Ripple Early Years Arts Symposium
An interdisciplinary gathering for extravagant ideas about art and people under three.
Date and time
Location
St. Georges Theatre
King Street Great Yarmouth NR30 2PG United KingdomRefund Policy
About this event
Join us for an interdisciplinary gathering for extravagant ideas about art and people under three.
Extravagant ideas are curious, far reaching and speculative.
The Ripple Early Years Arts Symposium opens a space for connecting with others through interactive discussions, presentations and practical experiences that explore collaboration with young children under three in creativity, art and play.
We invite artists, educators, researchers, policy makers, arts organisations and funders to join us to imagine and speculate together for yet-to-be-imagined practice and policy with young children.
The event launches the nine-day Ripple Early Years Arts Festival, where venues and public spaces across Great Yarmouth will be the locations for performances of new work created for children under three.
Don’t miss the chance to be at this pivotal and inspirational event that will celebrate and promote young children’s art and culture.
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The Speakers
Young Children, Art and the Continuity of Life
Hans Van Regenmortel, previous artistic coordinator at the pioneering and innovative Musica Impulse Center, Belgium. He is an independent curator of art in/as education and has extensive experience of designing projects for musical participation and development for all ages and in different contexts. He believes that the phenomenon we call music can have a deep integrating power and sheds light on what it means to be human, to learn and to teach. Hans has been involved in a wide range of educational art projects in formal and non-formal contexts and has contributed to various publications on art and music education.
Hanging Out in the Ripples: Research-Creation with people under three
Dr Jessica Pitt, Creative Researcher and Co-Director of Magic Acorns. Jess' music practice and research are with young children, families, and practitioners. She writes and speaks about the expressive and communicative power of sound and playful music making for national and international audiences. She is passionate about young children’s right to equitable access to arts and cultural activities, especially those inspired and underpinned by deep knowledge and understanding of young children.
The ToddlerFuturism Research Group
Dr Charlotte Arculus is a bag lady, vocalist, improvisor, creative theorist and audio-visual artist. At heart of her creative inquiry is the exploration of emergent group expression. Her academic work with young children draws on feminist materialist and posthuman philosophy and has been described as having world-leading originality. She recognises that young children are far, far better at some things than adults. Things such as improvisation and the alteration of time… Charlotte is a founder member director of Magic Acorns, and has been a freelance artist for four decades.
Mini Wonders
Jan Pitman and Jasmine Harvey from Norfolk Museums are one of eight lead museums taking part in ‘Mini Wonders’, an Early Years Innovation in Museums research project funded by Art Fund and Nesta.
Jan Pitman is Learning Manager for Norwich Museums. He has been involved in Museum Education for more than twenty years, working with formal educational settings, community groups and the general public. Jan is particularly interested in trying to ensure that every resident of, and visitor to, Norfolk is welcomed into our museums.
Jasmine Harvey is a Museum Learning practitioner, specialising in Early Years. She works across the Norwich Museums and has a background in both Early Years education and history. Jasmine is particularly interested in championing Early Years and SEND access to heritage spaces.
Roly Poly
Charly Jolly is a musician and creator of performance pieces for children. She uses improvisation, playfulness, the voice and clarinet in her work. She is an early years specialist and interested in how to create child-centred musical performances for very young children and their families. She also works as a creative music leader and composer in the community with all ages.
Kasia Don Daniel manages Suffolk Artlink's early years music project Little Beats, the project aims to promote wellbeing, child development and musical engagement for 0-5's and their families. As well as co-creating musical delivery with musicians and artists, Kasia's role within the project is to create a network of early years music practitioners and providers. Little Beats is in partnership with Magic Acorns, Lowestoft Rising, Suffolk Libraries, Norfolk and Suffolk Music Hub, The Literacy Trust and Britten Pears Arts.
What is co-creation with 2–4-year-olds?
Zoe Kilb is Head of Grants at Youth Music, she is currently leading on the delivery of the Energiser Fund – which is supporting organisations to explore and develop their co-creation practice with 2-4-year-olds. Zoe has a background in arts education, project management and facilitation. She has worked for a range of cultural and community organisations including Discover Children’s Story Centre and MK Gallery; specialising in participatory work with young children.
Kathryn Sturman and Hannah Dilworth set up Made with Music, a Leeds-based charity, back in 2012, the charity runs everything from baby music sessions to family gigs.
Music has always been a huge part of Kathryn’s life, but experiencing sight loss while studying at the University of Leeds shaped her passion for creating inclusive music spaces where everyone - regardless of ability - can fully participate and enjoy live music.
Hannah's professional journey has highlighted the challenges lots of families face in accessing live music and Hannah loves looking for new ways to bring people together through music and the arts.
Creative Reflection - A Thinking Making Sharing Book
Rose Feather is a community picture book maker, illustrator and arts facilitator based in Norwich. She has been making picture books with groups of people including babies and toddlers for the last five years, commissioned by museums, galleries, small festivals and heritage organisations. Rose has a BA in Illustration and Animation, an MA in Museum Studies, and a background in managing schools programmes in museums and galleries.
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Refreshments and food
Delicious vegetarian food will be provided by local non-profit Bakehouse. Bakehouse works against bigotry and division, and building community power in Great Yarmouth with the simple act of sharing food, they see this as the basis on which to build a more connected and resilient community.
There will be tea and coffee available at St Georges Theatre, and there will be a bar available in the early evening.
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Make a weekend of it in Great Yarmouth!
Join us for the Ripple Launch on Friday 12th September, and for a day of workshops and an observer seat for an early years performance on Sunday 14th September.
Please note: tickets for the Sunday workshops are not included in Symposium general admission and must be booked separately.
Friday 12th September, 4.30-7.30pm - Festival Launch
All symposium ticket holders will receive an invitation to join us to launch the Ripple Festival at an early evening reception at Bakehouse GY. There will be an exhibtion and access to an interactive play environment in our dedicated early years arts space next door.
Sunday 14th September - Workshops
Early Bird symposium ticket holders get early access to book onto additional workshops on Sunday 14th September. You can book one or both workshops at a reduced rate.
Sunday 14th September - Early years show observer seats at 11am and 1pm
Limited observer spaces for Counting Sheep. A touching, musical adventure filled with sensory play for babies and toddlers. These will be limited availability.
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How to get here
St George’s Theatre
King Street
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk
NR30 2PG
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By Car: The nearest car park for St. George’s is King Street Pay & Display Car Park, NR30 2PS. Parking is free after 4pm. The car park has over 200 spaces and is covered by 24-hour CCTV.
By Rail: Great Yarmouth Railway Station is less than a mile from the theatre, with regular services from Norwich, Acle and Brundall.
By Bus: The Bus Station at Market Gates is very close to the Theatre, with regular services from the surrounding area, Lowestoft and Norwich.
Frequently asked questions
Find out more about visiting Great Yarmouth – including where to eat and stay – on the Visit Great Yarmouth website. https://www.visitgreatyarmouth.co.uk/where-to-stay-in-great-yarmouth
Tickets for the Sunday workshops are not included in Symposium general admission and must be booked separately. Early Bird Symposium ticket holders get early access to book onto the workshops and can book at a reduced rate.
Yes - our friends at Bakehouse will be providing a vegetarian lunch for the Symposium. There will be tea and coffee available at St Georges Theatre, and a bar open in the early evening.
Yes! When you buy a Symposium ticket, you'll receive an invitation to join us to launch Ripple Festival at an early evening reception at Bakehouse in Great Yarmouth. There will be an exhibition and access to an interactive play environment in our dedicated early years arts space next door.
Organized by
Nurturing our youngest children through art and play.
Magic Acorns is an early years arts development organisation which aims to build a community of practice around early years arts in the East of England by developing cross-sector connectivity, igniting productive partnerships and inspiring new ways of working. We work with artists, early years practitioners, arts organisations and importantly our youngest children and their families to develop new work, experiences and practices.