SceneMakers

SceneMakers

By Creative Scene

SUMMARY

Learn from Creative Scene's experience of developing a group of arts advocates - the SceneMakers - to build audiences for arts events.

Background

Creative Scene is the Arts Council England Creative People and Places programme for North Kirklees, West Yorkshire.

We're working with local people to create a place where people not only participate in the arts but they make them happen by working together with professional artists, arts organisations, and producers. It is all about making art a part of everyday life.

A key strategy to achieve this has been to establish a group of local arts advocates - the SceneMakers. They are people who believe in the power of the arts and want to make things happen in the places they live and work.

Objectives

  • Develop local arts advocates to champion and promote events
  • Build audiences for arts events by engaging with 'non-arts attenders' through personal networks
  • Apply local knowledge to marketing tactics to get into the places arts marketers don't usually reach
  • To help us identify spaces and places to present work, to engage audiences through outreach activity and for marketing activity

The target audience

We aim to work with a diverse bunch of people who reflect the demographics of the area and thus the audiences we are trying to reach.

SceneMakers include a solicitor, cafe owners, a marketing officer with a utilities company, and a local artist. Many also have voluntary roles with a local community-led event or group, such as Amateur Dramatics societies, Business Alliances, and community festivals, or connections with local schools and colleges, as ex-teachers or students. They build relationships and spread the word through their networks.

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Resource type: Case studies | Published: 2016