South West Spotlight: Weston
It’s an exciting time to be in Weston-super-Mare. The north Somerset seaside town is buzzing with creative activity as outdoor arts fill the streets and cultural venues welcome people back through their doors. Local artists and creatives are putting into practice our belief that creativity and culture transforms lives and communities.
Whether it be Upfest’s outdoor street art trail, Culture Weston’s artist-designed newspapers for hospital patients or exciting digital events, creativity is boosting the emotional and physical wellbeing of communities in Weston and spearheading a culture-led recovery. Here’s a glimpse at just some of cultural activity currently taking place:
Cultural delights at Live at the Quarry
This summer, Theatre Orchard is showcasing a celebratory programme of affordable acts as audiences are welcomed back to outdoor arts, funded thanks to the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Live at the Quarry (until 17 July) is a new socially distanced event featuring a diverse programme of music, comedy, cabaret, theatre, dance and spoken word shows, taking place under canvas in a performance stretch tent in Weston’s historic Old Town Quarry. The line-up has included much-loved south west artists including Booty Bass, Kosheen, RSVP Bhangra and Bristol Comedy Box, as well as new and emerging talent from Weston and a new commission from theatre maker Tom Marshman.
Booty Bass DJs performing at Live at the Quarry. Photo by Adam Leppard
Upfest is coming to Weston
Europe’s largest live street art and graffiti festival is coming to Weston this summer. Upfest and Weston Street Art Collective (WSAC) have joined forces with Weston Town Council, local artists and organisations including Culture Weston will present a new street art trail of 10 large scale murals on buildings across the town centre. The programme will bring together local, national and international street artists for an exciting weekend of live painting, workshops and participatory activities for the local community. Details of the event, including a map with locations of the murals and the list of artists, will be released shortly – so keep your eyes peeled!
The initiative has been funded in part by £15,000 to muralist Shruti Bhoyar through National Lottery Project Grants, a £20,000 grant from Weston Town Council, and with support from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund to Upfest.
New artist commissions thanks to Weston Presents
Earlier this year, we awarded £48,500 to Theatre Orchard through National Lottery Project Grants for Weston Presents – a seven-month programme of hyper-local creativity and artistic collaboration. The funding has enabled Theatre Orchard to work with some of Weston’s most deprived communities and those hardest hit by the pandemic to create opportunities for local artists and freelancers, develop long-term collaborations, and to create new, relevant work. Made possible thanks to National Lottery players, the project has enabled many new artist commissions, including:
- Grow Feral – a series of creative workshops and hands-on sessions from Weston-based artist Sam Francis using food and the natural world to explore how we want to live.
- Weston Words – a project from artist Shagufta K Iqbal providing a platform for some of Weston’s most marginalised communities to share and celebrate their heritage and identity through participatory workshops including spoken word, creative writing and poetry.
- Future Radicals – a participatory project with artists Ramona Bigwood and Carson Parkin-Fairley which will see young people in Weston’s South Ward work with artists and an urban design architect to develop new youth-led approaches to creative urban planning and development
Blakehay Theatre plans for an accessible future
Weston’s much-loved Blakehay Theatre is currently undergoing a major building project, which will enable it to open safely to the public. Funding from the Culture Recovery Fund has supported them to install a new ventilation system, new electrics throughout the entire building and new accessible access to the building. In the meantime, the theatre has been able to host successful outdoor events and free online virtual theatre for all to enjoy. As a theatre for the whole community, the Blakehay Theatre will be back with more shows and events than ever in a welcoming and accessible space for the future.
Live music returns with Loves’ Sea Folk
Weston’s Loves Café has been busy hosting Sea Folk – a series of live outdoor music gigs in the incredible settings of Birnbeck Promenade and the Grove Park Bandstand. The intimate sessions feature brilliant artists and exciting up and coming local talent, including a collaboration with Music Declares Emergency, attracting audiences of Weston and beyond! Funding through National Lottery Project grants has enabled the music venue to expand into folk, Americana, world and jazz, as well as investing in new equipment to improve production and live stream events to wider audiences.
Loves Sea Folk – Rachel Dadd and Kitty MacFarlane. Photo by Adam Leppard
The Weston Arts + Health Festival is back!
Get your calendars ready, because the second Weston Arts + Health Festival is taking place 18-26 September. The partnership between Culture Weston and University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation (UHBW) will include a whole host of participatory projects in health and care settings, outdoor arts installations, live performances and a digital programme of events, targeted specifically at people that have been disproportionately impacted by Covid-19.
The festival will celebrate the commitment and creativity of key workers and bring the community together through shared acts of remembrance, reflection and joy with accessible creative engagement. Programme highlights include Luke Jerram’s In Memoriam artwork on Weston beach and a special in situ dance performance from Studio Wayne McGregor in collaboration with dance students from Weston College and the wider community.
Boredom Buster Two distributed to hospitals and care homes
An innovative, tabloid style newspaper, Boredom Buster Two, is providing creative respite for thousands of people across the UK, as health and cultural sectors join forces to bolster the mental health of hospital patients and care home residents during this challenging period. The publication showcases some of the country’s leading artists including Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley and Grayson Perry, thanks to Firstsite in Colchester, alongside tried and tested contributions from hospital art teams and participatory arts professionals. Boredom Buster Two has been produced for the NHS National Performance Advisory Group for Arts, Design and Heritage in Hospital by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) in partnership with Culture Weston.
Hospitals, health and care settings can order copies of the ‘Boredom Buster Two’ and find out more details by emailing boredombuster@uhbw.nhs.uk.
UHBW patient reading Boredom Buster Two on ward. Image courtest Culture Weston
Welcome back to the Playhouse Theatre
We’re so pleased that the Playhouse Theatre has begun to welcome people back through its doors, thanks to the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Located in the centre of Weston-super-Mare, the theatre’s jam-packed events programme includes a range of family favorites including Horrible Histories and theatre classics such as Alan Ayckbourn’s Absurd Person Singular, as well as musical theatre and tribute acts. Head on down this summer for some fun, live theatre!
The return of Whirligig! Festival of Outdoor Arts 2021
The fabulous Whirligig! from Theatre Orchard is making a welcome return this summer. The event will kick off on 10 September with an outdoor karaoke launch party, courtesy of Puppets with Guts’ The Lips, rolling into a host of outdoor events on 11 September including Motionhouse, Ramshacklicious, Etta Ermini, Autin Dance and James Wilton, with much more besides. The celebration will wind down on 12 September with Goggledegook Theatre’s Cloudcapes and music and dance in Grove Park. Find out more here.
