Welcome Message

As you may know, this blog started life as a resource aimed at the members and Alumni of Birmingham University's Guild Musical Theatre Group.















Since then, I have realised that a great many artists I know could use a serious resource for discussion and debate of the major issues.















So, I open this network to any and all arts professionals who would like to use it. Over the years, I have seen some awe inspiring performances and productions by a great many talented and high ranking individuals, whose knowledge would be an asset to the artistic community. I invite these individuals and others to come forward, so that their achievements may be celebrated.






If you would like to write articles or make comments on this blog, please let me know. My contact email is on the link. Membership is free, and there are no obligations. Existing members are free to write as and when they want.








Its is also easy to forget, that we don't often have a chance to discuss or to think about the most serious issues affecting the arts. Despite all the progress made by online networks like Facebook and Twitter, there still needs to be a place where opinions can be viewed, and I hope that this will be such a place: a neutral ground, where all are welcome, and where knowledge can be shared.















Artists of all disciplines, I hope that this will assist your development and further networking. May this resource serve you well.















Best Regards,















James Megarry















Founder















Thursday 24 January 2013

Festival Format

Something I’d like to share. A few years ago, I proposed one possible format for the Visualise Festival 2010. It was not successful, but all the same, I’d like to put forward the ideas as a format for festivals and events.

The idea was to plan and organise the festival within a given budget, to showcase young people’s talent in the visual arts. While I realise that a dedicated team has long since put together and held the festival with great success, here was what I proposed, in a nutshell:

Formation

  • Invite each visual arts institution in the city of Birmingham and beyond, (including The Ikon Gallery, The Museum and Art Gallery and many others), to send a representative.
  • These representatives then form a committee, and allocate roles among themselves, i.e. secretary, treasurer etc. This ensures fair representation, participation and backing of all leading arts institutions.
  • An operations manager and treasurer can be appointed to oversee proceedings.
  • Invites should be sent to every celebrity artist and critic in the country, to participate on the judging panel of this event. The mayor and council members should also be invited to attend.

Early Stages

  • To enter the competition, entry forms could be made available at all participating arts institutions, as well as online.
  • Announcements of both the festival and for volunteers, should be made across all social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Flickr, Youtube, and all other networks. A Boolean thread should be included of the festival to make searchable on Google.
  • Online discussion of the event should be promoted as much as possible to raise its profile.

Structure

  • Volunteers can be recruited from local arts groups, and from volunteers associations.  Contact details for them are held in a ‘Data Bank’, similar to the model used by Warwick Castle, but safeguarded and administered by Birmingham City Council.
  • Each ‘group’ of volunteers is based at one of the participating institutions, and led by a team leader, selected with the approval of the committee.

Administration

  • Expenditure and income is reported by each team leader on a daily basis, to the Treasurer of the committee, as budget must be minimal, volunteers are used wherever possible, and expenditure should be closely monitored.
  • Communication is primarily online via a special Linkedin or other online network set up for the purpose. Intercom and radio may be used during events for direct communication between all parties.

The Event

  • The festival should take place across the city over a period of several weeks. Events are co-ordinated by the committee, via the team leaders at each institution, with their backing.
  • The Midlands Arts Centre should be its headquarters, although artists’ works should be displayed at each participating institute, as they are judged, and whittled down to the finalists.
  • The final pieces should be displayed at the Midlands Arts Centre (recently refurbished at the time of this proposal was written), and a public event held, at which the winner is announced, and offered a scholarship to professional artists or similar prize. All celebrity guests should be invited to attend.



Although the festival has long since been held, I would like to use my original proposal (above) as an example of format for a festival or public event, and hope that it may inspire new ideas in others. You are more than welcome to add your own experiences, and I look forward to reading them.


DISCLAIMER: THIS PROPOSAL WAS NOT ACCEPTED FOR THE ABOVE FESTIVAL. NO ASSUMPTIONS MAY BE MADE, NOR ANY IMPLICATIONS BE INFERRED TO ANY INSTITIONS AND/OR ORGANISATIONS MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE. THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS OPINION ONLY, AND IS NOT A TRUE REFLECTION OF ANY EVENTS, NOR SHOULD ANYTHING IN THIS ARTICLE BE TAKEN TO INFER AS SUCH.

Sunday 20 January 2013

Discipline vs Creativity: An Age Old Dilemma

It’s probably the oldest conflict in the history of any art form. How disciplined or creative must you be to make great art, and at that point do the two conflict?

Performance is not a democracy. Alas, there must be someone in charge at all times, to tell the performers how it is to go. However, people are not robots, especially artists who are there to create, albeit in a disciplined way. So the question is, how to get the balance right between keeping discipline and encouraging creativity.

I believe the answer lies in how a production is led. For example, a musical is not simply led by the director, but also by an assortment of helpers on every level. The choreographer, the musical director, stage manager, and producer all have roles to play, and each shoulder some of the responsibility. They will have input into the finished product: so clearly, the production process is not a one way street.

But I argue that power needs to be delegated yet further. Dance captains should be recruited to assist the choreographers; and vocal coaches and chorus masters may assist the MD's. The same can be done for every major role in the production team, ensuring that as many people are invovled in the production process as logistically possible.

While delegation may seem unwieldy in theory, I have seen it used to great effect. One company I visited used dance captains and vocal coaches for each section of a chorus of 50 young performers. Orders were issued by the director and carried out by the captains in turn. The workload was shared, and the veteran perfomers got to use their experience. Indeed, this is the advantage of a labour intensive model. It empowers more people and allows them to use some of their own initiative in bringing a production about. This I would argue, is how to balance discipline with creativity.