Practitioner Interview

Later in the same day that we interviewed the Acorn's Operations Manager, we interviewd another practitioner who has a background in animation and visual design. She was telling us of how she has worked on the film 'Miles Away', which is an independent film that made an appearance at the annual Raindance Film Festival. She was telling us of the film and how it is about two men who go on a trip but get stuck in a surreal world. Her job on the film was to help produce all the visual effects for the film. She told us how much work had been put into the film and that to be successful with the making of our own products, that we do not procrastinate.

Acorn Arts Centre Saved

In the summer of this year, the Acorn Arts Centre building in Penzance closed as a fully-staffed professional venue but the trustees say grants from the Arts Council England and Cornwall Council mean they will not have to sell the building anymore. Instead, over the next four months, a new business model will be developed for the "iconic" (Cornishman Newspaper) Arts Centre. The Acorn will now be dependent on volunteers to run its operations, but there will still be a number of events in the theatre between now and January. It is also hoped that a number of the current users, such as Shallal and the Big Blue Club, will continue to use the premises. The evolution of a new operating model will involve public consultation and building links with local partners, including theatre companies, individual artists, schools and colleges. The Acorn's trustees will be leading the development of the new plan and will also be seeking to create a new and larger board of people with relevant skills and experience.

Research Source:
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/Time-new-act-Acorn-centre-saved/article-2620328-detail/article.html

Show Learning Outcome 1 Task 3

For task 3 of Show's learning outcome 1, the rest of the group and I have to conduct a case study into the Acorn Arts Centre.
The Acorn Arts Centre is a small, independently run arts venue with charitable status, in the heart of Penzance, Cornwall.
The Acorn Arts Centre was founded in 1987 when a small scale touring arts company took over the near defunct Penzance Arts Centre. The aim of this was to spread art into the local community and create an enthusiastic vibe for art in and around Penzance.
In June 1996 the Acorn Arts Centre received a significant grant from the National Lottery to undertake essential refurbishment and re-design the interior layout. The Arts Centre re-opened in 1998 when building works were completed.
The Acorn Arts Centre receives ongoing funding from Penwith District Council and Cornwall County Council. This funding equates to just under 20% of the cost to run the organization. Penzance Town Council supports their Penlee Park outdoor season with an annual project grant. The balance required is raised through ticket sales, hiring, bar sales and fund-raising activities. The Acorn Arts Centre also receives financial support from the Arts Council, England, South West through their grants for the arts programme.
In 2006, the Acorn Arts Centre presented over 200 opportunities for people to come and see a theatre performance, dance, music, comedy, plays for children, talks, literature and poetry events, films and workshops.
Being a friendly and welcoming venue, the Acorn Arts Centre is highly regarded by visiting artists and audiences. Presenting the best of small scale arts and entertainment has made the Acorn Arts Centre one of the longest running venues in Cornwall.

Practitioner Interview

Today the rest of the students and I interviewed the Acorn Operation Manager. Her job is to help organize all the events and sort out all the acts so everything at the Arts Centre runs smoothly. She gave us in depth information about how the Centre was run so we can extract what information we may need when it comes to the production of our own show for this unit. She also gave us advice on how we should produce our own show; she recommends putting on a show with a line-up based on how we want to pitch to our audiences. She also thinks we should have a line-up that is broken into different types of performers; this is so the audience don't get bored of the same thing and that there is an act for everyone to enjoy. She says when it comes to putting on our own show, that we think about only producing media materials that play over a duration of about 5 minutes each. Again this is so the audience don't get bored and lose interest. She said in all, try to make it short and snappy. Apart from describing to us how she thinks we should make our own show, she gave us the latest information about the break down news surrounding the Acorn. She said that although the Acorn is no longer a centre run by a group of people, it still remains as an arts theater for volunteers who want to hire the building out and want to put on shows of their own.

Young Promoters Website

You can find the official website of the Young Promoters by using this link

http://youngpromoters.org/

Practitioner Interview

Last week the rest of the group and I interviewed a practitioner called Ellen Moule. She works for a young promoters scheme that promotes, commissions and creates arts events in the South West. The Young Promoters is a new group of young people in the arts industry working to increase the appeal of arts in Cornwall to, and for, their own age group. Whether it be theatre, dance, music or visual art, the Young Promoters think about what young people want and then team up with, commission and create arts productions that fit the bill, drawing in new audiences of all ages.
The Young Promoters scheme is a very good source of research for our Show project because they not only produce work that is similar to what we try to achieve, but they also present it in the same way we're thinking of by putting on shows for audiences.

Show Learning Outcome 1 Task 2

For show's task 2 of learning outcome 1, the rest of the students and I have to interview a range of practioners and organizers. The idea of this is so we can ask them questions that will be of help for us when it comes to making our own show. In our process portfolios, we also have to explain how these practitioners and organizers present their work and also how their methods and techniques have changed over time.