What is Housing
Percent for Art and how does it work?
Funding
Maintenance
Contact us
Housing Percent for Art is a service located within Bolton at Home, the council
controlled company managing the Council's Housing stock. The service also
serves the organisations of Bolton Community Homes, an umbrella partnership of
9 housing associations working in the Bolton Borough.
We work with communities to help improve their neighbourhoods through creative
arts projects. The scheme objectives are:
It's a way of involving local people in community housing to fund and
manage arts projects to improve their neighbourhoods.
Why bring in an artist, doing art might put off a lot of people?
Community artists are skilled in encouraging people to express their views in
ways that are fun and enjoyable. By working in groups they can encourage
people to start talking to each other about their different needs and
interests. People generally find the creative part stimulating and rewarding.
Can anyone take part?
There are criteria. Basically it must involve a majority of people who live in
community housing, that is either tenants of Bolton at Home, or one of the
Housing Associations that operate in the town. After that, we encourage
maximum social inclusion, whatever the person's circumstances, needs or
concerns.
There must be a group of people, the 'Steering Group', who will actively own and manage the project, and it must involve local people participating in a creative arts project.
No. Very often we're involved in a regeneration scheme where the art work is
just one element, and other agencies or organisations are involved.
Partnership work is important because it often produces better results by
bringing together a greater expertise and awareness that can solve problems
from more than one perspective.
How do you choose the artists?
A lot depends on the nature of the project. A musician with street-cred might
be able to attract youths, whereas a reminiscence project might be better for
bringing elders and children together. We also try to work with local artists
if possible.
We're using art, not teaching art. It's all about getting people to communicate with each other, and you don't have to have done any kind of art work before to be able to join in. Most people felt like this at the start of other projects we've done, but when they joined in they found the work exciting and rewarding.
We've done some great projects with the elderly, including dance and reminiscence. Give it a go.
Every project has to be properly costed, and income secured to pay for it.
Percent for Art has a budget that can only be used for the art element. Any
other elements in the scheme have to be paid for from other budgets.
Will Percent for Art pay for all the art work?
This varies on the factors around each project, for instance the scale, what
it's leading to and other available resources. It is possible for Percent for
Art to pay for all the art work, but generally we make a contribution based on
a realistic negotiation.
It is generally better for the association to make a realistic contribution, based on its available funds and the scale of the project. Also, a financial stake will reflect the association's commitment and sense of ownership.
We've some waste land on the estate that we want to improve, but we're not
sure what we want to do. Can you help?
We could help you to undertake a consultation using artists to get everyone's
views, and then collectively you can choose a scheme from the options that
you've created.
No, not if you just want to buy seating from a catalogue. However, we can make a contribution to a project that involves you in the design of the seating area, and incorporates some environmental art work that makes it unique.
We would suggest setting up a group that involved people and agencies that want to work with the young people. They should also be appropriately involved in this process. Once a scheme has been agreed, we could provide the resources for the arts input.
No, our budget is not a security budget. However, we could contribute to a project that incorporated collectively designed art features into parts of the fencing.
It's not just about painters. Together we choose the most appropriate kind of artist for the job. We work with musicians, dancers, video and radio artists, sculptors, painters. When you've worked out exactly what the job is, we'll help you to find the right artist to do the work.
Scheduled maintenance is built into the budget. There is also a separate budget to make good most vandalism.
Most of our experience demonstrates that when the local community are involved in the creation of an environmental art work, and there is real sense of ownership, the likelihood of vandalism is very small. However, there is no guarantee that vandalism will not happen. We would always encourage doing a project, provided that the right conditions are in place.
I've written some stories, can you help me to get them published?
I've always done some painting/photography, can you help me to get my work
exhibited?
We work with groups to encourage people to work together creatively to make
positive improvements to their neighbourhoods. Because of this collective
approach we work with community artists and we don't promote artists'
individual work. However, if you'd like someone to look at your work, then
contact Bolton Museums or Bolton Institute for details of one of the town's
writing/art/ photography groups. They might be able to help.
Housing Percent for Art
UCAN Centre
Hatfield Road
Bolton
BL1 3BU
Tel: 01204 335114
Fax: 01204 335118
e-mail: housingpercentforart@boltonathome.org.uk
web:
housingpercentforart.org.uk
www.bolton.gov.uk/artsinregeneration (opens in a new window)
