Mobile Integrated Digital Arts Studio
Over the next few months four of our In:volve groups will have the opportunity to work with a new Mobile Digital Arts Studio. They will use the studio to develop material that will promote their work to a wider audience and encourage them to use interactive media to communicate between groups. Their work will also be linked to tva’s new website that is currently in development.
The Mobile Digital Arts Studio, which includes two laptops, visual arts and music software, cameras, recording equipment and printers, has been provided by an award from a Ukonline/UFI partnership and includes funds to support the groups to develop their digital skills and make greater use of tva as a Ukonline Centre.
Groups
The Groups involved are:
- Phoenix Arts: Adults with Mental Health Issues (Stockton)
- small world: Big Drums: Adults with learning and/or physical disabilities (Middlesbrough)
- Warrior Women: A group of women who have suffered mental or physical abuse (Hartlepool)
- You Are Here: Erimus House Refugee and Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (Middlesbrough)
Aims
- To create a pilot project which will create the template to develop a long-term, sustainable project
- To introduce a range of skills enabling participants to produce material which can be broadcast on the web and allow participants / groups to actively participate in their local ‘online community’
- To engage new learners who have difficulty accessing mainstream services and signpost them to other learning opportunities
- To create online links between participants promoting communication and collaboration
The project will use the new mobile digital studio to bring a different learning experience to some of its users and focus on creating new work to be presented online and develop a communication network between participants.
Using the theme of ‘identity’ the work will be created using music, visual arts, video, creative writing etc. Groups will create their own weblogs and will culminate in a joint online artwork / production or visual / sound gallery of work. It is hoped that the groups will be able to communicate in such a way that cross fertilisation of work can take place, e.g. small world : Big Drums will record and upload work on to the site that other participants can respond to.
The website www.midastva.co.uk is under construction by Steve Thompson from the Teesblog project at the University of Teesside and is being designed as a site for the four groups.