Manchester People First, Landridge House & Venture Arts Enter Charity Run

Meet our New Arts Worker James Pollitt

Issue 2

April 2009

Issue 2

Venture Ar tsVenture Ar tsVenture Ar tsVenture Ar ts

Here is your big chance to sponsor some of our staff and one of our students

as they take part in a 10k charity run organised with Manchester People First & Landridge House. The event will take place on Sunday 17th May 2009. The departure point is Deansgate, Manchester and will pass through Old Trafford,

Salford Quays and then back again to Deansgate. If you would like to sponsor

us, please give us a ring.

James has joined us for 2 days per week as our new Crea-

tive Arts Worker. James is a passionately creative person.

He studied Illustration and Animation at Manchester Metro-

politan University and has 2 years experience running arts

workshops at Studio One, Wythenshawe. James comple-

ments our current team and we wish him a warm welcome.

He has already been roped into running in the 17th May

Charity Run for us!

Chorlton Green

Festival Wheelie Bin

Exhibit

Venture Arts received the best

dressed bin runner up prize at the

festival

website: www.venturearts.org

Issue 2

43 Old Birley Street,

Hulme,

Manchester M15 5RF

Phone: 0161 232 1223

E-mail:

info@venturearts.org

43 Old Birley Street,

Hulme,

Manchester M15 5RF

Issue 2

Venture Arts at Ambulance Community Service Diversity Day

Venture Arts Mission Statement

Venture Arts has been working with an organisation called Arts About Manchester’s Open City programme. They have been try-ing hard to increase access to arts activities for those who most need it. Hence over the last couple of months we have paid two visits to The Royal Northern College of Music to hear some traditional chamber music and also some in-teresting pieces of experimental

music.

Venture Arts goes Classical

Art workshops develop skills and aptitudes that can make a real difference to peoples lives including

creative skills, manual skills, writing skills, research skills, visual skills, and analytical skills. Venture

Arts was formed in 1985 to provide meaningful arts activities for adults with learning difficulties in

the Greater Manchester area.

The Team

Amanda Sutton, Manager, John Adshead, Development Manager, Stephen Greenwood, Finance

Assistant, and our Creative Arts Workers; Katherine Long, Kate Freeborough, Alena Asenbryl, and

Martin Livesey and James Pollitt.

Darren Gallagher,

Martin Livesey and

Katherine Long were

waving the flag for

Venture Arts at a

special Diversity day

at Bridgewater Hall,

Manchester on Satur-

day March 7th. As

can be seen in the

photograph Darren is

playing an active role

Venture Arts aware-

ness.

Open City members with Evelyn Cordingley and Robert

Dixon waiting to hear the performance at the Royal North-

ern College of Music

Darren Gallagher at the Bridgewater Hall Celebrating Diversity Special Day

Venture Arts needs new members. If you support the work that we do and would like an invite to the AGM and regular newsletters and special invites to private views of exhibitions. We would very much appreciate

your membership.

For more information or for an application form please either ring 0161 232 1223 or

email info@venturearts.org

Would you like to become a

member?

Phone: 0161 232 1223

E-mail:

info@venturearts.org

website: www.venturearts.org

Venture Arts at Big Lottery’s Big Thinking Event

Half-term Felt Making Workshop by Venture Arts Man United Field Visit

On January 20th 2009 the Big Lottery Fund invited the public to have their say in its ‘Big thinking’ consultation in

which people and organisations were asked for their views on how BIG’s £2 billion in funding over the next six years should be allocated.

Venture Arts took part in the event with a small exhibition where the Globe travelled again and Amanda and Robert Dixon were interviewed for Channel M.

If you look closely at the picture on the left you will see Robert Dixon 3rd from the left and Amanda slightly hid-den is 4th the from the left.

Any ideas where the Globe can go next? Please get in touch if you can find it a home!

Venture Arts in cooperation with The Zion Arts Centre, Hulme provided a felt making workshop for local youngsters as part of their half term events.

All participants were taught felt-making techniques which they then used to design and create some handmade felt panels in small groups. Later they embellished the panels by making weave buttons and felt swirls giving the work more texture and pattern.

After the workshop, Venture Arts participants helped to roll the felt panels and stitch on the weave buttons and felt swirls.

The workshop was really successful, well done to all those who took part!

Felt panels designed and created by: Clidna Bailey, Poppy James, Mahdi Nadeira, Faris Hum-maida, Beatrice Veila, Blue Wilson, Buzz Wilson, and Stella Wilson.

With help from Venture Arts participants… Ian Emerson, Mary Ann Gribbin, Margaret Heaton, Steven Kovacs, Horace Lindezey, Wayne Tarry and Tommy Walsh.

Darren Gallagher and Robert Dixon in the

most famous dressing room in the world

Robert Dixon and Amanda Sutton at Bridgewater Hall Big Thinking Event

Matthew Bell in his role as Manchester United

tour guide and also Venture Arts participant,

Pop Up at the Lowry & Book Project

Learning Disability Student Placement

Lots of Exciting New Projects

I ssue 2

Once again we have joined forces with Combined

Studies students from Manchester University

who have just completed documenting the Pop

Up work of our participants. The work has been

on exhibition at the Circle Bar in the Lowry

Gallery, Salford Quays.

The work has been expertly constructed by

Tracy Clarke, Darren Gallagher, Michael Gleave,

Barry Jordan, Stewart McDonald, Ronald O'Neill,

Ernie Partt,, Phil Pemberton, Ellen Seddon, Linda

Walsh and Gerald Wright. Thanks to Sophie

Winter, Jan Kermer, Richard Kemeny, Bolormaa

Bayarkhuu you for a great project and for all their

hard work.

We are so pleased to host two excel-

lent students from Manchester Uni-

versity Learning Disability Studies.

Allison Johnson from Northern Ire-

land and Julie Kerr who is a little

more local. Allison and Julie will be

with us for a 10 week placements.

While with us Allison and Julie will

both be involved in projects with

some of our participants.

We are currently running lots of new and exciting pro-jects. Our big theme this year is “Books”. The picture (bottom right) is a book, made entirely of recycled plastic bags and remarkable it is too…. so if you have any brightly coloured plastic bags , now you know where to bring them. Top right is a picture of one of the creations from our origami class. We are using a variety of interesting “bookish” materials to create the structures; sheet music, stamps, maps.... There are all sorts of innovative projects around books happen-ing. More news from these later.

Salford University Students Make a Film

An international team of

students from Salford Uni-

versity’s MA Film & Media

course are currently work-

ing hard on assembling a

documentary on the his-

tory of Venture Arts and

its place in the community.

The work will be com-

pleted and soon we look

forward seeing the results. Tara Schaaffe, Sophia Safiya and Stanislaw Stawiarski

at Venture Arts in filmic mode.

Allison Johnson

Julie Kerr

Gerald Wright energetically creating

Venture Arts