STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT : OUR ART

Whether Painting or Photography, Cooking or Coding, Fashion or Photography, Robots or Rockets, As Seth Godin says in the launch film we made here with Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei’s inspiration, ‘Art is what we call it when what we do might connect us'‘.

But, for various reasons, it’s under pressure in our schools and we fear a #CreativityCrisis looms in our schools, that will soon impact our work and lives. Critical thinking anyone?

There are a few aspects of government policy that aren’t helping but we feel the biggest driver is ignorance, many teachers, parents, members of society really don’t get the value of art, and this event is about changing that, across the whole country.

AN APOLOGY

The opportunity to run the #OURART19 week as a collaboration with organisations in Liverpool came about at very short notice.

Being an unfunded non-profit STEAM Co. applied for an Arts Council Grant to help deliver it and only expected to hear during the week.

Sadly we heard at 11pm Thursday night that we hadn’t got the grant and had to make the difficult decision to cancel the Friday event and wish to apologise to everyone who turned up to find that the case and are holding a free day on Saturday by way of compensation. Join us to make the memory of this week one of positivity, of hope and togetherness.

Scroll waaaaaay down the page to find out about the Saturday event.

#ARTCONNECTS19

We believe in Art - the Power of Creativity, Tech and People to Inspire Kids, Create Careers and Connect Society.

We help Connect our Kids with their Art and our Communities with their Schools.

Because it takes a Whole Village to Inspire a Child.

So back in January we launched the #ARTCONNECTS19 festival which you can read about here later, but for now, read on.

THE PLAN For #OURART19

When we realised that an exhibition by one of the most inspiring, inclusive and generous artists ever, Keith Haring, was closing after its run at Tate Liverpool, we felt we had to mark it with an event to do what we could cement to his legacy here in the UK.

All at a time when art and creativity are raising their head in our schools with the new Ofsted framework and the Durham Commission report.

And that’s #OURART19 week.

As ever the plane took off before we’d finished building it and we’re feverishly looking for funding. It’ll happen without funding - we’ll have a cake, but with funding, we’ll have icing on it and artists will get paid. And what’s wrong with that?

A WEEK IN LIVERPOOL

If you haven’t heard, this is a very special city. One of its children, now a bit older, inspired the STEAM Co. journey - to walk his talk and Sir Ken Robinson spoke at our first UK regional event, held in the city nearly five years ago.

So far we’re delighted that Liverpool John Moores University have stepped up to be our lead partner for the week in Liverpool.

We’ve penciled in a week of activities for the week of 4-9 November 2019 as follows:

Mon – Tues: Half Price/Half Day #WhatsYourArt? Sessions in Liverpool Primary Schools generously sponsored 50% by Liverpool John Moores University.
Weds: An #ARTofENGINEERING STEAM Co. Day in a Liverpool Primary School with a range of creative activities as part of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week with support from Google.
Thurs: #WhatsYourArt? day, completely free, for local primary school children at Liverpool John Moores University School of Art and Design
Thurs Eve: Community Screening of Creative Education film featuring Sir Ken Robinson at The Phil Pub’ - The world famous Philharmonic Dining Rooms/Pub with a great panel
Fri: CANCELLED #ARTattheHEART (of an Outstanding School Community) - Conference on creativity in a broad and balanced curriculum at the Black-E Community Arts Centre. At 3pm we’ll be connecting with schools across the country to sing ‘We Are Family’ on its 40th anniversary CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING
Sat: #ARTofCOMMUNITY talks and activities at the Black-E
Sat eve – CANCELLED #DanceConnects Community Party at the Black-E inspired by Keith Haring’s collaboration with Malcolm McLaren on the Duck Rock album CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING
All week: #OURART19 events in schools across the UK

To keep in touch and get updates sign up on this form now.

THE DAYS IN MORE DETAIL:

Mon – Tues: Half Day #Whats Your Art? Sessions

As you can see in the video over there, this is an action packed session to inspire children, engage your staff and connect your community:

All School Assembly - an action packed roller coaster ride of inspiration, creativity and connection. Oh and to make the point of what this is all about, an awesome Rubik’s cube solving Lego robot!
Creative Activities - One creative activity for every class in the school - rocket making/firing, I Love Art, Inventing, Coding and Robots
Community Rocket Launch - we promise to leave your school community absolutely buzzing like a fridge with one of our real dynamite rocket launches in your school playground
Free Books - a big part of this session is to encourage a love of reading and awareness of its importance. To help jump start home reading we’ll give you class set of our new book #RocketKidStories

Weds: #STEAM Co. Day

A chance for one Liverpool Primary School to enjoy a range of creative activities run by Creative Carers from the School’s Community working with the STEAM Co. team and resources.

The day will consist of

All School Assembly - an action packed roller coaster ride of inspiration, creativity and connection.

Creative Activities - a range of STEAM Co. Day activities including rocket making/firing, I Love Art, Inventing, Coding and Robots run by Creative Carers from this School Community and beyond.
Community Rocket Launch - the perfect end to a school day like no other, to leave your school community absolutely buzzing like a fridge with one of our real dynamite rocket launches in your school playground
Free Books - a big part of our work is to encourage a love of reading and awareness of its importance. To help jump start home reading we’ll give this school a class set of our new book #RocketKidStories

We can only offer this special day to one school while we are in the city so sign up now

Thurs: #WHAT’S YOUR ART? DAY at LIVERPOOL SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN

A school day like no other - a day in the only place in the world that has four 3D printers called George, Paul, John and Ringo? Yes, this is a chance for for local school children to spend a day in the FabLab in the John Lennon building at Liverpool School of Art and Design with support of other departments at Liverpool John Moores University.

Yes it’ll be about much more than 3D printing, we have a whole range of activities lined up from rocket making and firing and #ILOVEART t-shirt printing to drama and science activities show casing the breadth of STEAM Skills powered creativity.

See the film here of a similar event we ran at Enginuity Ironbridge the birthplace of the steam powered industrial revolution.

We have places for whole classes from local schools as well as car size groups and home educator posses too.

All completely free so these gold ticket places will get snapped up. Get yours now.

Thurs Eve: Community Screening

7-11pm at the World Famous ‘Phil’ pub aka The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, Hope Street, Liverpool

You may be an expert on the changes many feel need to happen to make the way we educate our kids relevant for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. You may just have an inkling something’s up. Either way, we want you here for this to share you views on this multi award winning educational documentary ‘Most Likely to Succeed’.

We’ll watch the film first, then hear from a distinguished panel before throwing it all open to the floor, whcih will be your cue to dive in.

Featuring Sir Ken Robinson, the world’s most dangerously inspiring man, a Liverpudlian now advising countries and companies across the world on creativity and strategies, it will be a great way to involve his thinking in our week.

We’ve run these all over the UK. See the film here of highlights of a previous session.

This will surely be another sell out, be sure to grab a ticket early. Maybe you’ll get a cheap/free one?

Fri: #Art at the Heart (of an Outstanding School Community) DAY OF TALKS

CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING

This will surely be one of the highlights of the week and, if we can get a sponsor, live streamed across the country and the world.

Given some of the people we are talking to about being involved in Liverpool or from across the world it will be very special and a milestone for our common #ARTforALL journey to put #CreativityFirst in our Schools, Work and Lives.

But let’s be quite clear - this is not another head teachers’ conference, or a huddle of well meaning, hard working and uber passionate teachers on a Saturday or a gathering of policy wonks.

It will be a first. It will be a coming together of school community leaders, teachers, artists, engineers, techs business people, parents ad other Creative Carers.

Coming together. Sitting together All together. Now at the Black-E, a venue synonymous with community creativity for over 50 years

It will showcase, celebrate and inspire creativity in school communities and, by definition, beyond into our work/the economy and lives/society.

There will be streams for Primary, Secondary, Parents, Home Educators and Special Needs and consist of a number of inspiring keynote and engaging short talks that will link to follow up break out workshop sessions.

Line up:

So far we have the following speakers confirmed or in our sights:

Inkie - world famous graffiti artist from Bristol will talk about street art and hopefully do a painting while he is in the city
Frank Cottrell-Boyce - a talk by this top children’s author on the #AARTofBOOKS - building a culture of reading in schools and the importance of reading together at home. And hopefully some robots!
Alan Gibbons - local artist/author/activist will present his insights into the power of culture, community and stories that make Liverpool such a special city - the #ARTofCOMMUNITY
Bill Harpe - one of the city’s cultural legends, who with his partner Wendy Harpe almost invented the phrase ‘Community Arts’ and have been running the Black-E Community Arts Centre for over 50 years. Bill will talk about the #ART of GAMES
Prof Caroline WIlkinson - an introduction to the work on Liverpool School of Art and Design by its Director, a world authority on face tech.
Prof Simon James - we are delighted to be able to include a talk by the lead researcher on the recently published Durham Commission report on art in education.
Andre Anderson - this will be a fascinating talk and workshop on community publishing by the Head Teacher of the Freedom and Balance Art School.
David Wearing - a school leader from Cheshire who rewrote his whole school curriculum around STEAM and creativity in 6 weeks - the #ARTofCURRICULUM
Chris Tolson - we hope to get this amazing head over from Bradford to share his thoughts, dreams and fears as he embarks on a similar #ARTofARTSMARK journey to David Wearing, who is going to help and advise him
Carolyn Murray - will talk about the inspiring work of their Dot Art Schools project and annual art competition for schools.
Andy Cooper - Co-Founder of epic local digital/art/experiences agency to talk about cutting edge tech and skills it needs, role it plays will talk about the #ARTofCODE
Jo Stokes - runs amazing local arts education team AsCreative and will talk about the #ARTofSTORYTELLING
Paul Carney - brilliant artist/author from the North East and member of NSEAD Council
Leigh Adams - Head of Education for the British Film institute (tbc)
Patrick Otley O Connor - Head Teacher at North Liverpool Academy - to talk about the scooter shop/workshop they have in school

Check the film above for the weekend we held last time in Liverpool and over there for a similar day in King’s Cross.

Tickets will fly. Early birds get worms and discounts.

See you in the mosh pit.

Sat: #ARTofCommunity day

A day of talks and activities at the iconic Black-E Community Arts Centre in Liverpool.

T-shirt design and printing - where visitors young and old can design thier own heart logo to go on an I LOVE ART T-SHIRT

Rocket workshop - make and fire a paper rocket up into the roof of the Black-E (volunteer dads needed to man the bicycle pump!!!)
Keith Haring artwork - visitors young and old are invited to add to a mural inspired by this New York artist's work inspired by the exhibition that finishes at Tate Liverpool tomorrow
Short Our Art talks - visitors will be invited to take to the stage at the Black-E to tell short stories about their art - whether
A chat with Nile Rodgers - as a special gesture to STEAM Co.'s #Our Art 19 week, Nile Rodgers has recorded a conversation with dad, and co-founder of STEAM CO. Nick Corston who will present it at the Back-E today as an interactive and inspiring stage show. Nile will say what The Song Family, means to him, his art journey, the place he has for Liverpool in his heart and what his BHM is! This is not to be missed
Sing and Dance Along - we will end the day with a mass chorus of two anthems that have underpinned this week - Sister Sledge’s ‘We are Family’ and ‘All Together Now’ - by Liverpool’s Finest, the Farm.

Sat eve – #DanceConnects Community Party

CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING

Thanks to our friends at Capoeira for All, the local Liverpool Community Enterprise that is changing lives with dance, dance is going to be a major theme of #OURART19 Week given how dance connects.

And we couldn't have a creativity festival without a dance ourselves and we're going to throw one hell of a party on the Saturday evening.
We’ve got the brand new semi spring dance floor, monster sound system and lighting rig at the Black-E community arts Centre pencilled for this and are working out the details now. Sign up to be first to hear.

It will be a dance party 7pm to 3am (kids and family friendly early on, adult only after 9pm) on the Sat evening for loads of people in an epic location.

Our eclectic DJ selectors will be dropping tunes to professional dancers leading us across Jive, Disco, Capoeira, Breaking and, of course, Northern Soul. Some us even fancy a bit of square dancing early on in memory of the Buffalo Girls and to kick the evening off as a tribute to the Keith Haring Show that closes this weekend at Tate Liverpool

All to recreate the anticipation memories some of us had as teenagers growing up around the country, going to dances or clubs to DANCE with other human beings. To connect.

For now and until then here's a mood video we mashed together of one of our favourite genres of dance and music - Northern Soul. Tickets will go on sale/up for grabs Tuesday Nov 5th.

All week: #OURART19 events in Schools across the UK

Wherever you are in the UK, if not the world, we want you to be a part of this with your art.

The idea is that you run your own event and share it on Social Media using the Hashtag #OURART19.

We had a few events across the UK during our launch week and have a few ideas and downloadable resources you can look at here.

It doesn’t have to be a big deal, just pop the sign up and share a reading or art session in your school community, at work or in your community

STEAM Co. AND LIVERPOOL

These four films best sum up the welcome and fuzzy feeling we’ve had in our visits to Liverpool.

CAPOERIA FOR ALL

We met an incredibly inspiring man,Akil Morgan of Capoeira For All, waiting for a cab outside Florence Melly School in Liverpool. His community business connects and inspires communities with dance.

OUR INSPIRATION

He spoke at our first Liverpool event nearly five years ago, and if you haven’t watched it, put the kettle on now and sit back and watch the most watched TED Talk ever with over 300 m viewings on How Schools Can Teach Creativity out of Children by one of Liverpool’s finest and most inspiring people Sir Ken Robinson, the talk that inspired the journey for STEAM Co..

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

This is the talk we’re walking. Are you with us?

#OUR ART 19 : A WEEK IN LIVERPOOL AND ACROSS THE UK TO CELEBRATE CREATIVITY