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River of lights: photo Jenny Blackmore

spacetocreate is a community interest company, working out of a base in the Garth Youth and Community Project, in the area of the Garth Ward covered by the Pembrokeshire Communities First cluster.

Guy Norman and Pip Lewis are the founders and co-directors of the company, providing artistic direction and a wealth of complementary skills and experience spanning the worlds of community development and the Arts.

Established in 2007, spacetocreate aims to improve access to and widen participation in the visual arts in Pembrokeshire. Over the last nine years the organisation has designed and delivered a diverse range of professional participatory visual arts projects, which have empowered communities and built the confidence and self esteem of participants, leading to benefits for the individual and society as a whole.

From 2011, and with the support of an advisory group, spacetocreate began to focus on developing and delivering takingpartwest a pilot programme of participatory visual arts in Haverfordwest. The programme involved more than 1000 participants and a total audience of around 4000 people, attracting £35,000 worth of funding for 20 community arts projects.

The pilot opened the door to the potential of more innovative and experimental ways of working, as well as succeeding in building community support for the role of the arts in regeneration.

Confluence represents an opportunity to build on these foundations, raising aspirations and building the capacity to test new experimental ways of working, fostering new creative collaborations, inspired by and drawing on contemporary practice across the UK.

We will bring:

  • expertise in devising and delivering visual arts projects in the community including experience of working with arts professionals with a range of specialist skills
  • extensive contacts and a track record of working with local schools and community organisations, as well as in communities suffering multiple deprivation
  • experience of multi-agency partnership working at a range of different scales
  • project and strategic management expertise including experience of successfully raising and managing funds from a range of sources including Europe and Charitable trusts and foundations
  • working closely with iDeA Architects, spacetocreate will provide the overall creative direction for Confluence, engaging the community and other stakeholders in experimental processes to re-imagine the town, drawing on best practice in Arts, Architecture and Urban design.