Finsbury Park Creative Hub

Introduction

 

         Culture for All

         Place, Space and Identity

         Cultural Economy and economic prosperity

         Education, skills and future talent

         Health and Wellbeing

         Cultural infrastructure

 

 

Project Aims and Objectives

        

        

         Provide participating residents with the opportunity to develop a range of core, transferable skills, improve self-esteem and self-confidence

         Establish and promote pathways into employment in the creative and cultural sectors, supporting greater diversity in the arts workforce and establishing stronger links with existing council employment development programmes.

        

         Promote community cohesion and a sense of community pride through the arts

         Enhance the physical landscape

         Promote cultural tourism and stimulate economic activity

         Raise the profile of the arts in Islington and Haringey

        

 

Duration

         2009:

         October 2012: Preparatory work for the Finsbury Park Creative Hub project began with the development of an arts council England Grant for the Arts bid to employ a creative producer.

         October 2013: The Creative producer will be employed

         October 2016: Project completion. However it is hoped that the project will attract additional funding and will be extended beyond 2016.

 

The proposed three year timescale provides opportunities for commissioned artists to work closely with the local community over a prolonged period, thus developing meaningful and sustainable relationships in order to promote broader and deeper engagement in the programme. The programme also enables the project steering group to continue to respond more effectively to the needs identified by artists, communities and key stakeholders as the project develops.

 

Services offered

Connecting artists and arts organisations with the broader community underpins the entire project programme.  A range of interventions are proposed and the Project Board has identified three priority areas for commission interventions:

 

         Art in the public realm: projects will be developed with local communities to enhance the physical environment through the development of permanent and temporary public art interventions and small scale events and performances that animate public spaces in Finsbury Park. There will be a minimum of 5 new public art commissions.

         this will include primarily the John Jones Project Space, Park Theatre (already opened) and Platform youth hub. It is anticipated that during the project 9 exhibition programmes, 3 six month artist residences and 9 associated education and community activities will be delivered by the John Jones Project Space team.

         Training and development programmes:

 

Area Challenges

 

 

The role of planning

 

Business/operational model and key stakeholders

 

^st June 2012, the three chief executives of the London Boroughs of Hackney, Haringey and Islington met at the newly developed Park Theatre to sign The Finsbury Park Accord. The Accord signifies a joint commitment between the local authorities to work collaboratively and is the first step to cross-boundary working in order to tackle the challenges that Finsbury Park faces. With this accord, and aimed at encouraging, supporting and delivering economic, social, cultural and environmental regeneration, the three councils signed up to 11 priorities of collaboration

 

         Working together

         Tackling crime and anti-social behavior

         Tackling Deprivation

         Developing tri-borough town centre management arrangements

         Improving Finsbury Park Interchange and surrounding environment

         Targeting development sites

         Improving shared service delivery

         Actively engaging the voluntary and community sector

         Realising the potential of the Arts Sector in Finsbury Park

         Coordinated development  of the Park

         Establishing a tri-borough action plan.

 

In terms of the operational model, the Finsbury Park Creative Hub Board will be responsible for overseeing the project and all decision making.  It will consist of representatives from the key stakeholder organisations and partner delivery organizations including The Business Design Centre, John Jones, Park Theatre, Haringey Council and Islington Council. Additionally, an advisory board will meet twice a year providing additional advice and guidance to the board. This group will consist of the project board member plus representatives from Furtherfield Gallery, Creative Islington and Platform Youth Hub.

 

 

Financing and funding arrangement

 

The Arts Service at Islington Council has successfully advocated the use of S106 funding in the area to support the development and delivery of the project.

 

Risk factors

         The Finsbury Park Creative Hub project is a complex project with a number of investment and delivery partners.  Managing the expectations and needs of all these partners can be a challenge.

         The project utilises S106 funding triggered by key stages in major developments in the area.  Balancing the required timescales of the project with the delivery plans for these large scale development adds an extra risk to the delivery of the programme.

 

Measurement and Monitoring

Thorough evaluation of the project is planned and will focus on the efficacy of the project in delivering against the identified key aims. It will focus on three key areas as follows:

 

1.    The economic/regeneration impact of the project: Monitoring will focus on both quantitative and qualitative measures, including the number of redundant buildings brought back into use, number of training and / or employment opportunities, and additional leisure spend generated and spent in Finsbury Park. The qualitative element will also explore participants, residents and visitors changing perceptions of the area

 

2.    The impact of the project on participants and audiences: Given the breadth and range of opportunities for local residents to engage in the project, a variety of evaluation mechanisms will be utilised.  Specific outputs and outcomes for each of the programme elements will be established in consultation with the commissioned artists and the creative producer. For some elements of the project, participants will be asked to complete a simple self-assessment questionnaire at the beginning and the end of the programme to compare anticipated outcomes with actual outcomes and achievements. For the training programmes and more intensive elements, participants will be asked to complete their own personal learning plans to identify specific learning goals. Participants will also be asked to document the process and record their views on their own personal journeys through the programme.  This will form part of a final exhibition / installation / publication as part of the project.

 

For monitoring audiences, quantitative data will be gathered and analysed through the box office records i.e. age, postcode, attendance records etc. In order to gather more in depth information from audiences, a percentage of attendees at events will be asked to complete a simple audience questionnaire in order to ascertain views on their experience of the project and its component events.  Areas for consideration will focus on the quality of events and performances, previous attendances, future programme suggestions, areas for improvement, marketing materials and leisure spend.

 

3.    The impact of the project on participating artists and arts organisations: Evaluation will investigate the benefit of engaging in the project for partner arts organisations and artists. It is acknowledged that a structured programme of evaluation is essential to the successful delivery of Creative Communities, so the project Board is developing a number of broad evaluation mechanisms including monthly partnership progress meetings, feedback through individual and group interviews by the project delivery team, street interviews, an evaluation form will be emailed to local businesses and resident associations, an evaluation meeting will be held with partners and a report written at the end of the project. The Creative Producer will initiate a creative form of documentative evaluation for this project, either in the form of a film, photographic and / or written essay. The budget also includes allocation for the appointment of a specialist researcher to produce a critical essay exploring the overall efficacy of the project and make recommendations about the development of future arts programmes. All evaluation will inform future project delivery, its dissemination, subsequent commissions and the proposed forward plans for the Finsbury Park Accord Action Plan.

 

Future

The Finsbury Park Creative Hub project has significant potential to influence and shape the future actions identified in the Tri-Borough Accord and unlock future resources for the development of high quality cultural programmes that connect local communities, develop new audiences for cultural content and the next generation of cultural producers.

 

Publications

Cultural Matters: a Cultural Strategy for Islington Council 2010-2015

www.amillionminutes.org

 

Contact Details for Further Information

Pete Courtie, Arts and Cultural Development Manager, Partnerships and Employability, Islington Council, Town Hall, Upper Street, London N1 2UD

Tel: 0207 527 3021 Email: [email protected]