Creative Development Team

Walsall Council Creative Development Team has been part of Walsall Council for nearly 20 years. The team uses the arts and creativity for conversations with local people- using the right language with the right people then acting as ‘interpreter’, cutting through jargon so that people from all walks of life can not only understand each other, but can go on to develop skills in communication to speak for themselves.

We find ways for local people to express their ideas about specific issues through visual and digital arts, drama, dance, music, crafts and more unusual art forms.

We find the most appropriate art forms and skilled arts workers to engage with even the hardest to reach individuals and communities. Our projects enable participants to explore issues for themselves and influence changes in services and communities.

In 2007/08 we involved 4,500 local people in participatory activities in Walsall and reached audiences of more than 16,000.

Working Together….

We develop partnerships, working closely with other services in Walsall and the region who want to use our methods to change attitudes, improve services and build stronger communities.

Our work has led to people changing their environment, their outlook to health, aspirations, access to services, employment, social welfare and ultimately building their pride in Walsall and the Black Country.

The skills and experiences of the team in communication and in guiding these conversations make our work subtle and thoughtful. As well as just providing the energy for the dialogue, we lay the foundations for the changes.

Our methods work because they are inclusive and participatory; fun and non-threatening yet purposeful, with a real aim and the desire to make a contribution.

The team has grown to the equivalent of 10 full time posts over the past 20 years to cope with the demand of the work we create, generate and deliver. But the equivalent of more than three of those posts is paid for with external funding.

Due to successful partnership working we bring in four times more money in commissions and grants to the Council than our allocated budget. We also support our partners in the voluntary sector with fundraising advice for arts projects in the community.

Our work creates a lot of employment for hundreds of local people, freelance community arts workers and artists in and around Walsall.

The Team’s work is nationally recognised as a model of good practice when it comes to giving people a voice, highlighting opportunities and enriching communities.

Our work is inspired by the concept of Community Arts, and indeed that was the Team’s title until 2006 when we realised our ‘umbrella’ had opened much wider to cover a far bigger area.

Our Heritage

Community Arts isn’t about looking at pretty pictures. It’s not even necessarily about painting those pretty pictures. It’s about being in the picture….

One of the hardest tasks for health professionals is getting people involved in day-to-day business in a productive, positive way.

It’s often easier to moan when you’ve got a problem than it is to access the decision-making process in the first place, especially if, for whatever reason, you have obstacles to overcome such as poor communication skills and lack of self-confidence.

You need a ‘hook’ to pull people in, something interesting in itself that can open the door to discussion, decision-making and getting the job done well. Something empowering.

Working with local service providers and community groups, we creatively design projects that access hard to reach groups of people, and approach the most difficult of issues in fun, non-threatening ways.

Link on Walsall Council website: http://www.walsall.gov.uk/index/libraries_and_heritage_arts/creative_development_team.htm

A project the team has had a great deal of input into recently has been the local Caldmore Village Festival, you may be interested in finding out more about this inspirational piece of work: http://caldmorevillagefestival.wordpress.com/