Musicians required

Market Gates Shopping Centre are looking for musicians who would like to perform at the Centre on Wednesdays over the Summer period 4th August to 1st September.  There are one hour slots between 13.00- 17.oo hrs each Wednesday.  If you are interested contact Tracey Wright, Market Gates Shoppign Centre Administrator for more information.  Tel: 01493 858677  Email:traceywright@marketgates-shopping.co.uk

2010 Tour of Britain

Norfolk will be hosting the county’s largest ever live sporting spectacle, the Tour of Britain cycle race on Thursday 16th September. Specific location timings will be announced at a later date, but the race will begin from the Market Place, King’s Lynn and end on South Beach Parade in Great Yarmouth, having covered one hundred and seventeen miles of the county’s roads.

As the UK’s biggest professional bicycle race and a centrepiece of the British sporting calendar the event will receive massive media coverage in the UK, and around the world, presenting a major opportunity  for Norfolk artists, arts and cultural organisations to profile their work, promote special events and encourage new audiences. A website including dedicated pages and links for each district area is in development. To find out more about what is being planned in your local area and how you can get involved contact Fiona Roberts, Tour of Britain Manager for Norfolk : fiona.roberts@norfolk.gov.uk

Books about artists in East Anglia

OPEN CALL FOR ENTRIES  Deadline: 15 July 2010

Following the popularity of  The Artist in Our Midst series of books, Green Pebble are planning a new series celebrating the living artists who so richly depict the people and scenes of East Anglia. The first book in the new series will be on the People of East Anglia and is due to be published this year.

These books will represent a permanent record reflecting the skill, perspicacity and sensitivity of our local artists. The reader will be able to observe life as seen through an artist’s eyes, engage with the artists’ perspective and empathise with the subject; our heritage as created and captured by our artistic neighbours.

If you are a professional artist with strong ties to East Anglia and have produced work on the people or scenes of East Anglia, you may qualify for inclusion in the book. Selection will be curated and a modest fee will apply.

For more details, please email mailto://michael@greenpebble.co.uk for an information pack. Please make the subject of your email “As the artist sees – people” or “As the artist sees – place”.

Great Yarmouth Quilt Project

Tom Makin-Bell at SeaChange Arts is to run a Great Yarmouth Quilt Project with Norfolk Adult Education.  He is looking for groups interested in being involved in the project.  This will involve contributing a 40cm x 40cm section or sections  to the overall quilt.  If you think your group might be interested, please email Tom at makinbell@btinternet.com, or phone Gilly Plumb at Norfolk Adult Education on 01493 856647,  to get  an expression of interest form, which must be returned by 29th January 2010.

Auditions for performance of History Boys

Alan Bennett’s brilliantly funny play The History Boys is being staged at the Gorleston Pavilion Theatre  from the 4th – 6th March 2010.

Des Barrit, who took part in the National Tour and is playing the role of Hector,  will be taking a master class.

Sheilagh Pascall is directing this performance and is looking for a bunch of bright, funny and enthusiastic individuals to take on the roles of the History Boys.

Auditions are to be held on Saturday 16th January at 7.00pm. Anyone interested  can contact the theatre on 01493 662832 or turn up on the evening.  To go to the Gorleston Pavilion Theatre website click here.

Voluntary Arts England

EastCoastNet recommends signing up to receive Voluntary Arts England’s weekly e-newsletter to receive the latest news, including  jobs, funding and events. 

Voluntary Arts England is the national development agency for arts participation, raising awareness of the contribution that the voluntary and amateur arts and crafts make to the well-being of communities, social inclusion, lifelong learning, active citizenship and volunteering. 

For example, there is useful information about Grassroots Grants which has funded thousands of projects, from sports for the disabled to arts for older people, activities for young people, counselling services, employment programmes, food parcel services, music groups and village halls. It is these small, volunteer led groups that make a real difference to the lives of local people, and often a small amount of money can go a long way.

To view the wealth of information available on the website click here.

Art in Empty Spaces

If you are using or thinking of using empty retail spaces to display art or run an art project, you might be interested to know that Arts Council England’s £500,000 initiative to help artists use vacant high street shops is now open for applications.

Artists are able to apply for grants to support artistic activity that will transform empty retail units into creative spaces – anything from an art gallery to recording studios or family arts workshops – which the whole community can enjoy.

The programme, ‘Art in empty spaces’ will run in partnership with the Department for Communities and Local Government’s scheme ‘Looking After Our Town Centres’ which will invest £3 million to reinvigorate ailing town centres during the recession.

More information about the scheme and how to apply can be found at www.artscouncil.org.uk/artinemptyspaces.