Blog - National Lottery Champions Art
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Helping Aspiring Artists Take Off
2nd November 2020
New Urban Era is an arts project that is successfully drawing in a strong youth following with everything from outdoor murals to beatboxing and breakdancing. This year, the Tamworth based project celebrates its 10th anniversary, but it also meant pivoting quickly to host live virtual events as community restrictions took effect.
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Music Is The Great Leveller
2nd November 2020
Preludes works in areas of Bristol that are experiencing high levels of economic disadvantage and aims to put music at the heart of every child’s education. It is run by manager Penny Rawlings, one of a group of dedicated music professionals, whose work aims to put enjoyment, confidence, coordination, speech and language skills into children’s education.
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Bringing Together Those Who Feel Most Apart
2nd November 2020
The lockdown period proved especially challenging for Beth James, who runs a theatre company for children, young people and adults with disabilities and autism. While millions of people were struggling with establishing new routines the world over, for those with autism the changes proved exceptionally daunting.
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Theatre Is A Mirror To Society
2nd November 2020
Growing up in Nigeria, Moji was initially discouraged from studying for the stage and came to the craft as a mature student. Now working with artists within Sheffield and nationally, her National Lottery funded project, Utopia Theatre commissions writers and produces plays focused on telling the stories of Africans in the diaspora
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Clubbing Together
2nd November 2020
Created for children on the autistic spectrum, those with additional support needs, who are socially excluded, or have disabilities, the programmes Abbie creates for Q Club – established in 2016 after winning funding from BBC Children in Need – allows young people aged between five and eighteen to explore digital technologies in a creative art context
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Singing Across Generations
2nd November 2020
Jennifer Hill is using music to demystify dementia with a project funded by National Lottery players
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The Show Must Go On
2nd November 2020
An award-winning freelance actress and writer living in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland she was due to premiere her new play Conversations with Angels before the complete disruption of coronavirus. Undeterred, Maria set up 1 Eleven Theatre Company earlier this year, going on to write, produce, direct and act in another play – The Broads.
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Breaking The Code
2nd November 2020
“Arts, culture and heritage are the three things that bring us together,” says Anouar Kassim MBE. The 52-year-old father of two received the Queen’s Jubilee Award in 2018 for founding the Milton Keynes Islamic Arts, Heritage and Culture (MKIAHC) – an organisation established in 2002 to deliver art workshops, seminars and events that explore the themes of architecture, geometry, arabesque and garden design.
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Telling Stories Through Tailoring
2nd November 2020
Evolving from his 2016 National Lottery Arts Council Wales funded project ‘Telling a Story Through Tailoring’, Patrick created the Mask Makers in April, a group comprised of friends and local volunteers looking to both learn how to sew and help frontline workers in need.
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The Benefits We’ve Seen Are Huge
2nd November 2020
Arts Care is a uniquely original health care organisation founded on the idea of giving patients, families, staff and visitors a better quality of experience through participation and access to the arts. Every week it delivers a weekly programme of art of all kinds, including visual art, dance, art, music, film-making, creative writing, and even clown doctors across five health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland.
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Mother Tongues
2nd November 2020
Shamim is also a poet in residence at Apples and Snakes, a project funded by the players of The National Lottery which has worked with renowned artists including Billy Bragg, Lemn Sissay, Kae Tempest and Benjamin Zephaniah.
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A 50 Person Zoom Disco
2nd November 2020
KMAdotcom is a working art studio that bills itself as a space of originality, collaboration and imagination. It is managed by four artists from Monday to Friday but is open and flexible to suit the needs of people who come to the workshop.