Page 19 - link magazine

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FLOWERS AND
WOOD
Beautif ul floral arrangements
for all occasions
Mother's Day bouquets and
arrangements made to order,
complete with a pretty
hand-made gift card
f Traditional or modern designs
Deliveries in Swindon
Farewell Swindon Arts " ,.+ For a personal service
please contact Linda
on Swindon 344695
After 13 years of serving the local community, the town's independent arts organisation which aimed to
develop a wider range of cultural opportunities has closed and the last rites will be performed later this year.
Swindon Arts director Rosa Matheson looks at the achievements and the reason for shutting down.
windon Arts came into being So why has Swindon Arts been towards bringing together acultural Let us Cre'8
through the visionary and brought down? As in all things to do forum to develop and deliver such a a new u
S bold thinking of a handful of with the arts, it was lack of money. strategy. Happilywe have convinced
people. They believed that thecoun- particularly a secure commitment Swindon Council of such a need
oil and businesses should work to- towards core costs. and they have committed to bring-
gether to bring arts to the town to When Swindon Arts was set up ing a cultural partnership into being
enable Swindon people - whatever the council was a major partner pro- to do this work and requiring the
their age, background or ability - to viding personnel and covering ad- partnership to deliver the Swindon
have easy access to the arts; to ministration costs. Over the years Arts Festivals. This will be Swindon
have the opportunity to develop their this commitment was cut again and Arts' significant and lasting legacy
own creativity, and to be empow- again, leaving the charity to find to the people of Swindon.
ered by building their own and com- new money to cover these costs. Swindon Arts was about people
munity confidence. These were high It also lost many of its business and I must thank all the directors, Thames Avenue,
aims and I am sponsors, for eco- patrons, companies, groups and in-
proud to say that nomic reasons or re- dividuals, who have worked with, Greenmeadow
they were largely a location. Swindon supported and sponsored Swindon Call 520813 to book an
achieved. Arts changed and Arts. Together we made some won- appointment
Over these adapted to meet derful things happen.
years Swindon these new circum-
Arts channelled stances, by creating
hundreds of t^^> programmes to at-
thousands of tract new sponsors Tm Rice &Andre
pounds into "" and access new
community r sources of funding.
projects. It gave This brought an
grants to enable enormous increase
a wide variety of _ in the workload to
arts initiatives, deliver with no in-
from a week long ' _ ' ` crease in personnel, i
multi-media pro- leaving little ti mefor
gramme for strategic develo
young people ment.
with dyslexia, to First Swindon. then the USA and So. what legacy [± (^ i f
a term long Spe- the Brit Awards. Jamie Cullum's big will Swindon Arts "J - - "
cial Proms pro- break at the Swindon Jazz Festival leave apart from r
gramme for chil- organised by Swindon Arts in 2002 some wonderful , rJ
dren at special memories and ex- ! I '
needs schools, street dance work- periences and a more dynamic and I ^^ r
j
shops for boys and tapestry window empowered arts scene? We have J J - -I
seats at Lydiard House. It spon- sponsored a seat at the Arts Centre
sored ceramics workshops for jun- and with permission of the Wyvern r j r r
for schools and those in residential Theatre, Studio One will be named
homesfortheelderly,aShakespear- 'Swindon Arts' Studio'. And for the j [ 'ti
can production by young adults at next ten years, in recognition of his
the Wyvern Theatre, and helped commitment to Swindon Arts, there
Music Alive purchase equipment for will be the annual 'Maurice Fan- , -
work with the disabled and lesser- ping, Swindon Arts Prize' to be
abled - to name but a few. awarded to a local artist for artistic
A Swindon Arts Award provided achievement or endeavour. r
the seed corn for the now hugely One of the reasons that Swindon
successful Literature Festival, struggles with its cultural identity is Monday 5th-S
Mugdha Dance, the Mobile Media that it has had no cohesive strategy Mondav,1.30pm.Tues-Thurs,2.30prr
Club. Reach and Banksy. for arts and cultural development. Tickets £10.50
It gave Swindon the'THINKART' The town has failed to see the op-
Festival and developed and wid- portunitiesforeconomicgrowthand WYVERN 1
ened the Jazz Festival to an ac- development that exist in arts and
THEATRE SQUARE, .
knowledged and respected level, cultural initiatives.
drawing people from all over the SwindonArtsrecognisedthisand, Box OFFICE: (0179
country. over the last 18 months has worked