News and Events
TVA's latest newsletter (Spring 2010) can be downloaded from the Resources section.
3 February 2010
Tees Valley Arts awarded major grant from the Northern Rock Foundation
Tees Valley Arts is celebrating after being awarded a grant of £75,000 over three years to support its work as an arts development agency.
TVA is an arts development agency based in Middlesbrough in the North East of England, working across the Tees Valley; it is an organisation which champions participation in high quality arts and stimulating creative activities as a tool for improving the quality of life and learning for individuals and communities. TVA works in education: designing and delivering stimulating programmes for able students, for disengaged learners, for excluded or at risk pupils, and to deliver the science curriculum and environmental learning and awareness in unexpected and enjoyable ways. TVA works in diversity and inclusion: using the arts to support and empower people who face life’s challenges. TVA works to bring people together with mutual respect and celebration.
TVA works to support artists, creatives and makers in the Tees Valley and contributes to the development and strengthening of our local creative industries.
Rowena Sommerville, Director of Tees Valley Arts commented: “we are very grateful for the continued support of the Northern Rock Foundation as well as our other regular funders Arts Council England, the five Boroughs of the Tees Valley, and the Baring Foundation.
TVA has also recently received project funding for two exciting developments:
With support from Middlesbrough Council, the Harmony Initiative will involve a film-maker and writer working with a group of young Muslims (including refugees and asylum seekers) to create a short film: representing who they are, their wishes, aspirations & lives. The film will hopefully be screened at WorldFest in May and the Mela in July.
Thanks to funding through the Public Health Grant Scheme (Hartlepool PCT administered by Hartlepool Voluntary Development Agency) and the support of the Teenage Pregnancy team in Hartlepool, writers Bob Beagrie and Andy Willoughby will be working with teenage mums and mums-to-be to create a piece of drama around the themes of sex, relationships, pregnancy and parenthood. The aims of the project, Getting It, are to engage the group in positive activities – build confidence & self-esteem, address issues around second pregnancies and to create a model for Sex & Relationships Education based on peer education & creativity.
TVA has over 27 years experience of managing and delivering high quality creative projects in and around the North East of England since being established in 1982 as Cleveland Arts.
TVA is a registered charity; any profits we make go back into the business to support the development of more opportunities for people in the Tees Valley to participate in creative activities.
15th December 2009
Maurice Dezou appointed as Refugee Arts Worker for Tees Valley Arts
Maurice Dezou has been appointed as Arts Project Worker at Tees Valley Arts to support newly arrived communities and individuals who are interested in the arts.
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Maurice, originally from the Ivory Coast, has been active in the Tees Valley cultural scene for many years as a Film Maker, Lecturer, Musician and co-ordinator of the WorldFest Music Festival. He is also a DJ on Community Voice FM, a new community radio station in Middlesbrough and a member of the Board of Arts Council England, North East. |
TVA can work with people who were artists, musicians, writers, dancers, singers, sculptors or film-makers in their home countries and will try to help them rebuild and restart their careers; TVA can help them understand how culture works in the UK and will help them find out about opportunities and contacts.
TVA can work with groups who want to celebrate their own cultural traditions and with people who want to work with others from different backgrounds to, for example, make a film or have an exhibition or put on a concert.
TVA can also help people build up networks and find out about events where groups can perform or show their paintings or read their poems; TVA runs the WorldFest which celebrates diversity and showcases world-class talent and has links to lots of other events and networks.
The Refugee Arts Worker post has been funded by The Baring Foundation for three years, so big thanks to them.
Maurice Dezou commented “If you are living in the Tees Valley and you are a refugee or an asylum seeker or recently arrived in the UK and you are interested in the arts – then this is for you, please contact me!”
Tel: 07525 053193 (mobile); 01642 264651 (office)
Email: mauricedezou@hotmail.com
Pupils are Going Underground
26 October 2009
Pupils from four schools in the Tees Valley area are exploring a quarry site local to them with the help of professional artists and local wildlife, history and geological specialists.
In a project titled ‘Going Underground’, run by Tees Valley Arts and funded by Natural England through Defra's Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund , pupils from Clavering Primary in Hartlepool, Frederick Nattrass Primary in Norton, Preston Primary in Eaglescliffe and Roseberry Community Primary in Great Ayton have been teamed up with four different local artists to explore and improve knowledge and understanding of geodiversity, biodiversity and local heritage through a number of exciting creative art forms at four different quarry sites.
Forming the basis of this fun and innovative approach to learning, a class from each school visited their local quarry site to have a hands on experience of the quarry they will be exploring. One site is the active quarry at Hart, owned by Sherburn Stone Company Ltd., whereas the others have been decommissioned at different times and are therefore at different stages of natural restoration.
Joe Dunne, Tees Valley Arts’ Heritage Officer explained “Through using the arts in this way, this project is providing an exciting and innovative means of interpreting unusual sites (quarries!) as a source of national curriculum learning.”
Tees Valley Arts works with schools to develop environmental learning arts-based projects. For more information please contact Joe Dunne, Heritage & Environment Officer on 01642 264651 or email joe.dunne@teesvalleyarts.org.uk
The stART Project now has its own blog - check it our here
1st September 2009
TVA awarded development grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Tees Valley Arts have been awarded £8.600 for the development phase of 'Green TV'.
Green TV’ is a Heritage Education and Celebration programme that will raise awareness of and increase public access to key areas of outstanding natural heritage within the Tees Valley. This will be achieved
through a coherent partnership programme of creative interpretation and cultural arts based particiption– enjoyable ways for pupils to learn about local ecology, about local green spaces near them, local heritage
and to gain arts skills.
Green TV is a 2 year programme of educational and site based community residencies, working with 20
schools across the Tees Valley.
‘Green TV’ will be a partnership between Tees Valley Arts (TVA) and RSPB Saltholme, Tees Valley
Wildlife Trust, Teesmouth Field Centre and Darlington Borough Council and 20 schools. The project will
be delivered by professional community artists and conservation workers from the four partner
organisations, managed by TVA’s Heritage & Environment Officer, Joe Dunne, and funded by The Heritage
Lottery Fund.
For further information please contact Joe Dunne at Tees Valley Arts on 01642 264651.
Older News Items can be found in our News Archive