Take Art Spring 2022

Greener Pastures
Take Art is an ambitious
organisation. We want to reach
people across the county, provide
opportunities to those who have
limited access to live artistic
performance, and to provide a
platform for artists of the highest
calibre, who are creating work that
is challenging, progressive and
diverse in its origin and appeal.
We also want to prove that art is
sustainable. Here’s how we are
doing it.
Rural Touring Programme
Rural Touring is green. By
subsidising artist fees, we make
it possible for community venues
like village halls to host high quality
performances for local audiences.
A carbon assessment study carried
out by Beaford Arts, our colleagues
in North Devon, shows that a Rural
Tour has a lower carbon footprint,
by one third, than a single show at
a town based venue. Our SPARSE
European project evaluation shows
that nearly 50% of audiences live
less than 5km from the venue.
Our Rural Touring programme is
funded by your local authorities.
Our financial support has ebbed
and flowed, but we are now
reaching a point where we hope
we can once again provide touring
activity across the whole county by
covering Sedgemoor district for the
first time since 2012. Somerset’s
new unitary authority provides an
opportunity to embed Rural Touring
into Somerset’s cultural landscape
for years to come.
A Summer Programme
In 2020 and 2021, we responded
to the Coronavirus Pandemic in
an inventive way. We created the
Totally Local summer programme
and worked with London-based
producers, Crying Out Loud, on
a south west rural touring circus
project called Circus Around and
About. This worked with circus
companies to put on Covid-secure
performances outside in community
settings. The feedback from
these projects was that outdoor
settings created a wholly different
atmosphere, drawing on Somerset’s
beautiful countryside and bringing
more families into contact with our
shows. We have listened to this and
will extend our touring programme
to cover the summer months, will
ensure our events are safe for
audiences, and will bring a more
varied range of work, including
circus!
Cultivate
Cultivate is working to bring people
together through the sharing and
enjoyment of local food and highquality
arts experience in the
market towns of South Petherton,
Crewkerne, Ilminster and Chard.
The project works with local
producers, farmers, artists and
organisations who support local
community. This project is a
key element of our EU-funded
collaboration, RURITAGE. Cultivate
is putting on events and workshops
that focus on the landscape and our
impact on the environment.
The work benefits the rural
community, aims to educate on
environmental issues, and focuses
on activity that leads to better health
and well-being.
January - June 2022 | Take Art
Book online at www.takeart.org
10 20 What's We OnDo
January June 2020 Take Art What We Do 21