New Belfast Community Arts Initiative

Description

New Belfast provides innovative cross-community arts projects which bring together arts organisations and individuals on projects which:


are rooted in the local community,
are responsive to local needs and interests
have a city-wide dimension,
provide a platform for dialogue through new ways of being and perceiving, leading to the awareness of a shared humanity
are focused on some of the most badly affected and socially disadvantaged communities in Belfast,
contribute to the social, economic and cultural regeneration of Belfast
promote employment for and the role of local artists in the community as contributors to personal and community self-esteem and empowerment


With over 2,500 participants taking part in projects every year, we work in communities throughout the city; north, south, east and west, all drawn from New TSN/Section 75 data and beyond. These groups are nominated by our unique consortium which consists of 9 partner organisations; Arts for All, Community Arts Forum, Cult úrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities, North Belfast Communities in Action, Open Arts, Greater Shankill Partnership Board, South Belfast Cultural Society and Upper Springfield Youth Network. This allows us to respond directly to local organisations on the ground. In addition to this we work with up to 65 schools through our Poetry In Motion Schools Project.

New Belfast aims to address the issues of:


Reconciliation between communities
Sharing skills and resources
Creating the structures of a New Belfast through the medium of community arts.
Regenerating communities in areas of disadvantage


We are committed to the promotion of best practice, raising the profile of community arts in Belfast and celebrating the innate talent within our historic city, providing a means for citizens at the margins to express their lives and concerns to the wider city, offering a living social dialogue to inform and renew Belfast.

Our aim is to maintain a core programme targeting the following:


(I)Those with weak infra-structure
(II)Those specified by central and local government new TSN strategies


We have a particular focus on:


a. young people
b. women
c. people with a disability
d. members of the LGBT (lesbian/gay/bi-sexual/trans-sexual) community
e. ethnic minorities


We strive to achieve this by:


linking through a consortium of arts/social associations and organisations and therefore reflecting the totality of experience affecting the citizens of Belfast
bridging community division through arts interventions
providing free of charge arts facilitation to core client groups at the point of delivery
bonding all aspects of the programme into a unified social dialogue through the arts
working with all skills levels, all traditions, sexualities, ethnicities and abilities through tailored training packages
offering a working and training route for all graduate and community artists
innovating new community art practices such as:


offering placements and secondments to New Deal clients
offering access to employment through our mentoring of new community artists to all arts graduates and those with the necessary skills from the community
offering established professional artists the opportunity to engage with community
administrating projects for community groups or organisations that lack the necessary capacity or know-how
offering our office as a meeting place for artists and arts organisations without premises
developing linkage with a wide range of non arts organisations and agencies
consulting and assisting communities to interface with governmental arts and regeneration programmes


New Belfast is always striving to enhance its ability to offer creative opportunities. Over the last seven years, New Belfast has grown from strength to strength. The key to maintaining the impact of this work is momentum. If we are to build meaningfully from one programme to the next, we require continued support, from communities, from funders and from artists.