Developing Community Through Arts
Community arts programmes work!
Located in Cityside Retail Park, Arts for All has been a bedrock of community arts in north Belfast for 22 years. The core of the organisation's work is to offer opportunities for participation in the arts to support community development, education, community relations, personal development and social cohesion.
Arts for All firmly believes that positive change can be achieved through the delivery of arts projects which can improve the lives of local residents – both today and in the future. Through experience, Arts for All knows that those who become involved in creative activity are more inclined to stay involved in the life of the community.
Arts For All is working towards a better future for north Belfast. Arts for All's vision is to 'develop a more cohesive, confident and creative community in north Belfast'. All Arts for All programmes aim to deliver this vision.
Arts for All is all about positive change
In the past, north Belfast has suffered from the negative impact of social deprivation and division. The Dunlop Report (2000) stated that: 'North Belfast has some of the poorest health and social care indices in Northern Ireland, with high incidences of cancer, asthma, bronchitis and other diseases, partly because of the high level of deprivation and reatively poor housing'.Arts For All thinks all these ideas are really important!
Arts at the heart of it All
Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it (Bertolt Brecht)
Arts For All believes that building good relations through arts is the most effective medium for addressing issues of confict and division, as well as a valuable way of easing social tension.
Over the years, Arts For All staff have witnessed art projects deliver challenging community programmes during which participants are given the space and confdence to express themselves without feeling intimidated.
Fostering such environments gives a voice to people who may previously have remained silent and isolated from the wider community.
Workshops and projects use such mediums as: music - instrumental and vocal; dance and drama; folk art; creative writing; architecture, painting and sculpture; photography and graphics; crafts and industrial design; textiles; costume and fashion design; motion picture, television, radio, tape and sound recording, as well as performance and exhibition.
Arts For All loves community arts!
To see the most recent Annual Report click here.
* ART WORKS! Creative Community Development: Exploring the role of Community Arts in Community Development in North Blefast
The Arts for All team
Jill McDermott has worked in Arts for All since 2007. During that period she has built up relationships with local people and has used her wide knowldege of the arts to bring artists into north Belfast and to support and nurture creative talent through the mentoring scheme. Jill has responsibililty for the organisation and has seen firsthand what community arts can do at grassroots level and how it can be used as a tool to help people address issues in their lives
Board
Chair: Jennifer Crockard, project co ordinator of Small Steps.
Treasurer: Muriel Bowyer, co-ordinator of Small Steps. She has 20 years' community development experience with a background in community development, administration, regeneration and support work.
Rosie Mulvenna, Manager in Second Time Around charity shop
Helen Johnston, Tresurer of The WAC group (Women' Art and Crafts)
Lee Reynolds, councillor for the Belfast City Council
Joe Crainey, local resident
Jackie Greer