Networking Event January 16th

Creative Barnsley is hosting a networking event on Wednesday January 16th at the Digital Media Centre, County Way, Barnsley. The event will run from 7pm - 9pm and is focusing on digital imagery e.g. photography, film, design, digital art and illustration. Everyone is welcome - please tell a friend if you think it will benefit them.

We are also inviting attendees to supply images of their work for a showreel which will play through the evening and there are a limited number of slots for you to 'show and tell' work. Please contact Tracey on 01226 287420 or email tracey@creativebarnsley.co.uk to book a slot.

Our speakers include Louise Mor from art and built environment agency beam who will be discussing their commissioning process.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Chamber Music Concert November 16th

Ensemble 360 are performing a range of concerts at the Emmanuel Church, Huddersfield Road, Barnsley. The next concert is Friday November 16th at 7.30pm. Tickets are £8 on the door or contact 01226 321511 for pre-booking. Click HERE to view the full concert programme for Barnsley

Ensemble 360 was formed in 2005 to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round. The Ensemble brings together musicians from across the globe to form one versatile ensemble of eleven musicians; five wind players, a pianist, double bassist and the Elias String Quartet.

Ensemble 360 believes in their concerts being informal, friendly and relaxed occasions and, although they perform in many traditional chamber music venues, they perform ‘in the round’ wherever possible. Having an audience on all four sides brings with it an intimacy and immediacy between musician and audience that other layouts cannot match. It is from this ‘in the round’ format that they take their name, Ensemble 360.

The enthusiasm, drive and musicality of each of the performers has proved a success with audiences across the UK as they find themselves drawn into the performances both through the communicative and engrossing nature of their playing and through the personalities of the musicians themselves. Ensemble 360 has grown to be a strong team and a group of friends who share a passion for their work; a passion which radiates through each performance.

As the largest professional ensemble to be based in South Yorkshire, Ensemble 360 has established concert series in Barnsley and Rotherham. The Ensemble plugs an important gap in chamber music provision in South Yorkshire and are strong advocates for the region. They also bring other international artists to the region to perform in their annual 8-day May Festival in Sheffield.

New Art Gallery opens at Elsecar Heritage Centre

The Clare White Gallery opened at Elsecar Heritage Centre on Friday October 26th. The gallery will specialise in selling Cornish artworks – paintings, prints, ceramics, jewellery and textiles - but here in the north!

Proprietor and life-long lover of all things Cornish Andy Pollard said: “Lots of people living up here love to holiday in Cornwall. We want to offer them a chance to see a range of high-quality Cornish art and craft products without having to drive a 700 mile round trip!

“We will regularly change our exhibitions and aim to attract art buyers in to Barnsley from across the north and eastern regions. We feel Barnsley is on the cusp of an artistic and cultural renaissance and are really excited about being a part of that.”

The gallery will also be the primary outlet for the work of accomplished St Ives water colourist Clare White (1903 – 1997) and is named in her honour. Andy has collected and studied her work since he was a teenager and has previously exhibited her paintings in Cornwall, Harrogate and South Yorkshire.

If you would like to join the Clare White Gallery mailing list please e-mail Steph Pollard on stephpollard@tiscali.co.uk

Andy and Steph would also like to invite all readers of this newsletter and friends to the gallery’s official launch evening on Thursday November 1st, 7pm – 9pm. Please rsvp to Steph if you can join them. Members of the local business community and media have also been invited to this event.

Networking in action!

Creative Barnsley held a fantastic networking evening at the new Digital Media Centre last night. The exciting new building was unveiled to around 60 guests, and the evening included tours of the site, excellent speakers and a great opportunity for all members of the creative sector to meet each other and make new contacts.

Guests were able to enjoy impressive views and a lovely sunset from the 5th floor conference room, while listening to Cathy Doggett, head of the University Centre and Keith Evans, CIDA before getting down to the serious business of networking!

Creative Barnsley revealed its plans for more networking opportunities on a regular basis including sector specific networking events, plus we were able to give an update on progress with the studios and gallery space at Elsecar Heritage Centre which are due to open in the early Autumn.

All in it was a wonderful evening - guests commented that it was a very enjoyable evening in a great venue and a useful chance to meet others involved in creativity.

Outdoor Art Mart at Elsecar Heritage Centre

At last the summer seems to have paid us a visit and with it comes the opportunity to hold an outdoor arts and crafts event at Elsecar Heritage Centre on bank holiday Monday 27th August. In conjunction with Sue Ryder Care, Creative Barnsley are hosting the event which is open to all artists and crafters. Cost for a stall is just £10 with £4 being donated to Sue Ryder Care. Everyone taking part will also have the opportunity to be involved in an art day at the Sue Ryder site in Hickleton as part of their Art Liberating Lives initiative.

We welcome artists and crafters from Barnsley and beyond to the event. The Elsecar site is always busy on a bank holiday (weather permitting!) and stall holders can expect a good stream of customers. We will also be advertising the event across the borough in the run up to it, and at related events across the same weekend.

In order to keep the costs down, you are invited to bring your own tables or stand. ALL SPACES MUST BE BOOKED IN ADVANCE. We can make some tables and railings available for hanging work but these will need to be booked in advance too.

Please contact tracey@creativebarnsley.co.uk as soon as possible to confirm your space for this event.

Watch this space for more information!

Tracey

Open Up Sheffield comes to Barnsley!

Rather excitingly, the May bank holiday weekend and the weekend after will see the CB Hive site at Elsecar opening up as part of the Sheffield based Open Up open studio project. This is our first opportunity to showcase Barnsley artists and it promises to be a lot of fun.

CB Hive is the name we have given to our studio and gallery site which we are developing at Elsecar Heritage Centre. It's not going to be converted by the time the event comes around, but we really wanted to open it up as part of this yearly event to give the arts and crafts community a chance to show their work in an environment where they can also be on hand to talk to visitors or even demonstrate work. This is the essence of an open studio event, and lots of visitors do enjoy having a chance to talk to artists about their work ... and hopefully buy some of it!

As this is the first year we are doing this we are offering Barnsley based artists the chance to participate for free. You will be allocated space to hang/show work and all we ask is that you try and spend some time with your work across the weekends. You can show at both weekends or just one. We will be doing lots of promotion to ensure we get lots of visitors but Elsecar also has a great number of weekend visitors so we should get quite a few through the door. There is also lots of promotional material being circulated across Sheffield that includes a mention for us (yey!) and a bus is arranged to bring visitors from Sheffield on Sunday 6th May.

The more the merrier so if you are interested in showing, do email us and let us know. It is essential that we have your name in advance of the event. The dates are 5th, 6th, 7th, 12th & 13th May. If you want to know more about Open Up visit www.openupsheffield.co.uk and bookmark this blog to get regular updates.

That's all for now - speak to you soon
Tracey x

Update

Just a quick post to say that the studios are on track and we hope to have things up and running in the next couple of months. We are developing a programme for the gallery and will be 'opening up' as part of Open Up Sheffield in May. Keep visiting the site for more information. Also opening up are the Open College of Arts in Redbrook and the Cooper Gallery.

Additionally, Barnsley Metropolitan Council are on the hunt for new Arts Officers - one for community arts and one for festivals and events. It's a great opportunity to be part of the team there - visit the job section at www.barnsley.gov.uk for more info.

Network event 22nd January

There is a network event on January 22nd - 6.30pm start - at Aroma Cafe Bar in Eldon Arcade Barnsley. The event is in conjunction with Barnsley Arts Forum, and is an opportunity to network and socialise with other lovely creative people. We will also be announcing an exciting mini creative conference and circulating a schedule of networking events for 2007.

Be there or ... miss out on all the gossip ;o)

Studios and Gallery @Elsecar Heritage Centre

Coming soon… brand new artists’ studios and contemporary gallery at Elsecar Heritage Centre.

Creative Barnsley is developing a suite of studio spaces and an exciting new contemporary gallery in the popular Elsecar Heritage Centre. The site already has a range of craft and antique focused makers and sellers and is well worth a visit.

You can download a registration of interest form on the website or drop us an email tracey@creativebarnsley.co.uk

The aim is for the studios and gallery to form the hub of an artistic community with regular events and twice yearly exhibitions of studio holders’ work. We will also be looking at developing further studios on the complex with additional facilities such as screen printing equipment, and suitable for a range of artistic practices.

It’s a really exciting time to be an artist in Barnsley!

Welcome to Creative Barnsley!

Hello ... and welcome to Creative Barnsley.

Creative Barnsley is developing a creative network linking creative individuals, organisations and businesses in the Barnsley borough, enabling them to access new opportunities and business locally, regionally and nationally.

We are building a network of people who live, love and consume art and creativity.

This website and the network events will be chance to show off your own work, browse other people's, find out what's happening locally, regionally and nationally, indulge in creative gossip, catch up with old friends and make some new ones.

Artists studios and a contemporary gallery in Elsecar Heritage Centre will form a hub of creative activity that will link into the exciting new developments in the town centre. This blog will be updated with news and activities so keep an eye on it. We are developing a myspace site too so be sure to make us your friend!

Maybe it's a kind of movement, a collective perhaps, but it's a chance to see and be seen, hear and be heard, click and be clicked.

Bookmark us and stay tuned!