Arty Party Trustee Report
2018 – 2019
In April 2018, Arty Party’s short film, A Safe Place to Rest, showed at the Sprout Film Festival in Tempe, Arizona, as part of a sharing of forty-seven short films created by artists with learning disabilities.
Art Room sessions continued at Ketley Community Centre and the Gateway Education and Arts Centre, Shrewsbury.
Our film, Four Solos in the Wild, was shown at Poole Museum as part of the Alternative Visions event on Saturday 21st of April.
We continued to run story-making (Physical Theatre) sessions at Trinity Centre, Meole Brace Shrewsbury and held a sharing of work in May 2018.
Our Art Room Ketley group built giant puppet heads. Meanwhile, we took part in Shrewsbury Carnival, our Karnival Krew Shrewsbury members and volunteers walking in the procession, brilliantly dressed as characters from Mary Poppins.
We continued to run Nights Out. In June, we ran a Strictly Dancing Night with dance instructor Tracy Kempster.
In July 2018-2 we launched a Crowdfunder bid to raise £2,000 in order to make a beautiful music video called Your Rocky Spine. We were also sponsored by Shrewsbury Coffee House, Snapdragon Wholefoods, Video Biker, Eric Loveland Heath, and Vintage Wedding DJ.
In July 2018, we took part in the Telford carnival, carrying our giant puppet heads (Bob and Marlene) across Telford in the sweltering summer heat.
Your Rocky Spine was filmed in August 2018. This is a short film about three couples making their way over the Shropshire Hills, to an Arty Party summer ball, at the Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury. All Arty Party members and friends were invited to the ball and to take part in the film.
In August 2018 we celebrated Telfords 50th birthday with the public unveiling of a giant mural commissioned by Arty Party, in partnership with Ketley Parish Council, with funds from Telford Council, and painted by mural artist and storyteller Fran O’Boyle. We also encouraged local people to contribute to a memory wall, by writing their memories of the Old School in Ketley.
Arty Party’s London Marathon campaign began in October 2018, with Caroline Busby, the sister of an Arty Party member, putting in gruelling training runs on our behalf. We launched her bid with a Night Out in November, which incorporated a performance by the Arty Party Dance and Drama Group and a Get Active art exhibition by art room participants.
In January 2019, music video, Your Rocky Spine, was launched at the Hive, Shrewsbury, and we were joined by Stanley the Harris Hawk, from Shropshire Falconry, and his feathered friend, who watched all the films, along with around 60 people, including Christina Trevanion of ‘Flog It’ fame, who introduced our film.
In February 2019, we held a Valentine’s Night Out and Arty Party announced that Your Rocky Spine had won an Honourable Mention award at Picture This Film Festival in Calgary, Canada.
In March 2019, we announced that the film had been selected to be shown at the weekend Film Festival in New Delhi, India.
Towards the end of March, Arty Party received funds from Wrekin Housing Trust, for a recycled art project. The project began with Arty Party members taking part in a sponsored plog in partnership with Telford Street Champions (Ketley Parish Council) and Ketley Community Centre, and was registered as part of ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ week, 2019.