Can I get some help and support to develop my career in the arts?
How can I get a job with Culture Swindon?
Do you provide funding for arts activities?
How can I get involved with making a film?
Do you show short films made by local filmmakers?
Can you produce DVDs in bulk or transfer from film or VHS?
Who decides what acts get shown at the Arts Centre?
I’m from a local drama group? Can we perform at the Arts Centre?
How can I get work experience at the Arts Centre?
I would like to volunteer at the Arts Centre – what do I do?
What rooms/spaces do you hire at the Arts Centre?
How can I book rooms at the Arts Centre for a meeting or performance?
When is the One Act Play Festival?
Does the Council organise the Swindon Festival of Literature?
Culture Swindon is part of Swindon Borough Council. Along with running the Swindon Arts Centre in Old Town, Create Studios digital media centre, Artsmad, Mobile Media and Artsminds, we also promote visual arts, organise exhibitions, and festivals and events, including the Bowl concerts. Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, and Lydiard House and Park are also part of Culture Swindon. We work in partnership with other arts organisations both in Swindon and regionally.
The Culture Swindon team offers a support and guidance service for local and aspiring artists, or anyone looking for a career in the arts and creative sector. If you know what are you are interested in you can contact the following direct.
Visual Arts: Barbara Dixon
Film and Digital Media: Keith Phillips
Music Technology: Stuart Webb, John Farrow
Digital Technology:John Farrow
Literature:Matt Holland
Theatre: Clarry Bean
Festivals: Liz Lavender
Arts Management: Helen Miah
Schools & Youth Arts:Kirsty Carter
Marketing: Nicola Western
For general enquiries, or if you’re not sure where to start, contact Helen Miah and have a good browse through our develop yourself web pages to find out more.
There are many ways. You could volunteer at the Arts Centre, do some work experience, talk to a professional in one of our many surgeries, or attend a course.
Artsminds, an initiative managed by Swindon Borough Council Arts Services, is a free forum and network for Swindon's creative arts practitioners and supporters. With over 200 members across all art forms it is the easiest way to get in touch and network with like minded people.
Check out Swindon Borough Council’s jobs pages but come along and volunteer, enjoy some work experience first.
Culture Swindon has a very small project fund, which can be used to support specific grant applications where leverage is required. Guidance and advice from Culture Swindon on grant applications/project development can be classified as support in kind for funding applications. Please discuss any grant applications where you would like support with Helen Miah.
Culture Swindon often works on specific projects, which meet a number of Council priorities. As a team we develop, manage and deliver a variety of arts activities with a range of community groups. Often this is in partnership with other local arts organisations and/or artists.
Thousands of Swindon children and young people have been involved with the arts, thanks to Artsmad. From dance to drama, music to creative writing, digital art to visual art, youngsters - from the age of three to 25 - have been enjoying great experiences. Artsmad is a local strategic development initiative driven by Swindon Borough Council Arts Services and Arts Council England. It is working in partnership with local and regional organisations to provide access to high quality arts experiences for children and young people.
Create Studios is a digital media centre offering everyone opportunities to get involved with video, film, scripts, 2 & 3D computer animation, sound, photography, and web design. Whether people are established in their career, just starting out, or just in it for fun, Create has something to offer everyone.
Mobile Media is the youth arm of Create Studios and offers opportunities for young people to get involved with video, film, scripts, computer animation, sound, photography, and web design. Through Mobile Media, over 7,000 young people – from age 7 to 25 - have learnt how to make films, create animations and get involved in other digital technologies.
You can take part in one of our regular film-making courses or sign up as a volunteer. If any of our regular users are making a film, they often come to us for volunteers for crew or acting.
We are part of an annual, county-wide, series of competitive screenings called Preloader. Films are judged by industry professionals, and winners are usually awarded production support for their next project.
Yes, please see our equipment list and email John Farrow with your requirements.
Create does have equipment capable for doing these things, but we strongly advise going to other companies who are dedicated to these services. There is a good list in the Yellow Pages.
We do. For a recent example, go to http://www.creativeswindon.org.uk
One of Create’s aims is to support local creative companies. Our commissioned production strand is one way we do this. Our productions are produced and directed by the best local talent. Productions also provide genuine work opportunities for recent graduates and other skilled volunteers.
Clarry Bean is the Arts Centre programming manager. He attends the Edinburgh Festival each year, along with other research trips, and then commissions suitable acts. Local drama groups also perform at the Arts Centre.
Possibly. To talk more, please contact Clarry Bean, Arts Centre Programming Manager.
Contact Matt Davis, explaining your age and what you want to gain from the experience.
See our pages on volunteering. If that sounds like you, then contact Jean Goodall.
We have a studio space for art and other classes.
Gallery one is ideal for larger meetings, while gallery two is a smaller meeting space.
We also have the 212-seater auditorium, which is ideal for seminars etc.
Please email Clarry Bean or telephone 01793 466565.
The Harold Jolliffe One Act Play Festival takes place at the Arts Centre in February each year, and is a competitive festival run by the Swindon and District Theatre Guild. For further details visit their information page.
Swindon Borough Council, and in particularly its Culture Swindon and Library Service, plays a key part in Festival organisation in many ways. It provides venues, partnerships, programming ideas, marketing, and other support in kind. Crucially, it also provides an annual grant to the Festival, as well as financial support to its organiser to create literature development events within the main programme. The Swindon Festival of Literature is a project of the Lower Shaw Farm Association in Shaw, West Swindon, where it was founded in 1994 and has its head office. Its organizer is Matt Holland. He has the direct support of a team of six, representing sponsors and users.
Swindon Borough Council’s Festivals and Events Officer co-ordinates the Mela, in partnership with the community organisation Swindon Mela.
Accessibility Guideline Notes
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