative workshops and projects in community settings.

    New! 15.11.10    
    The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery and Airspace Gallery are holding a ‘Learning from Glasgow’ talk, looking at how Glasgow used its 1990 City of Culture status to kick-start the arts in the city, and then built and sustained arts development over the following twenty years. Hear from four key figures from organisations at the heart of the cultural and artistic activity in Glasgow, speaking about how the city has made itself into an internationally-renowned city. The speakers are: Helen Moore and Chris Biddlecombe from Wasps Artists’ Studios; Francis McKee, director of the Centre for Contemporary Art; and Tom Varley who is currently running Transmission Gallery. The venue for the talk is The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, on Friday 19th November 2010 (2pm-4pm in the Forum Theatre).

    New! 15.11.10    
    Vortex Creates has been commissioned for the first Stoke-on-Trent Light Night event, to create a King figure and two supporting costumes. Vortex Creates invites interested artists to a free masterclass exploring costume design and creation. Working through a design concept to the beginnings of realisation for an international competition, the day will be a practical journey that will explore materials and suppliers and build on existing skills. The date is Friday 19th November 2010 (10am-4pm) at Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. Places are limited and booking is essential — please contact Nicola Richardson at:  inspire@vortex-creates.co.uk

    New! 15.11.10    
    To mark the centenary of Stoke-on-Trent becoming a federation of six towns, Stoke-on-Trent City Council has commissioned artist David Annand to create and install a major permanent public artwork at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Hanley. The unveiling event will be at 1pm on Friday 3rd December 2010.


    A small version of the 16ft statue.

    New! 15.11.10    
    The Design Research Society‘s 2010 Annual Symposium: ‘2050 and all that…’ will happen in Birmingham on Friday 10th December 2010 (noon to 5.15pm), at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD), a short walk from Birmingham New Street station. The symposium is open to all, but a place must be booked in advance. There are a small number of free places for postgraduate research students who are paid up student members of the DRS. Please contact Ms Linda Marshall at admin@designresearchsociety.org about these student places   Please note that the last date for bookings is Friday 3rd December. Prices and more details.

    New! 15.11.10    
    The Guardian newspaper’s Jobs website at jobs.guardian.co.uk will be offering free volunteer advertising from November 2010. Interested? You first have to access the service through contacting one of the Guardian sales reps on: 020 3353 3400 or email:  sales@guardian.co.uk

    New! 15.11.10    
    Job:  Bantock Primary School — located in Wolverhampton — requires an expert visual artist to help the school engage with and create visual art in new ways. Fee: £3,000. Application deadline: 2nd December 2010. For a full brief please email:  lisaharrison@blueyonder.co.uk

    New! 15.11.10    
    Job:  Ellison Primary School — located at Wolstanton, Stoke-on-Trent — needs a creative partner in any discipline or medium for year three, to work especially with boys who need to re-engage with learning. Budget: £3,500. Deadline for applications: 16th November 2010. Full details are online here.

    New! 15.11.10    
    Job:  Ridgeway Primary School — located in Burntwood, Staffordshire — is looking for two inspiring and motivational creative practitioners — one with a specialism in digital media, and another from any creative practice. You’ll help the school explore the creative potential of their indoor and outdoor environments. Up to £4,000 per practitioner is available. Application deadline: 26th November 2010. Full details from Mrs Helen Watton at:  h.watton@ridgeway.staffs.sch.uk

    New! 15.11.10    
    Job:  Arts Council England: West Midlands requires proposals from research organisations / consultants to undertake a qualitative research study that explores the impact and potential impact of the ‘People Dancing’ programme on the dance sector and participants to date, with a view to identifying the unique qualities of the programme. Application deadline: 3rd December 2010. For more information including full brief, please contact: lauren.amery@artscouncil.org.uk

    New! 15.11.10    
    Are you the next Jan Pienkowski? The Puffin Digital Prize is on the lookout for the next big idea and the newest talent. Write and create a digital storybook with enhanced interactive elements, and win a £1,000 cash prize! Entries will be accepted (via the website only) from Monday 17th January 2011. Deadline: Monday 28 Feb 2011.


    Added to Creative Stoke, 9th November 2010

    New! 09.11.10    
    Deaffest, the Wolverhampton-based Deaf Film and TV Festival (20th – 22nd May 2011) is inviting entries from deaf film-makers and animators in the categories of either Competition (“Gala Awards”) or Non-Competitive. Both categories have a deadline of 25th February 2011. For more information about sending in a film, please email:  marcella@zebra-uno.com

    New! 09.11.10    
    Shell has a LiveWIRE Viral Video Competition, as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010. Aged between 16 and 30 and a UK resident? Create an exciting, crazy, innovative 2-min video about entrepreneurs! Then submit it between the 15th November and 1st December 2010. Your film or animation must express some or all of the great things about being an entrepreneur.

    New! 09.11.10    
    The Business School at Staffordshire University are seeking graduates who want to start their own creative business. A 13-week support programme is on offer, including expenses of £100 a week. Only residents of Stoke-on-Trent are eligible. You must be a job seeker, or currently working in… “a lower skilled job than fulfils your graduate potential”. Full information from the website.

    New! 09.11.10    
    Job: Holden Lane High School — a specialist Sports College in Stoke-on-Trent — require creatives who can support five enthusiastic teachers at Key Stage 3. There is a budget of £13,000 available. Full details at this web page.

    New! 09.11.10    
    Job: Woodlands Primary — located in nearby Telford — requires a Creative Partner working in photography/media/visual arts. Application deadline: 6th December 2010. Budget: £3,000. For a full brief please email Sian Macfarlane at:  sianmacfarlane@hotmail.com

    New! 09.11.10    
    Moorpark Junior School — located in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent — is seeking Creative Practitioners to help us with the Change School Programme. They are open to application from practitioners working in any discipline. Deadline for applications: 16th November 2010. There is a budget of £12,000 available. Full details at this web page.