OUR COMMUNITY
Community NOtice Board
"Ain't NO Community like OUR Community!"
We like to keep our 'hyper-localism loves' in partnership with awesome 'international investigations'!
Our blog is our collective notice board.
Here you will find writing about our projects, reviews from trips abroad, press articles, critical texts and lots of other things that are happening in our Romford environment, as well as things you need to see that are awesome elsewhere!
Campaign For Creative Education
...a world without creatives.
The last year has been challenging for everyone. Our physical health has suffered, our education has suffered and employment and economy is not ideal; to make it worse, we haven't really had the support system that culture and experience provides us everyday. Our mental health is in a really bad shape. We miss people. social occasions. Going to the cinema, theatres, music festivals and galleries - the only thing that has really got us through three lockdowns in one year is the TV. But what if the things that have really 'got us through' this past year are at risk?
We really wouldn't blame you if you were to think that the 'arts' are not the safest career choices right now; the news shows us over and over again that the arts are in danger. Actors out of work, stage designers and festival managers changing careers... However. Imagine pressing the restart button to our 'life out of lockdown' without the TV! Without cinema, no music festivals, gallery visits, theatre or magazines, or radio - or innovative ideas and progressive thinking!This world could become a very dull one if creative education was 'given up' - without our new creative generation leading creative revolutions.
We are asking for you to really explore what a creative education has to offer, and appreciate that there is more to an art degree than learning how to paint or becoming an actor. There is a broad amount of career options available to you - including the least likely where creative thinking within the industry is like gold dust.
"ALL SCHOOLS SHOULD BE ART SCHOOLS" - BOB & ROBERTA SMITH
Imagine.
Explore our webpage to find out more about how to Compose your creative career
Our Local Artist's Network
YAY mates
YAY Mates has come about through a need to connect artists and creatives in and around Havering. Created by three local organisations coming together with a shared social and active ethos - we hope that we can create a foundation for more creative opportunities in the Havering area and also produce a better cultural landscape where we live.
team
The YAY Mates team is currently made up of three collaborative art organisations based in Havering, Bluerskies Creatives, a holistic contemporary artist duo focusing on mindfulness and organic creation; Brennan & Burch, an edgy urban illustraion company that creates commercial design and products and The NO Collective, a pedogogic network of artists who create opportunities for young creatives in the UK and abroad.
YAY Mates is an informal group of artists and thier friends from East London (based in Havering) we are very welcoming of members from here and outside of the area.
We are a social bunch of people looking for conversation and collaboration rather than fees and competition!
We arrange regular meetups and inbetween projects and activities, and do our best to keep it cheap and cheerful.
manifesto
Our Romford Community
Romford Film Festival
This festival has the community ethos that we hope so many more would! Not only does it show some amazing Indie films from all over the world, it also offers work-experience opportunities for young film-loving students and paid behind the scenes roles for local technicians. It showcases locally made film and makes international film inexpensive and accessible to everyone that lives close by! Our members volunteer with the RIFF every year with design and work-experience outputs.
Appleby Gallery
Formally 'The Brentwood Road Gallery', this contemporary space in Romford is connected to a local senior school and is one of the only school galleries in the UK. It curates an excellent programme of shows, ranging from local artist retrospectives to travelling shows from top London galleries. What we love most about the gallery is how it supports arts-educator practice, ensuring teachers in Havering have access to a community of maker-educators. The NO Collective has been invited to judge the annual 'Havering Young Artists of The Year Award' in 2018 & 19.
Havering Changing
Havering is one of the most recent boroughs in London to become part of the Arts Council's prestigious and life-enhancing 'Creative People and Places' areas. With a consortium of organisations coming together to safeguard this three-year programme, some of the least-engaged communities in Havering will now benefit from over £1 million of arts funding to form new local creative communities. Romford residents will be some of the consumers of this amazing programme. We have been lucky enough to be involved in the research aspect, with our Illusionarium commission in January.
Our International Friends
The Eurasian Creative Guild
Founded in London over five years ago, The Guild offers opportunities to over 2,000 members, including displaced ethnic Eurasians in Europe, to share their creativity and to build a bridge between Western and Central Asian cultures. Natalie, the project manager of the InAzerbaijan project, is a member of the guild and in 2020 was elected onto the advisory board of the community group. She uses her experience with The NO Collective to offer support to the guild's cultural festivals and events.
European Training Partners
The Collective has inspiring training partners in a number of different countries, with particularly close connections in the Nordic countries. The NO Collective sends participants to projects and assists with projects that encourage cultural connections, whether it be by joining an 'instagram live' to support English language skills or supporting the organisation of international projects abroad.
Så Social!
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