The Grassroots Awards
Congratulations to the six winners of the inaugural Newhaven Grassroots Awards, who shared £15,500 to produce events and projects this Summer. These six Newhaven based projects formed part of the BN9 Cultural Programme, the work they produced was wide-ranging and impressive.
The Living Coast Undersea Experience (@kpprojectsCIC)
LCUE was an immersive experience delivered via a virtual reality (VR) headset transporting the user to the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone. Lasting for around 5 minutes the participant is guided by a commentary to notice the creatures that live and pass through the watery world.
KPP raised £10,647 from Arts Council England to help fund the project which included training six people in event management and VR technology, and two event days at Newhaven’s Hillcrest. These events days, when people experienced the immersive activity attracted 123 attendees. 99% of the people completing feedback forms gave positive feedback.
Photo Fringe (@photofringe)
Newtopias was part of the tenth Photo Fringe biennale, a photography festival with national reach, based in Brighton. The organisers were successful, at the second time of asking, in achieving funding from Arts Council England. The project was part of the Real Utopias season which explored ‘how photography can help us imagine a brighter, greener, fairer world.’
Local residents were invited to share their visions for their personal and community hopes and dreams through the medium of collage and share that publicly in a street-facing exhibition in the heart of Newhaven.
Newhaven Youth Club (SCDA) (@newhaven_youth_centre) Newhaven Youth Centre youth club members produced Identity, a sharing developed from participating in a 6-week programme of workshops. The project participants all attended the SCDA youth club and the aim was to create a project in which the young people could express themselves and build their self-confidence.
The project concept was developed in consultation with the young people, who decided to concentrate on music, drama, and fashion. Workshops focused on costume design, music recording and set design, were led by three artists, to explore a theme of identity, particularly in relation to ‘youth’ and ‘LGBTQ’. 12 young people participated over the life of the project.
KDE Dance (@katiedaleeverettdance)
Seaford based choreographer, film-maker and director of the Sussex Dance Network Katie Dale-Everett’s (KDED) project combined dance and motion capture technology to explore how play and movement can enable young people to connect in the virtual world, leading to positive outcomes in the real world. Two new works were developed, ‘Playscape: How to Build a Galaxy’, the interactive participatory experience and the short performance.
The project is on-going and part of a wider KDED research project, supported by Goldsmiths University and Arts Council England, using cutting-edge technology to enable real-time dance between dancers in different parts of the world.
Hospitable Environment (@hositable_environment)
The grassroots funding will enable Hospitable Environment (HE) to refurbish the community bread oven in spring 2023. Once refurbished, Hospitable Environment will host a series of bread making workshops and events subject to funding. So far the Grassroots funding has enabled HE to move the community oven safely to Hillcrest centre, ready for refurbishment. The oven is made out of cob, a natural building material which needs to dry in warm conditions therefore refurbishment will begin in April 2023.
Creative Force (@creativeforceuk) and Inroads Productions.
This project that matches ‘Baby Boomers’ with ‘Generation X’ participants, to explore memories and perceptions of Newhaven, will be getting started in the new year. Additional funding has now been raised to enable workshops planned for the Lewes Road Hut, involving dramaturgist Sara Clifford, and a local historian.