Explore Winter Bloom

Handmade Productions are an Arts organisation based in West Yorkshire who bring artists and local communities together to create fantastic parades and events

Handmade Productions CIC

Making spectacular community events come to life

Colne Town Hall Building

Join Handmade Productions and industry leading artists for a series of inspiring talks and workshops to help you learn more about what goes into making community parades and spectacular light events such as Winter Bloom. On 28th Jan, we’re opening our doors and sharing some our secrets to help you put on show stopping events in your town. You’ll get to meet experienced artists and producers, discuss some of the different elements which make up outdoor events, have a go at planning a workshop with community groups and get stuck into some creative lantern making. What we’ll cover:To kick off our first Explore weekend, we’ve got 2 inspiring speakers to get your creative juices flowing.First up is Fran Sierevogel, Handmade Productions lead artist &amp; project manager to introduce you to Explore and take you through how to run lantern workshops with schools and community groups.Then after lunch, we’ll also hear from Ben Turner, an experienced freelancer who has worked with both major arts and at a grass roots level organisations l to talk to you about Harvesting Creative Seeds: Growing project ideas with, from and for communities You don’t have to be a resident of Pendle and Colne to join us at Explore, although we do have 2 x funded places available as part of our Winter Bloom 2024 artist development opportunity for local artists. To find out more and apply before 15th Jan, follow us on social media (Links below) This is the first in a series of Explore workshops taking place throughout 2024. Follow Handmade Productions on social media to stay up to date with when the next Explore weekend will take place. Handmade Productions Community Interest Company (CIC) is a community arts organisation based in West Yorkshire, UK. We produce spectacular events and parades, celebrating creativity and bringing together whole communities.We have delivered thousands of unforgettable experiences across the UK for 15 years by working with and mentoring local groups to deliver breath-taking events. Winter Bloom will take place in Colne on 24th February 2024. A massive thank you to our partners and funders who’ve helped make Winter Bloom 2024 possible:Arts Council England, Colne BID, Pendle Borough Council, Building Bridges Pendle, Independent Street, Lancashire and Suth Cumbria Integrated Care Board, Burnley, Pendle &amp; Rossendale CVS, LCEP, UKSPF <a href="https://www.instagram.com/handmadeproductionscic" title="https://www.instagram.com/handmadeproductionscic" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Follow us on Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HandmadeProductions" title="https://www.facebook.com/HandmadeProductions" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Follow us on Facebook</a> About the speakers:Fran SierevogelFran is a Project Manager and member of the board for Handmade Productions and an experienced Community Artist based in the Greater Manchester and Yorkshire area.She started her career working as a freelance artist and maker for various arts organisations and enjoyed working with people to create art for their communities. Over the years, she has made all sorts of artwork ranging from mosaics, murals, casting, textiles, costumes, and lanterns.As a lead artist for Handmade Productions Fran has enjoyed the challenge of designing and building giant artwork including a life sized elephant, a 6 metre tall rocket, and a true to size sailing ship. She is passionate about enabling all people to access the arts and to co-create projects with communities which celebrate where they live. She also loves managing our team of professional artists and enjoy facilitating their development to realise their potential. About Ben TurnerBen has worked in the area of community/participatory arts AKA socially engaged arts practice in a variety of contexts (as both a practitioner &amp; project manager/producer) for 25 years with organisations including Creative Partnerships, MIF, MCC, Alexandra Park, Mcr Festival of Nature, Cartwheel Arts, Oily Cart, Working Class Movement Library, Parklife (setting up the Community Impact Taskforce and Community Fund), Handmade Productions, Buxton Opera House &amp; Action Transport Theatre (now Theatre Porto). His specialisms are working with culturally diverse/economically disadvantaged communities at a grassroots level who traditionally might not engage with culture (or engage in untraditional ways) and working outdoors. He has done this in an entirely freelance capacity since 2014 &amp; before that worked both freelance &amp; part time including with the Royal Exchange managing their community work inc. a 5 year programme for people with lived experience of homelessness.He passionately believes in developing &amp; delivering opportunities for communities &amp; individuals to engage with art, culture &amp; creativity &amp; has a wide range of skills/experiences in this field that have been acquired in a variety of environments, situations &amp; art forms with a focus on being outdoors in the public realm &amp; community spaces. Throughout his working life, he has worked with seldom heard communities &amp; people that have little or no previous experience, creating collaborative &amp; cross art form projects, programmes, celebrations &amp; events that take place in unusual spaces or usual spaces in unusual ways.

Agenda

Registration, meet and greet, refreshments

To kick off Explore 2024, Fran will introduce Handmade Productions CIC, explain who we are, what we do, how we do it and why we love it.

You’ll also learn:
-	how we plan, fund, and organise lantern events with communities; 
-	how we engage groups and the public in the work we do; 
-	how we make lanterns and the materials we use. 
-	Fran will bring examples of small and medium sized lanterns that we have designed for community workshops and present images of our larger artworks which have been co-created and made by our professional artists. 

This will be followed by a demonstration showing the process of making a small lantern, and then a hands-on session where participants can make a small lantern and decorate it. Throughout the session you’ll discover tips on how you can run a successful lantern making workshop with your community. 

Fran Sierevogel - Welcome to Explore and Small Lantern Making

Break for Lunch

This session will look at different ways of exploring and celebrating people, the past and the places we live. Using reference points from existing events and programmes as well as creative ideas for possible projects it will focus on
•	ways of establishing shared reference points and working collectively (the distinction of audience, participant, volunteer, artist isn't always helpful!)
•	timescales and approaches to engagement, including suggestions around embedding an offer and strengthening relationships / increasing ambition over time
•	wider definitions of culture, including links with the VCSE sector and crossover aims, as well as funding opportunities  
Please come with an idea for a potential project, and / or an object which represents this - this could be something place based, heritage inspired, an anniversary, a celebration / feast / significant festival day ... whatever!

Ben Turner – Harvesting Creative Seeds

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