Seven artists celebrate funding boost

Right Up Our Street selected the research and development projects, to be run by Doncaster artists or those with a track record of working in the town, following an open call, which will see each artist looking for new and interesting ways to work with the community of Doncaster to create and capture new work during these unprecedented times. Sally Lockey, project director at Right Up Our Street, said: “This is a very difficult time for people across the globe and we’ve all seen the day to day life we were used to change so much. “As an action learning programme, we are able to shape our work to meet the needs of the community and it means we are able to find new ways to reach isolated communities during this time. “In addition to this many freelance workers have seen all of their income stopped as projects pause or end, for this reason we are really pleased to have been able to award these modest but really important commissions to local artists to enable work to take place in our town. “With the ongoing funding from Arts Council England and DMBC, we have been able to programme home grown talent and artists with a track record of working in Doncaster to continue their valuable and much needed work during these times.” The seven projects include: The Lockdown Affinity which will see artist James Blakey, will bring together citizen artists from a range of Doncaster’s communities to stay connected, creative and hopeful during the lockdown and beyond. They will document their experiences of the moment and zoom out of their own lived experience to imagine other worlds. And they will come together in future to exhibit their work for others to enjoy. The New Fringe Text Art which will see Sacha Grey, Kim Farr and Anton Hecht explore a new relationship and language with audiences and producers. This is a way for people to make art without worrying about it and opening up new lines of communication with communities across the borough of Doncaster. Quarantine Creates, a citizen journalism project exploring the positives of lockdown. Led by Wayne Sables, the citizen journalists will create a series of candid audio interviews with family, friends, neighbours and themselves which will then form the basis of a series of radio broadcasts. “The projects we’ve funded through this open call are very varied and interesting ways to use art to explore what is happening in our communities at this time. We hope that the projects will see even more people engaging in community arts projects and sharing their stories and works in a way that will help us to capture a snapshot of Doncaster right now,” added Sally. This open call has enabled seven research and development projects to take place supported by Right Up Our Street in response to the COVID-19 crisis, funded by Arts Council England and DMBC.