REM Lincolnshire MuBu

Press Release

14 December 2010

For Immediate Release

Lincolnshire Museums embrace the power of the digital network

Nine Lincolnshire museums are attracting visitors with digital projects by taking part in a groundbreaking initiative known as MuBu.

MuBu gives people across the East Midlands lots of new ways to find out about, be part of and enjoy their local museums with projects like “Out in the Sticks” and “My Woodhall Spa”

“Out in the Sticks” is an exciting photography and oral history project by Lincolnshire County Council and The Collection. Social media, blogging, films and photographs all combine online as a virtual voice to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) people living and working in Lincolnshire. Topics include personal experiences, first crushes, coming out and gay icons.

“Archive 2010 My Woodhall Spa” is generating a collection of film and images from visitors, museum volunteers and local young people. Films and slide shows include a first person perspective and show the sentimental value that the visitors and local community have for the museum. Submitted films and photographs are being posted onto a range of social sites including Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

The museums in Lincolnshire hosting MuBu projects are:

Alford Manor House

Project: Access all Areas

Intergenerational project between volunteers (mostly 70+) and young people exploring Alford heritage. Outputs might include a DVD and YouTube extracts. Projects will explore the Lincolnshire dialect and how different generations communicate. http://www.mubu.org.uk/mywoodhallspa/

Church Farm Museum						Project: Black to Green
Looking at the change in farming and agriculture from non-carbon, through oil era, and in the future back to a non-carbon basis. A cartoon/film will be produced by students, using the collections to illustrate the changes. The film is to be launched as part of Skegness’s SO festival.
Doddington Hall		Project: Old, new, mostly borrowed and one blue
Linking with an exhibition of wedding dresses from the collection, local schools will collaborate to run an online competition to design a dress, which will then be made up by the students of Lincoln University.
Heritage Lincolnshire				Project: Local Heritage on line
Using historical sites to engage volunteers from local history groups in the creative digital interpretation of sites. Working with schools to produce an online tool-kit on how to make the most of heritage sites.
Lincolnshire Heritage Forum							Project: The young people’s guide to Lincolnshire museums
Working with V-involved to develop a digitisation project with young people. The Heritage forum will engage young people in creative projects; such as podcasting and film-making. Working across a number of museum sites.
Lincolnshire Life			Project: Fashions from the Past
This project focuses on the 18th Century costume collection held at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life. The project will provide an opportunity for wider access to the collection and new interpretation will be developed through audience interaction and utilizing digital technology.
The Collection	Project: Out in the Sticks
A photography and oral history project designed to give a presence and voice to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) people living and working in Lincolnshire. LGBT individuals and communities appear to be missing from Lincolnshire’s history as there is little evidence available in local museums to illustrate LGBT life. http://www.mubu.org.uk/outinthesticks/
Trent Vale Partnership					Project: Village uncovered, Marton community heritage
An archaeology project with community involvement. They will work with a local school and the broader community to interpret finds through creative activities such as film-making and creative writing.
Woodhall Spa Cottage					Project: Archive 2010 – My Woodhall Spa
Cross-generational learning with museum volunteers, the U3A and young people creating trails from museum collections of Woodhall Spa images with contemporary views. Training staff and volunteers in using social networking applications and building a strong online presence.

For further information on all these projects visit www.mubu.org.uk

Ends For further information, images and interviews please contact Communications Agency Holland Alexander, on 0116 216 6868.

Information for Editors:

For further information, images and interviews please contact Communications Agency Holland Alexander 0116 261 6868
MuBu is a Renaissance East Midlands programme. It supports museums in the provision of activities that link audiences and collections by providing grant funding and a supportive network for training and skills sharing. The idea behind the programme developed from consultation with audiences, museums and strategic partners, including MLA and Collections Trust. For more information go to: www.Mubu.org.uk
Renaissance East Midlands – Renaissance is the Museums Libraries and Archives Council’s ground-breaking programme to transform England’s regional museums. www.mla.gov.uk/renaissanceeastmidlands

Culture Club

PRESS RELEASE

1^st July 2010

Igniting Ambition in the East Midlands

A fourth showcase of arts, heritage and media projects is being planned for the summer of 2011 in the East Midlands in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games.

With funds from the Legacy Trust UK and the European Regional Development Fund and with support from Arts Council England, the Igniting Ambition programme has announced initial awards of more than £122,000 for 13 projects to be created and delivered during the 2011 showcase ‘Connecting Communities’ in Northamptonshire.

The ‘Connecting Communities’ programme is about engaging young people and their families, improving health and wellbeing and raising awareness of environment and climate change. It will encourage international understanding and diversity and see some new and unique collaborations and partnerships in Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland.

A call for proposals to form the Lincolnshire and Rutland Igniting Ambition Connecting Communities has been released and the deadline for applications is 31 July 2010. The combined programme will showcase exceptional cultural projects, events and festivals that celebrate Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland’s rich cultural heritage, outstanding natural environment, local traditions and hidden gems as part of Igniting Ambition, the Cultural Olympiad in the East Midlands.

Organisations applied for grants of between £5,000 and £20,000 for Olympic and Paralympic inspired projects and events, which run between May and October 2011. They are:

Encounters, £20,000 – a series of artistic interventions linking Fermynwoods to Lyvenden New Beild via Tresham Coppice and Lady Wood. This includes projections, a sound piece, monthly walks between the two sites with contemporary poets linking local history and the environment in verse.
Flow, £20,000 – a series of newly commissioned site specific artworks along waterside locations.
Footsteps, £12,500 – the footsteps of a specially commissioned shoe will act as a unifying torch bringing together the diverse cultural heritage sites of Northamptonshire and Rutland through health and wellbeing events.
Mad about the seasons, £10,000 – inspired by the poetry of John Clare, this project mixes poetry, music and visual images to respond to climate and seasonal changes, heritage and the adapting cultural landscape within rural communities.
Victorian Country Gathering, £10,000 – a weekend packed full of family friendly arts and sporting activities that recreates the 1879 Sports Day that was held at Canon’s Ashby focusing on the Victorian maxim of a ‘healthy mind and a health body’.
Blaze Dance Relay, £7,500 – a participatory dance project with performances during the London 2012 Open Weekend of 2011 in Daventry, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Towcester and Northampton.
Critical Mass: Olympiad, £7,500 – four new pieces of video art created by young people that embody the Olympic and Paralympic values.
Run 11, £7,500 – creating a mix of live music, sound installations, and lighting commissions to accompany the Northampton Run of 2011.
Footsteps to 2012, £7,500 – a carnival project taking place across the three counties of Northamptonshire, Rutland and Lincolnshire.
Daventry Olympiad Festival, £5,000 – a multi arts and sports festival taking place in open spaces in Daventry during the London 2012 Open Weekend of 2011.
Olympix, £5,000 – a digital photography project that explores the values and themes of the Cultural Olympiad from a young person’s perspective and captures the historic buildings, sporting assets and natural environment of Northampton and the events of the Igniting Ambition 2011 Festival.
Shine, £5,000 – an interactive digital art event that illuminates the hidden architecture and their historical stories through lighting, poetry and personal images.
Super Couture, £5,000 – a commission to design and create bespoke racing leathers to be showcased at major events at Silverstone.

Paul Brookes, Creative Programmer for London 2012, East Midlands, said: ‘We look forward to each of the events which we’ve funded taking place in 2011.

‘These projects and the artists involved in them will produce some outstanding work which will be enjoyed by a vast number of communities and individuals throughout the region.

‘The purpose of the Igniting Ambition programme is to build momentum towards the staging in 2012 of a World Exhibition of young artists happening in Nottingham during September 2012, this will leave a legacy in the region long after the conclusion of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.’

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For more information contact:

Samir Bhamra, Programme Manager, Igniting Ambition on 0115 989 7567, Email: Samir.bhamra@artscouncil.org.uk

Notes to editors

The lead accountable body for the Igniting Ambition partnership programme is Arts Council England. The 2011 showcase is being delivered in partnership with Northamptonshire County Council, Lincolnshire County Council and Rutland County Council.
A call for proposals to form the Lincolnshire and Rutland Igniting Ambition Connecting Communities has been released. The deadline for applications is 31 July 2010.
All awards are being offered on condition that projects are successful in securing resources from other sources. On average the award represents approximately a third of the total cost of the project.
The ‘Connecting Communities’ full programme will be announced in the Spring of 2011.

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Holland Alexander. Be Inspired. Events, Marketing & PR Agency. London & Leicester.