Creative Stoke news update, 21st October 2013

21.10.13   
The third Factory creative industries magazine for Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire is now available for download…

Download (PDF, 7Mb).

This third issue of the free FactoryMag is 40 pages long, and includes interviews, event reports, news, funding news, an events listing, and much more. Plus details of the Factory Assembly conference in November…

21.10.13   
Keele University’s SPEED Plus graduate business training programme is accepting applications now for its January to July 2014 course. Wolverhampton University also have places on their own SPEED Plus. Note that, despite the weasley wording of Wolverhampton’s Web page, SPEED Plus places should be available to any locally-based recent graduate who is returning to the West Midlands — and not just to the institution’s own graduates.

21.10.13   
Stoke-on-Trent’s new fanzine The Kiln has issue #1 out now, and available free online…

21.10.13   
Facebook has a new ‘teaser’ trailer video for the film The Last Dragon Hunter. The new live/action animation film has been made in Stoke-on-Trent by Chris Stone Films and BIGred. The premiere event is Friday 25th October 2013 (6pm) at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

21.10.13   
The video made for the official opening of the Stoke-on-Trent graffiti tunnel/gallery is now online…

21.10.13   
Added to the Directory:  Illustrator Sarah Croker, who has just moved to Stoke-on-Trent.

21.10.13   
Added to the Directory:  Children’s author and illustrator Kate Leake, based at her studio Planet Pencil in Stoke-on-Trent. Kate also runs schools workshops.

21.10.13   
Added to the Directory:  Graphoonist, based in Stoke-on-Trent.

21.10.13   
Added to the Directory:  The Situation is a new Facebook page with a… “mission is to bring interesting and innovative music to the people of Leek” in North Staffordshire.

21.10.13   
Added to the Directory:  Hullabaloo Arts, based in North Staffordshire.

21.10.13   
Added to the Directory:  Ali Reed has recently graduated in Fine Art from Staffordshire University, and is currently one of the team renovating and running the new Majestic Studios artists’ studios in Stoke town, Stoke-on-Trent.

21.10.13   
Job: a temporary part-time Arts for Health Project Worker is needed for Spring 2014 at the Health Programme at South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The post will be 15 hours per week, as maternity cover. Full details from Jessica Kent at:  jessica.kent@sssft.nhs.uk

21.10.13   
Job:  Saint George’s Hospital in Stafford is seeking a musician, to run sessions working with various wards and NHS service users. Full details are available online.

21.10.13   
The Burslem China Painters are hosting weekly china painting lessons (Tues, 9.30am-12.30pm) at the Burslem School of Art, in Stoke-on-Trent, with tutoring from Spode artist Tony Challiner. For further information phone either 01782 784025 or 01782 502451.

21.10.13   
Hidden Earth is the UK’s major annual caving conference. It will be held 26th-28th September 2014 in Leek, North Staffordshire. Creatives should note that the event is running several competitions including …

  * Video Media Salon: The term ‘video media’ is intended to encompass all depictions of moving images and sequences of pictures and the competition will cover any aspect of caves, mines or potholes.

  * International Society for Speleological Art, Art & Cartoon Salons: These are open to all forms of visual art, except photographs, relating to any aspect of caves and caving.

21.10.13   
The North Staffordshire Geologists’ Association currently has a photography competition for pictures of “geological features and/or landscapes”. Entries to arrive by the 31st October 2013.

21.10.13   
The North Staffordshire National Trust Association has a “Behind the Scenes at the City Museum” event for members on Wednesday 20th November 2013.

21.10.13   
Nesta and the Nominet Trust are seeking ways to have… “digital making to go mainstream.” They now have a number of grants available between £20,000 and £50,000, to fund projects that encourage young people who participate in digital making activities. Deadline: 14th November 2013.

21.10.13   
Staffordshire University now has a page for the Global Game Jam 2014 event, 24th-26th January 2014. There’s no sign-up page, just yet. The event will ask local indie videogame coders to work for 48 hours flat, to create their own new videogame using either Unity, or the UDK, or a PC. Anyone can participate. Take your own PC and kit, some survival pizza, and have a go!

21.10.13   
Creative England has launched a new fund for regional filmmakers and production companies. To be eligible for The West Midlands Production Fund, productions must be based in the West Midlands, and must demonstrate a positive impact on the region. The Fund can invest from £100-£500k, to be matched with private equity on the same terms. Short films can also be funded, separately, via the BFI/Creative England Talent Centres.

21.10.13   
Sky Arts and IdeasTap are set to offer five one-year bursaries of £30,000 each, to emerging artists aged 18-30. Deadline 6th December 2013. The bursaries are designed to help talented individuals from a range of creative disciplines focus on their creative practice for a whole year. Creatives must be practicing in: performing arts; dance; music; visual arts; creative producing (bringing together different artists); creative writing. See the Web page for full details.

Creative Stoke news update, 7th October 2013

07.10.13   
The Factory creative industries service has a free Factory Floor networking event on Thursday 10th October 2013 (5.30pm to 7.30pm). This will be at the Spode Factory Site, in Stoke town, Stoke-on-Trent…

“There will be a spotlight on the British Ceramics Biennial 2013, from the Biennial’s Co-Director. This will be followed by a guided tour of the Biennial, and your chance to network with other local creatives.”

The five-day weather forecast suggests “cold and crisp” for this evening, and the Spode factory interiors are cool at the best of times — so dress warm for this talk and tour.

07.10.13   
Factory has a “Choosing the right business structure” training afternoon soon, on Tuesday 15th October 2013 (2pm–5pm) at Room LT011, Josiah Wedgwood Conference Room, Ashley Building, Staffordshire University. Places are free, however booking is essential for all the above events. To book please email:  factory@stoke.gov.uk

Details of other Autumn training events are available here.

07.10.13   
There’s a ‘digital humanities’ event, at Keele University on 9th October 2013 (6pm for 6:30pm). ‘Search Visualiser’ is an exhibition preview & lecture, at the Westminster Theatre and Art Gallery in the Chancellor’s Building at Keele…

“A new lecture and exhibition at Keele University uses this approach to examine how Helen of Troy and Maeve of Connaught are depicted in the Iliad and its Irish counterpart The Cattle Raid of Cooley. This is a multidisciplinary collaboration that brings together art, computer science, literary studies and social science. The software, “Search Visualizer”, displays a text schematically, with the locations of chosen keywords shown in coloured highlight. The images are visually striking, and also give powerful insights into the structures of the texts.”

07.10.13   
Added to the Directory: David Horvath. David’s artwork is on show now at ArtWaves in Burslem. David is also a skilled set designer and maker.

07.10.13   
Added to the Directory: NACRE art, based in Stoke-on-Trent, makes hand-crafted felt pictures with a ‘pop surrealism’ edge…

Added to the Directory:  Kevin Millward is a highly skilled hand thrown potter, who lives at Brown Edge, Stoke-on-Trent. His work can be seen at Barewall in Burslem, and he also has a feature on his work in the latest Ceramics Review magazine.

07.10.13   
Job:  Stoke-on-Trent’s three-year Appetite programme requires tenders from individuals or organisations for the services of an Audience Development Consultant, with the aim of encouraging infrequent and low attenders to make a long-term engagement within the arts in Stoke-on-Trent. The maximum fee for this is £5,000 (inclusive of all expenses). Appetite anticipates that the research will take place from October to December 2013, with a final report delivered in January 2014. Deadline is 5pm on Friday 11th October 2013.

07.10.13   
Job:  Staffordshire University requires a Senior Lecturer in Fashion Design to develop and lead the new B.A. (Hons.) in Fashion Design at Staffordshire University, scheduled to launch in September 2015. See the Web page for full details.

07.10.13   
Keele University is calling for entries to the Three Counties Open Art Exhibition 2013. The exhibition shows work from artists in Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire. The ‘receiving days’ for the 2013 exhibition are: Friday 25th October (10am-4pm), and Saturday 26th October (10am-1pm) at the Chancellor’s Building reception on the Keele campus. Prizes for the competition include The Arthur Berry Prize, worth £1,000; the Barracks Trust Prize worth £250, and Keele University Prizes of £300, £150 and £50. The Exhibition will be open to the public from 13th November to 11th December 2013.

07.10.13   
The forthcoming Artist Room with Richard Long at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is to be accompanied by an AirSpace Gallery exhibition on walking art, “The Walking Encyclopaedia”. AirSpace is inviting submissions now, with a deadline of Friday 13th December 2013…

“An attempt to collate and present as many different artistic responses to, and uses of the walk as possible. Timed to coincide with the Richard Long Exhibition at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, AirSpace invites submissions from walking artists and artists-who-walk to send in documentation of their practice, historic or current, in all forms of media, in order that we can offer a significant overview of the contemporary state of the genre.”

07.10.13   
Alongside BCB 2013 there’s now a crowdfunding campaign to raise £2,500 to create a ceramic rose as part of restoring the Spode Rose Garden at the old Spode factory.

07.10.13   
The 6 Towns Radio Secret Postcard auction sale is now underway. The winners of the bids will be revealed at the event on 18th October 2013.

07.10.13   
There’s to be a free screening of new films from graduates of Staffordshire University, at the Film Theatre on Wednesday 9th October 2013 (starts 7.45pm)…

“In association with Stoke Cine and Video Society, this is a programme of new films by students who graduated this summer in the Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies. An exciting programme of drama, documentary, animation, and experimental film”

07.10.13   
Newcastle-under-Lyme’s film festival is inviting submissions…

07.10.13   
Advance 2014 dates have been set for the major 014Dance Festival at The Regent Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, an event which brings together a great many of North Staffordshire’s many youth dance groups. Wednesday 12th to Saturday 15th February 2014.

07.10.13   
“Two Ways of Life” is a symposium and photographers’ portfolio development day, at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery on Saturday 23rd November 2013 (10.30am-4.30pm). Cost is £20/£12…

“This one-day event will enable photographers to explore and discuss analogue and digital image making, engage with professionals in critical debate and seek advice on their own career and portfolio development. It has been developed in the context of the exhibition “From Darkroom to Digital” (opens 16th Nov) at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, which is co-curated by Wolverhampton Photographic Society.”

There will be a rare chance to see one of the versions of “The Two Ways of Life”, the combination print masterwork of the pioneering Wolverhampton art photographer Oscar Rejlander.

07.10.13   
The Creative Communities Unit at Staffordshire University is offering a new short-course starting in January 2014. ‘Growing Your Social Enterprise’ will be held at the Stoke campus, and is partly funded by the HEIF Social Enterprise Fund…

“this course will help develop the business skills and knowledge needed to create and sustain a social enterprise”

For those who can’t find the time to do the course, Social Enterprise West Midlands has a new free Start Your Social Enterprise Guide for download…

07.10.13   
Applications have opened for the Leading Learning Programme 2014, a UK-wide cultural leadership development scheme aimed at senior-level employees in the public sector. The LLP’s bursaries are… “worth £1,000 to £1,500”.

07.10.13   
UKTI has just launched a new music industry funding scheme. The Music Export Growth Scheme will allocate millions of pounds of grants to small independent music companies who want to export. Eligible companies can apply for grants ranging from £5,000 to £50,000, by presenting detailed campaign proposals to a specially-appointed Selection Board. The first grants are expected to be awarded by December 2013.

07.10.13   
Creative Skillset’s Challenge Fund is now open for bidding. Media production sectors eligible for training funds grants include videogames, film, TV, animation and VFX. Successful applicants will receive support with their training funding for the next two years. Applications can be for between £10,000 and £1 million. The government is matching the funding pound-for-pound. See the website for full details.

07.10.13   
The NESTA digital makers fund aims to have thousands of creative young people involved in digital production activities, and is now open for grant applications…

“successful initiatives will use young people’s existing interests, passions and pastimes as a gateway to digital making, inspiring young people to become creators, not just users of digital technologies. NESTA are looking for applications from organisations, or partnerships between organisations, that have the capacity to engage thousands of young people in digital making activities.”

Deadline: 14th November 2013, for grants of between £20,000 to £50,000. See the Web page for full details.

07.10.13   
State of Play is a useful new September 2013 report from Ticketmaster UK, which has crunched its abundant Big Data to inform…

“the first major investigation into the theatre sector by the world’s largest ticketing company” … “mixes information from its own ticket transaction data with survey responses from a representative sample of the UK population, as well as a selection of theatregoers from abroad.”