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Annual Report 29th June 2023 Greater Shantallow Community Arts
23 YEARS OF COMMUNITY ARTS 11 REYF k¥ 24 YEARS LV¢K!
CONTENTS
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OUR MISSION
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CHAIRPERSONS REPORT
PROGRAMME REPORTS
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BRINGING THE ARTS TO THE HEART OF COMMUNITIES
SUMMER CAMPS
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18 DRAMA @ STUDIO2
DANCE @ STUDIO2
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EARHART FESTIVAL 8
CREATIVE AGING
BUILDING A HOME FOR ALL 10
25 CELEBRATING IRISH ARTS
YOUTH & COMMUNITY ARTS 14 16 TBUC CAMPS
26 HALLOWEEN
28 ST PATRICKS DAY
28 BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
Special Thanks To Our Funders
THE ARTS IS FOR EVERYONE!
OUR MISSION
Greater Shantallow Community Arts (GSCA) is a community arts registered charity whose aim is to provide direct access to the arts within disadvantaged communities in the Greater Shantallow Area/Outer North region and right across Derry while also being a conduit in bringing communities from “edge to centre” and into strategic plans for the arts, both locally, regionally and nationally.
GSCA aims to promote artists, cultural activity, grow audiences, increase participation in the arts and provide opportunities for communities and individuals to develop skills and provide showcasing for talent using a wide range of art forms.
We also acknowledge the transformative powers of the arts in making strategic social interventions to alleviate complex problems such as social exclusion, isolation, lack of opportunity and poverty.
GSCA is committed to equality regardless of cultural background, age, disability, sexual orientation or economic status.
Our aim is to bring the joy and magic of the Arts into the lives of residents and enhance their health and wellbeing through engagement in the arts at every level
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CHAIRPERSONS REPORT
Welcome everyone, as Chairperson of Greater Shantallow Community Arts I am overjoyed to present for your kind consideration our 23rd Annual Report.
creativity, opportunity, fun and joy, a year in which we at GSCA have been delighted to have played our part in guaranteeing that our community here in the Outer North Area has remained submerged in the cultural and artistic life of our city and that our people’s creativity has continued to be unlocked, showcased and celebrated for making a wonderful contribution to our city’s cultural calendar through events such as, The Banks of the Foyle Halloween Festivities, St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival Celebrations, T’was the Week Before Christmas, our Creative Youth Drop in, ‘Spill the Tae‘ Podcast, Building a Home for All Project, to name but a few.
To begin, I must say how proud I am of the extraordinary progress made during 2022/23, and I’d like to personally thank every team member for their energy, commitment, and consistency in driving our organisation forward, the staff, facilitators, Management Committee and all associates of Greater Shantallow Community Arts who concentrated their energies on ensuring the future of Community Arts.
Never before has Community Arts been so needed within our local communities. GSCAs ambitious 2022/23 programme made a significant contribution to not only the ongoing Covid Recovery process our people needed but also in providing a creative rest-bite to the worries, anxiety and stress felt by so many people as a result of the current economic crisis especially within our targeted communities of the highest social and economic deprivation levels in which GSCA operate and create accessibility to the arts. GSCA’s commitment to providing high quality arts facilitators as creative inspires recruited through are annual public call ensured new innovative artists and arts teachers had the opportunity to become part of GSCA’s creative vision. Throughout 2022/23, we delivered a comprehensive exciting programme of community arts activities, engaging participations of all ages and all interests in all forms of arts programming that were tailored to their needs, aspirations and individual creativity providing clear avenues for skills development and progression as well as opportunities for creative and cultural expression and showcasing of new talent.
As chairperson of GSCA I direct my most genuine gratitude and admiration to everyone who has contributed and supported our efforts throughout this year, and it is with great decorum that I offer this our 23rd Annual Report for your kind consideration. Thank you all for another excellent year, I look forward to continuing to break barriers in 2023 with you all.
Mr Bobby Kelly Chairperson Greater Shantallow Community Arts
When I reflect upon our achievements, the term togetherness has never been so fitting, particularly in this a year filled with
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BRINGING THE ARTS TO THE HEART OF COMMUNITIES
Arts Reaching Communities 2022/23
We created a comprehensive exciting programme of community arts activities, offering a blended menu of weekly classes attracting on average 1800 participants of various ages and of various experiences to engage in classes tailored to meet their needs, aspirations, and individual abilities in more than 90 weekly classes: including dance, music, drama, visual arts and performance. Our weekly class schedule for 22/23 incorporated weekly classes in everything from Traditional Irish Dance, Hi-Hop, Contemporary, Ballet, Salsa Dance, Carnival Dance, Ceili Dance, and many more delivered at all levels for all ages, our programmes of Music will extend in range from Classical Singing and Show choirs to learning instruments in Guitar, Piano, Mandolin, Flute, Fiddle, Tin Whistle, Harp, Accordion, Squeeze Box, bodhran, Drums right through to a range of innovate digital music and DJing programmes of music, development, editing and production. Our Youth Drama and Musical Theatre programming incorporated, My Frist Dance, My Frist Drama, Arts & Crafts, Derry Youth Theatre, Musical Theatre workshops offering a comprehensive and exciting programme of community arts activities that appealed to our whole community.
April saw the continuation of our spring/summer classes leading to our much anticipated ever popular end of year summer showcases in June, including our dance showcase “Smash Hits” with over 150 dancers from our contemporary and hip-hop classes. September saw the highly successful commencement of our Autumn Timetable of our Arts Reaching Communities Programme which included classes in Young Crafters Academy, My First Drama, My First Dance, Young Crafters, Discocise, Boys Hip Hop, Song Writing with Reeva, Speech and Drama Academy, World Fusion Dance, Baby Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Acting Out Youth Drama,
Creative Youth Drop In, Traditional Irish Arts including, Traditional Irish Music lessons in Mixed Strings, Tin Whistle, Fiddle, Conversational Irish, Irish Dancing. October saw our hugely successful participation in DCSDCs Halloween festivities through the delivery of our various classes with participants from, dance drama, arts and crafts all taking part in DCSDCs city centre parade. October also saw ‘I Didn’t See That Coming’ a play written and directed by Rosalind Patton is currently on stage in Studio 2. An additional 2 plays then followed in the early stages of 2023, ‘Good Grief’ written and produced by Constance Jordan and ‘Clutter’ written and directed by Martin O’Brien. March saw our participation in DCSDCs St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival Celebrations, were we transformed Derrys Peace Garden into The Mystical Land of The Fairy People.
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DANCE @ STUDIO2 2021-2022
During 2022/23 dance enabled our participants to live more confidently, connected and aspirational lives. Our many and varied dance classes provided countless opportunities for our participants to not only improve their dance skills but to also nurture their physical wellbeing, improve their creativity and enhance new-found friendships through the social aspirations aspect of our dance classes. Proving ever popular was our Boys Only Hip-Hop classes with Stephen Carlin, Contemporary Dance classes with Ellen Hassan and our My First Dance Classes right up to our senior dance crews with Irena Noonan.
One highlight our hip-hop workshops participants were fortunate to take part in was the outstanding workshops held by the remarkable New York Choreographer Micheal Spencer Philips. Phillips has been a professional dancer for over 22 years and has performed with RIOULT Dance NY, New York City Opera at Lincoln Center, and Merce Cunningham. He has also created numerous choreography commissions for Carnegie Hall and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He also choreographs and directs movement for fashion films and for editorial publications including VOGUE and Harper’s Bazaar, SAKS and Zara. To welcome Michael here was a privilege and his dance experience and skills transferred to our participants was exceptional, as he engaged our young dancers to take part in his upcoming project working with the Bloody Sunday Trust to create a site specific dance piece about our human rights and the troubles.
Derry at the end of historical trans-Atlantic solo flight right through to Amelia’s tragic disappearance in 1937 and the legacies she has inspired. This dance production premiered on Sunday 21st May at Studio 2 and featured an exceptional cast of Greater Shantallow Community Arts dancers. This spectacular dance production paid a unique tribute to a moment in history that is exclusive to our city and inspiring to the world.
We had such fun with our end of year dance showcases that took place in June 2022 with My First Dance end of year showcase taking place on 16th June with 75 kids aged 3-5yrs performing in front of their family and friends whilst celebrating a fantastic year of dance. On the 24th of June we showcased our 2nd end of year dance showcase “Smash Hits” with over 150 dancers from our contemporary and hip-hop dance classes coming together in an amazing breathtaking showcase of their skills learned throughout the year.
The versatility of Dance was evident in yet another highlight for 22/23 which was, our Amelia Earhart 90th Anniversary Arts Festival 2022 Premier of a wonderful new stage production entitled Amelia’s Story. This innovative new musical stage production told the story of Amelia’s life from a young country girl growing up in Kansas to her inspiring rise to fame as the First Lady of Aviation inspiring generations of women to reach new heights both metaphorically and physically telling of her arrival in
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EARHART FESTIVAL
Our Festival had the primary aim of promoting our city as the Cultural Destination of Choice and to be part of offering a unique world class visitor experience to all who attended, bringing to life in our city of music and song a celebration of a unique moment in our city’s cultural heritage, the 90th Anniversary of Amelia Earhart’s (The First Lady of Aviation) historical first ever solo Trans-Atlantic flight by a women, which brought the attention of the world’s media to Derry’s shores on 21st May 1932 when she landed here in the heart of our local community in Ballyarnett in Gallaghers Field. Our Festival presented here in Derry in the city that welcomed Amelia to our shores some 90 years ago sought to continue her legacy of inspiring future generations of women through the creative celebration of her spirit, deeds, and words.
To this objective we believe that our 2022 Amelia Earhart 90th Anniversary Arts Festival has both achieved and surpassed all our expectations, engaging and inspiring many new generations of citizens, visitors to our city as well as local national and internal audiences who have engaged with our extensive Festival programme of activities and legacy and fringe events.
Through the delivery of our Amelia Earhart 90th Anniversary Arts Festival 2022 programme of events including:
The Earhart Arts Prize which invited female artists from right across Ireland to submit inspirational pieces of art that reflected the spirit and courage of Amelia Earhart. “The Earhart Prize” sought to exhibit these works both publicly and online to international audiences. The Art Competition was curated by renown Irish Artists Joe Campbell, Noelle McAlinden and Tommy Long, with the prize giving Award Ceremony taking place in Derry’s Guildhall where Stephen Frazer, Chief Executive of City of Derry Airport presented the winner, Catherine Barron from County Waterford with the Inaugural Earhart Arts Prize for her inspirating painting “The In Between. Catherine made the long journey up form Waterford to accept the prize and to pay her own inspiring tribute to Amelia Earhart continuing legacy. Spoken Word: The Amelia Earhart, Women of Substance, Inaugural Lecture. This event was held in St Cecilia’s College on Friday 20th May to an invited and public audience, hosted by Felicity McCaul with Julianne Campbell, award winning author and poet as the main speaker.
Heritage: The Amelia Earhart, Spirit of the Sky’s Aeronautical Display & Fly-pass Tribute, took place on Saturday 21st May 2022 over Derry City Centre and River Foyle with invited participants from Flying Clubs and Aviation Societies from across Ireland and further afield coming together for this public spectacular aerial tribute to Amelia Earhart leadership and courage from her fellow aviators.
Music & Dance: The Amelia Earhart Vintage Ball. This colourful celebration of the music and dance of Amelia’s era allowed our city to do what it does best, dress up, sing and dance the night away in a 1920/30s vintage ball, held on Saturday 21st May in the Guildhall, Derry with various artists and performers paying their own special
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tributes to the Earhart Legacy.
Cultural Celebration: A highlight of the Amelia Earhart 90th Anniversary Arts Festival 2022 was the Premier of a wonderful new stage production entitled Amelia’s Story. This innovative new musical stage production told the story of Amelia’s life from a young country girl growing up in Kansas to her inspiring rise to fame as the First Lady of Aviation inspiring generations of women to reach new heights both metaphorically and physically telling of her arrival in Derry at the end of historical trans-Atlantic solo flight right through to Amelia’s tragic disappearance in 1937 and the legacies she has inspired. Premiered on Sunday 21st May at Studio 2. Featuring an exceptional cast of dancers and actors, this spectacular stage production paid a unique tribute to a moment in history that is exclusive to our city and inspiring to the world.
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THE NORTHERN IRELAND EXECUTIVE OFFICE CENTRAL GOOD RELATIONS FUND: OUR SHARED COMMUNITY
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Gareth McAlinden
Good Relations Project Coordinator
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Building A Home For All
Building A Home for All innovative Good Relations project supported by the TBUC and the Northern Ireland Executive Central Good Relations Fund utilised the active engagement in Community Arts as a vehicle for building strong community relations introducing marginalised isolated people from all backgrounds, to a new and welcoming Shared Space bringing our communities together to enjoy the magic and creative experience that the arts can uniquely offer. 160 Participants were introduced to an inspiring programme of weekly arts workshops developing new skills and interests, building new Friendships Resilience and Bouncing Back from impacts of the Covid Pandemic.
The Building a Home For All Project exceeded its projected target number of 144 participants, engaging 160 participants between April 2022 and April 2023 that had not previously visited Studio2 shared space before for an arts based Good Relations program. While exceeding our projected participant numbers yet still delivering a cross community split of PUL 64, CNR 64, 32 Other with an overall 22 BME. We have completed the project in line with the applications projected budget.
Building A Home For all had 100% city wide engagement from post code areas BT48 an BT47. The project included individuals and groups throughout the Derry and Strabane district aged from 7 years old to 90 years old. Community groups, schools and individual applicants applied to be part of Building A Home for All in subjects including Art, Arts and Crafts, Dance, Musical Theatre, Singing, Drama, Comic Art, Creative Writing and Oil Painting. In total we had four schools engaged in Building A Home for All, these schools included controlled primary, integrated primary, special education and catholic primary.
Lisnagelvin Primary and Oakgrove Integrated are situated in the Waterside area of Derry/Londonderry and Holy Child and Ardnashee College are situated on the City Side. These schools are situated in one of the most deprived areas of Northern
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BUILDING A HOME FOR ALL
Ireland with some of the highest rates of sectarian crime along with high racist, homophobic, domestic, and sexual violence rates. Other groups were devised by targeting community groups in both the Waterside and city side and throughout the Derry and Strabane District Council area. We also used strategic marketing online to entice individuals who may have interest in our art forms or Good Relations programs or even just to meet new friends and socialize in a new shared space.
Our Creative Writing group was led by former Derry Journal Editor Pat McArt and encompassed both men and women from a diverse range of age and different cultural and religious backgrounds. We marketed the 14-week Good Relations course through online social media platforms and printed posters. The group shared stories and covered themes of Good Relations which had impacted on their own experiences. The group got on extremely well, and had lunch together after the sessions every week, we experienced lots of fun and laughter with this group that made them become close friends. They all found the shared space environment very welcoming through both the facilitator and staff at Studio2. The group developed a publication for short stories called the Building A Home for All Collection which was launched at our celebration event in February.
Oakgrove Integrated Primary situated on the Limavady Road area of the Waterside and has a high rate of PUL and non or other religious backgrounds and Holy Child Primary School Catholic Maintained Primary School has a majority rate of CNR which is situated in the heart of Creggan took part in Good Relations activities together. These schools are in areas of Derry/Londonderry which suffer from high levels of criminal and paramilitary violence and have high levels of unemployment. The classes were split into four groups of approximately 15, these groups were made up with pupils from both schools mixed. The children had never previously meet and took part in Good Relations projects in Arts and Crafts, Drama, World Dance, Musical Theatre, Circus Skills and Comic Art together over a 14-week period. The children were obviously nervous not only coming to a new space but also mixing with another school. Through our first good relations session we could see friendships being formed right away, the children loved coming to Studio2 every week and got to know each other through the art of good relations. At the end of the project it was great to see the pupils sharing contact information and we are happy to hear that the schools and pupils have remained in touch and hope to work with each other in the future.
The Bud Club / Day Opportunities group is a targeted youth provision service which is full time educationally lead for the development of young people with disabilities from across Derry City and Strabane District Council areas and is made up of people from mixed religious backgrounds and ethnicities. The Bud club were involved in Good Relations Drama, Makaton, and Art classes. The classes were themed on the musical film The Greatest Showman using its music and dialogue to teach the students about the themes of diversity, equality, discrimination,
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BUILDING A HOME FOR ALL
stereotypes, and bullying. The pupils extremely enjoyed their 14-week program at Studio2 during which we recorded a performance of acting, singing and Makaton for them to enjoy after the project was completed. Staff at the Bud Club also commented on how grateful they were of being part of the project and having access to the shared space which had much more scope than their own facility for their pupils. The Bud Club performed a Makaton version of the Song A Million Dreams for our guests at the Building A Home for All Celebration Event.
Our Oil Painting group facilitated by Tommy Long involved a wide range of both men and women from all ages from across the city and district. We advertised for this Good Relations Oil Painting course through our social media platforms. This class proved extremely popular, and its quota was full within a matter of days. The class was a mix of beginners and others who wanted to expand their skill set. All our participants got on extremely well and had a lot of nice words to say about their facilitator Tommy. Some of our participants expressed how grateful they for the course which provided an outlet to get outside of the house and mix with people again after the Covid pandemic. Once the 14-week course finished the participants enquired about how they could keep the class open. With the help of Greater Shantallow Community Arts we were able to continue the course for an extra six weeks which the participants were very happy about. During our Building A Home for All celebration event participants displayed their works of art for everyone to see and discussing their art works with our guests.
Ardnashee college is a state special education school for girls and boys aged 3-19, which provides SEN for pupils with Austic Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders and learning difficulties. We devised a 14-week Good Relations course of Arts and Crafts and Singing that the students could benefit from. The participants and staff felt comfortable and accepted in this new shared space and were able to interact with Studio2 staff and the pupils from Lisnagelvin Primary School who were also here through the Building A Home For All Project. The project helped the school create artwork that was displayed by the school and they hope to develop further projects that can help develop the students of Ardnashee college.
Lisnagelvin primary school is based in the Waterside area of the city. The majority of the children who attend the school are of a PUL or other religious backgrounds. Lisnagelvin primary school had never previously visited Studio2 for a Good Relations project. We put together a Good Relations program of Dance, Musical Theatre, Singing and Arts and crafts and Comic Art. The children loved coming to Studio2 every week and had a great relationship with all our staff and facilitators. Lisnagelvin also had the opportunity to mix with
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students from Adrnashee college who were at Studio2 on the same day. The 14-week program covered the topics peace and trust, conflict and reconciliation, creative community and respect. The children were delighted to perform songs that they had learnt at Studio2 for our guests at our Building A Home For All Celebration event in February. We also had the privilege to visit the school for the Lisnagelvin Primary School Spring Show. At the show the children performed Singing, Dance and Musical Theatre that they had learnt during their 14-week good relations program at Studio2. Staff expressed how much pupils had benefited socially and in confidence through having the opportunity of the Building A Home for All Project and expressed the willingness for another group from the school to be part of projects like this in the future.
The Arts in Minds Group were recruited from mental health community practitioners and online advertisements. The men came from a wide variety of different areas of the city and district and worked on good relations and wellbeing through Art and Art History. The men all suffered from similar health issues associated with dependency, ageing, loneliness, long-term medical conditions, and mental health. The experience in art and social interaction was beneficial to the men’s road to recovery and healing.
Our Women’s Hand Made Crafts group brought women together from community groups throughout the Waterside and City side of Derry/Londonderry for a 14-week good relations project in Arts and Crafts. Over the weeks the group developed an array of different craft creations from Pot Plant People, Cushions, Embroidery, Toys and Christmas Decorations. These women also gave up their own free time to help decorate our shared space for our Christmas experience and displayed their crafts at our celebration event.
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YOUTH & COMMUNITY ARTS AT ITS BEST
Creative Youth Drop In
The Creative Youth Drop-in, held every Friday evening at Studio2, is an inspiring gathering that unleashes the artistic potential of young minds. This vibrant event serves as a haven for aspiring artists, musicians, writers, and performers to freely express their creativity and connect with likeminded individuals. Studio2, a vibrant and welcoming space, buzzes with energy as young talents gather to explore their artistic passions. From painting and drawing to photography, poetry, and music, the Creative Youth Drop-in offers a diverse range of activities and workshops that cater to various artistic interests. Participants engage in collaborative projects, share ideas, and receive guidance from experienced mentors who nurture their talents and encourage self-expression. This enriching environment fosters personal growth, builds confidence, and cultivates a sense of community among the young artists, ensuring that the Creative Youth Drop-in remains a cherished and transformative experience for all who attend.
The Danny Quigley Fund
The Danny Quigley Fund has played a pivotal role in the development of our transformative project, the Spill the Tea Youth Lead Podcast, focusing on mental health and wellbeing. Through the generous support of the fund, we have been able to create a safe and inclusive platform for young individuals to openly discuss and explore mental health topics. With the aid of professionals and individuals with lived experiences, our podcast delves into a wide range of mental health issues, offering insights, advice, and personal stories that promote understanding and destigmatisation. The Danny Quigley Fund has enabled us to purchase new equipment, invite renowned guests, and provide resources and support to our audience. By shedding light on mental health and wellbeing, we strive to inspire empathy, compassion, and self-care among our young listeners, ultimately fostering a society that prioritises mental health as an integral part of overall well-being. The Danny Quigley Fund’s invaluable contribution has allowed us to address this critical topic and make a lasting impact in the lives of young individuals.
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YOUTH ARTS, REAL YOUTH WORK
Viral Project
The Viral Project is an innovative online safety initiative specifically designed for young people, addressing the sensitive topic of sending indecent images. With the aim of educating and empowering youth to make informed decisions, the project encompasses the creation of a compelling video that explores the potential consequences and risks associated with sharing such content. Through careful storytelling and impactful visuals, the video highlights the importance of consent, privacy, and responsible digital behaviour. Thanks to its engaging nature, the Viral Project video will serve as an effective learning tool within schools, facilitating open discussions and raising awareness among students about the potential dangers of sharing intimate images. By incorporating this project into educational curricula, young people will develop the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the digital world safely, protect their personal boundaries, and respect the privacy of others. The Viral Project is a crucial step towards promoting online safety and fostering a culture of respect and responsibility in the digital age.
Creative Youth Creative Minds
The Studio2 TV Project is a transformative initiative that empowers young individuals by providing them with invaluable skills and experiences in the realm of visual arts and production. This project serves as a platform for young people to delve into the exciting world of television production, fostering their creativity and nurturing their talents. Studio2, a vibrant and dynamic space, becomes a hub of exploration and learning as participants gain hands-on experience in various aspects of television production, including camera operation, video editing, scriptwriting, and directing. Under the guidance of experienced mentors,
young people are equipped with the technical know-how and artistic vision necessary to bring their ideas to life.Through collaborative projects and real-world opportunities, participants not only develop their technical skills but also gain valuable teamwork, communication, and problem-solving abilities. The Studio2 TV Young People Project empowers young individuals, giving them the confidence and expertise to pursue careers in the visual arts industry while fostering a lifelong passion for creative expression.
Volunteering Opportunities
We have a dedicated team of young people who are involved in volunteering with our regular arts classes here at Studio 2. Our regular volunteers dedicate their free time to come in and help us with our classes in art, drama and dance. These opportunities in volunteering are essential for our young people to develop skills which will prepare them for the wider world of work when they leave school and we are proud that we can provide a base for them to develop these skills for future career opportunities.
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TBUC
TBUC Camps
This year we were delighted to receive funding from TBUC to complete 4 different camps in musical theatre, young leadership, good relations and volunteering.
Musical Theatre Youth Camp
Our TBUC Musical Theatre camp allowed our young people to get in touch with their creativity by taking part in workshops for dance, drama and musical theatre. They also had the fantastic opportunity to go on a trip to the Grand Opera House in Belfast to witness a spectacular showcase of a professional show “Chicago” where the young people really enjoyed their live theatre experience. The programme was a big hit with our young people. The participants engaged in a series of workshops centred around good relations and then got to go on a residential to Corrymeela peace and reconciliation organisation where they got to be part of the sense of community that Corrymeela had to offer and engaged with their practices in good relations workshops.
Beyond Limits Leadership Camp
Our TBUC young leadership programme was a fantastic opportunity for our young people to volunteer and be involved in our summer schemes here at Studio 2. This camp helped provide them with the skills they needed for volunteering which were put to use at our summer schemes acting as positive role models for the younger children who attended. The leadership these young people showed in their involvement with the project was fantastic and really helped build that sense of a community arts centre with their contribution and hard work. As a reward for their hard work we were delighted to have to opportunity to go to an over night residential at Todds Leap where the young people had a lot of fun being involved in a number of outdoor pursuits activities ranging from ziplining, wall climbing, off road driving and more!
Christmas Dance Camp
The final TBUC camp of the year centred around volunteering opportunities for the young people who got the chance to learn about volunteering practices and helped out at our “Twas the Week Before Christmas” event. Our TBUC participants had a lot of fun being involved in this event as they also had the chance to put their acting skills to the forefront as they volunteered in character as elves around the building to make the event a magical experience for all the children and families that came to visit and helped staff out wherever they could to contribute to the event running smoothly.
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SUMMER CAMPS
Summer Camp
July saw the commencement of our 2-week summer camps:
1. Fun School Musical Summer Camp and 2. The Greatest Showman Circus and Performance Summer Camp.
Both summer schemes had 60+ participants each week, with a timetable of new skills development of fun filled arts-based activities from, dance, drama, arts and crafts and singing each day with a final showcase on the last day of both weeks where parents and guests were invited and treated to lots of fun and giggles as their young ones got into costume and treated them to the skills and experiences of the past week alongside their newfound friends.
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DRAMA @ STUDIO 2
Children’s Drama
Our drama department has been growing and flourishing creatively in the past year with our involvement in numerous projects and classes that we offer here at Studio 2. This year we welcomed a new full time staff member Roma Harvey who has been a great addition to the Studio 2 team using her skills in drama facilitation and youth work to develop our drama department. During this past year, Roma has introduced a new structure to the drama department to create pathways between drama groups so that young people and children can excel at their skills in their drama journey and climb the ladder to being successful, talented and creative young performers.
We offer a variety of drama classes to different age groups with the structure of each class carefully crafted to meet the needs of the participants. We rebranded our children’s drama classes for the children who are our “Stars” to reflect upon the journey of a star and mirror how our child stars will also make their journey in drama.
Our “Little Stars” drama classes are aimed at children aged 3-5 and are a great introduction to drama for this age group. These classes encourage children to express their creativity through exploring their imagination, making friends and playing lots of fun drama games along the way. The combination of drama and game play in these classes offer a significant contribution to early years development by encouraging social skills, exploring emotions and increasing confidence in young children. This year our little stars got to take part in two showcases; “The Jungle Book” and “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.” These showcases were a great success and we are delighted we got to share their experience of their first performance with 100+ guests of family and friends who came to see their performances.
The next steppingstone in our drama programme is our “Shooting Stars” drama classes for children aged 5-7. This class aims to help children “shoot for the stars” and focuses on developing further skills in confidence building, social skills and expressing creativity as well as uplevelling on new skills. These classes give children the opportunity to progress their drama skills as well as improving skills in focusing, reading, music & movement and becoming more comfortable with performing live for an audience. This allows our participants of the classes to progress to the next level of their drama journey and helps give them the tools they need to start becoming more comfortable and confident with performing. Our shooting stars had a lot of fun showcasing their show “The Gruffalo” for their family and friends in a theatre space in front of 100+ guests and were very successful in telling and performing the story to a live audience.
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This takes us to the next stage in our drama programme, our “Shining Stars” classes. This is aimed at children age 8-11 and offers children the chance to excel and improve their drama skills with a specially tailored programme to help them achieve their best and “shine bright.” These classes encourage our participants to maintain that level of confidence, social skills and expression of creativity, with an added level of ownership and responsibility over their own work. These classes provide the chance for the children to have a more creative input by encouraging them to come up with their own ideas by creating their own stories and performances in class activities and we give them their own sense of responsibility over their roles by encouraging them to learn lines for roles so that they can take their
performance to the next level when taking part in showcases. By doing this, we provide children with the right guidance and tools to explore their creativity and showcase their skills effectively. Our “Shining Stars are currently working towards their performance of “The Little Mermaid” which they will be performing alongside the “Little Stars” and “Shooting Stars” which will give them a great opportunity to be positive role models for the younger students to show them what they can achieve in the future while showcasing their own skills and shining bright on stage!
Youth Drama @ Studio 2
Moving on up the ladder in our drama journey, we have our “Acting Out: Youth Drama” group which offers our young people aged 11-18 great opportunities to become actively engaged in a number of different projects using their drama and performance skills. This past year has seen our youth drama participants being kept busy with a number of different projects with varying levels of performance styles. They have had the opportunity to explore their skills in improvisation, creating walkabout characters, acting for screen and acting for stage. For this group, we like to provide opportunities for our young people to gain an insight into how things work within the industry to give them the understanding and knowledge they need if they want to take their experience and skills into future careers.
At Halloween, this group had their debut public appearance in the world famous Derry Halloween Parade with the Northwest Carnival Initiative where 15 young people took part. The theme of the parade was “On the 9 th Wave” and our young people had the challenge of creating characters for their seahorse creatures and handlers and they did not disappoint! Through devising and rehearsals they explored their sea horse creatures and put their own spin on their characters bringing them to life in the parade.
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The next big event to work towards after Halloween was our Christmas event “Twas the Week Before Christmas.” This event involved a short play following the story of “The Grinch” where 13 of our youth drama participants performed on stage for live audiences. This show ran for four nights with a total of 16 shows being viewed by the public. This was a brilliant project for our young people to get their teeth sunk into to explore their performance skills for stage while gaining an insight into the reality of what it takes to run a show and what work goes in both on and off stage. Our very dedicated cast really committed to their roles and schedules making this show a huge success that made it an enjoyable experience for all involved.
As well as acting for stage, our youth drama group got to dip their toe into acting for screen. We teamed up with the Nerve Centre on their completion of their BFI Film Academy project “Catfish” where 10 of our young people took part in their short film for their film training programme. The young people got to have a lot of fun acting as zombies in the film and had the fantastic opportunity of meeting film maker and makeup artist, Christian Kotey, who most notably did practical SFX makeup for the famous TV Series “The Walking Dead.” The young people got to experience his makeup skills first hand as they were transformed into zombies for the film and gave a terrifying performance!
The skills of our youth drama group continued to develop beyond theatre and film to learning techniques in street performance and walkabout acting. Our St. Patrick’s Day Peace Garden event brought with it the opportunity for our young people to flex their muscles in improvisation and street performance. At our St. Patrick’s day event we had scheduled shows from Margaret McGinley’s Irish dancing group where they told the story of the leprechauns and the fairy people who clashed and had to find a way to make amends. In between the shows, the whole Peace Garden was open to the public where thousands of people came in and interacted with our walkabout characters. We had 6 young people act as leprechauns, gnomes, bunnies, superheroes and Irish Myth legend King Brian to entertain the masses as they explored the peace garden at the fun and vibrant St. Patricks Day festival.
Adults Drama @ Studio 2
This year we introduced a 12 week adults programme “Acting the Wack” where 12 adults participated in a series of workshops developing skills in drama. Throughout the weeks we looked at a variety of topics such as improvisation, devising, writing stories, stand up comedy, storytelling, acting and directing. Exploring all these topics week by week we were able to create a programme to address different skill sets that individuals in the group had to offer by giving a well rounded insight to different elements of performance and writing for both professionals and beginners. After covering a range of topics, the participants then used these skills to develop their own short pieces of work which were then showcased at the end of the programme where we invited friends, family and fellow creatives to come and watch.
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THEATRE @ STUDIO 2
We’ve had a very busy year for theatre at Studio 2. With new equipment in lighting and sound we have been able to develop our theatre department further with a fantastic range of shows. We’ve seen a range of theatre performed in here this past year from comedy and drama to issue based theatre. “Legenderry Theatre” brought us their production of “Two Funny” which brought not one, but two shows to the stage of “The Duck Variations” by David Mamet and “a Bench at the Edge” by Luigi Jannuzzi. These two comedies brought a great nights entertainment leaving the audience in stitches and wanting more.
We teamed up with Sole Purpose Productions for their play “Every Move You Make.” This was a piece of issue based theatre about abusive relationships which was aimed at young people to help them identify what signs they should look out for to aid them in forming good and healthy relationships. This one woman show was showcased Studio 2 to an audience of 30 young people who then had a Q&A afterwards to discuss some of the issues that they’d seen displayed in the play. This play was successful in getting the young people to think about some of these issues that might effect them and generated some insightful discussion topics in the Q&A. “The Movers and Shakers” had a great success with their play “Roll Over Play Dead.” The play was viewed by 100+ audience members in May with great reception and a standing ovation. Then, by popular demand the play made a return in November to our stage. This play followed the story of a woman navigating the waters of married life in a heart warming comedy where she rediscovers herself. This play was done in aid of the Foyle Hospice in memory of the writer Pat Mulkeen. As a result of the adults “Acting the Wack” drama programme where we showcased snippets of new work, we took one of these new pieces of theatre and developed it further in house in Studio 2 to create the full length one woman show “Good Grief.” This play depicted the journey of grief, love and loss to an audience of 50. This play raised awareness on the stages of grief and offered an insight into a true story on how to live with grief and see the beauty in the pain.
We seen a wonderful and innovative combination of horror and comedy in the production of “Clutter” which was staged to on audience of 100+ people here at Studio 2. This play followed the story of two young men and a woman who broke into a house to find a quirky character of a man who had a secret that they’re trying to get to the bottom of. The technical aspects of the play using lights and sound really helped lift the horror aspect of the play in combination with comedy to entertain the audience who responded with great delight and a standing ovation to the play.
And finally in our theatre programme for the year we had the privilege of staging “I Didn’t See That Coming” to audiences of 100+ members. This new piece of writing followed the story of a woman dealing with the difficulties of coming out as a member of the LGBT community during the troubles centric surrounding of her environment. This play had a great success after its debut at Studio 2 and went on to feature at the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival where it wowed even more audiences.
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CELEBRATING SUCCESS
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Iilv GOOD LVCK! 11. 414 i• i* i iA.LA_ klea Young Volunteer Awards 2023 Jl CREATE- CONNECT- INSPIRE 23
CREATIVE AGEING
The Art Of Wellbeing
Building on the success of a number of key pilot programmes GSCA delivered upon the objectives of our Recovery to Discovery Social Prescribing Through the Arts programme by working with a wide range of community and statutory partners to deliver life changing Arts engagement opportunities that specifically address the health, well-being and mindfulness of our participants, offering innovative programming that engaged and reduced barriers to participation in the arts whilst allowing participants to explore their creative potential and feel the benefits of the arts impacting on the lives through not only the social engagement but through the creative expression and confidence building that our programme offered to each of our participants.
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CELEBRATING IRISH ARTS
Celebrating and Growing the Irish Arts in the heart of our community
Despite the year that was in it, 2021/22 was an outstanding year for the growth and development of the Irish Arts in our city and region with Greater Shantallow Community Arts together with our partners in CCÉ Baile na gCailleach providing a year long programme of events, classes, projects and programmes that engaged the amazing Traditional Irish arts musicians, performers, writers and poets and in our city and those who wish to learn and develop their skills and knowledge and to experience Irish Traditional Arts at its very best. Highlights of this included the amazing Fleadh Mhór Dhoire 2021 our week-long programme that included some 50 events featuring some of the Ireland most outstanding Traditional Irish musicians and performers. Playing host in the September of 2021 to Fleadh Cheoil Baíle na gCailleach four days of workshops concerts and outstanding traditional music sessions and performances was a real opportunity for local Irish traditional artist to engage new audiences and participants in the magic of Irish Arts. Throughout the year we were delighted to host some amazing Trad sessions, encourage new work performances and support and develop new and young Irish arts enthusiasts to learn new skills provide showcasing performances across our city and region ensuring that the Irish Traditional Arts is alive and growing in our city and region.
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HALLOWEEN 2023
Every Halloween, our city comes alive with ancient spirits and souls of the past and this year Greater Shantallow Community Arts were delighted to work in partnership with Derry City and Strabane District Council and North West Carnival Initiative in the hugely successful delivery of Derry Halloween 2022, now recognised as Europe’s biggest Halloween Festival from the Awakening of the Walled City to the, On the Ninth Wave cultural carnival parade. It was amazing to see our city and in particular our participants come together for a creative showcase that enthralled audiences from all over the world.
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TWAS THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Festive Fun
Greater Shantallow Community Arts were delighted to bring the festive Christmas Season to life this year with a host of events that saw many hundreds of families coming along to Studio 2 to enjoy are spectacular “Twas the Week Before Christmas” interactive children’s experience. With our whole building transformed in a Magical Christmas Wonderland, children were enthralled by our magically North Pole Elf’s village, Mrs Claus Story telling, posting their letters in Santa’s Workshop and enjoy the amazing Countdown to The Grinch Show performances. Over the whole Christmas period we were delighted to ensure children of all ages enjoyed their Christmas experience from taking part in our city’s Christmas Carnival Parade or visiting our amazing Christmas Craft Fair which showcased the wonderful wealth of creative skilled crafters our city is blessed with all our family friendly events brought a time of joy for everyone to experience.
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ST PATRICK’S DAY
The Mystical Land Of The Fairy People
Greater Shantallow Community Arts were again delighted to be working in partnership with DCSDC and NWCI to bring our city a time of glorious celebration and joy as part of the wonderful St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival celebrations with many hundreds of colourful dancers, performers and creative characters bringing our city centre to life as tens of thousands of our citizens lined our streets in wonderful applause marking the Rebirth & Renewal carnival parade. GSCA were delighted to be given the honour by DCSDC to take centre stage in our city’s Peace Garden which we had transformed into The Mystical Land of the Little People & Fairies where are GSCAs amazing team of wonderful dancers, actors and performers enthralled the many thousands of audience’s with magically engaging performances throughout the day that had children singing dancing and enjoying an amazing unique St Patrick’s Day experience in the heart of our city centre.
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BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
Greater Shantallow Community Arts, currently have over 2200 weekly service users and the need for a major new larger fit-forpurpose Community Arts Centre to service the ever-growing needs of our community which is expanding daily is clearly evident. As the only locally based arts organisation that services the needs of the 50,000 plus local residents, there is a real and urgent need for major investment in the Arts Infrastructure in this community to address local expressed need and the creative aspirations of our communities.
GSCA had been given support from the National Lottery’s Dormant Accounts Fund to use towards the long-term sustainability of our organisations and the services we deliver and as part of that resource as well as developing a new 5-year Organisational Development Plan we have been looking at the infrastructural creative capital needs of our community to support and encourage the development of the Arts within this region. It is with this identified local need that during 2022/23 GSCA re-engaged with DCSDC to discuss the potential of Ballyarnett Country Park and working with ONNP and the Ballyarnett DEA Growth Partnership director Darren Kirby we re-visited the Ballyarnett County Park Masterplan which has been developed in partnership and endorsed by council since 2015.
Supported by positive engagements with Stephen Gillespie DCSDC Head of Business & Cultural, John Kerr Arts Development Officer and Coiln Kennedy Head of Council Parks division we have begun the process of consultation and envisaging which considers the development of a major NEW Regional Community Arts, Shared Island Centre as a catalyst project to be located in the historical confines of Ballyarnett Country Park.
GSCA have currently commissioned a new Outline Business Case and Architectural Concept Drawings developed by our consultants with agreement for senior council officers to present this to full council in September 2023. Over the past six months there has been a series of consultative meetings and briefings with key stakeholders, and we are seeing a positive response at this stage to our proposal. We are building on the very successful model of Council Built and Owned and Community Managed facilities which have worked well in the city over the past number of major capital projects that council have been engaged in.
At this stage we are dealing with concept initiatives, but our hope is to encourage widespread support for this initiative based upon identified needs and future aspirations for our sector within this region. We have envisaged a major cross border regional catalyst project that aligns directly to the provision of high-quality arts facilities, that incorporate everything from Television and Film studios and Lotts to outdoor performance space for major Concerts and events as well as all the modern facilities that will service the growth and development of our wide-ranging community arts programme for many years to come. Our hope is that following on from Septembers Council presentation that permission and direction is given to council officers to go forward and access the resources to carry out a full and detailed Green Book standard 8 Stage Feasibility Study and Business case for a new regional community arts centre. Ballyarnett Country Park is a council owned 132-acre site mostly unused which offers huge potential given its strategic location and size which sits close to the border here in the Outer North area of Derry and would be ideal for a facility of the scale and nature we are proposing.
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THANKS & APPRECIATION
We offer our sincere thanks to...
In concluding our 23rd Annual Report, our most sincere heartfelt thanks and appreciation must be given to all those who supported us throughout this challenging year. A year of constant trials made successful, only by the 100% dedication of the countless individuals prepared to contribute and commit their valuable time and efforts to supporting access to the arts for everyone in our community, in particular;
The Community Foundation of Northern Ireland Comic Relief
Department of Justice Acorn Trust The Danny Quigley Fund CINE Dormant Accounts City of Derry Airport Awards For All The Public Health Agency Developing Healthy Communities CLEAR Charities Aid Foundation Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Our Funders
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Whom has invested not only their monies, but their time, wisdom and support in Greater Shantallow Community Arts over the years as an organisation we aim to make them proud of their investment. The Arts Council AFP funding is our organisations key core support
Our Partners Appreciated
GSCA wish to thank all the partner organisations we have worked with throughout 2021 and into 2022, GSCA have been privileged to have had the opportunity to work with so many different arts organisations, schools, community groups and businesses.
Derry City and Strabane District Council
Have been vital supporters over the years and we look forward to that continuing in the years ahead as we service the needs of our citizens.
The Education Authority
Our Board Members, Our Staff & Volunteers
Have recognised the value of having community arts partners in delivering key youth interventions for our young people our Youth Engagement Plus programme support provides us with a key youth worker to engage our young people in all the benefits that the arts can bring to their lives.
Without your dedication to the work of Greater Shantallow Community Arts, all we stand for and hope to achieve on behalf of the community we serve I say my most heartfelt thanks and appreciation.
2023 unlike most years presented some extremely stressful and unpredictable times, to see the sheer dedication and kindness of so many selfless individuals who care passionately about the arts and about the communities we serve you cannot fail to be inspired.
The Department of Education
Through the development of our Studio 2 refurbishment project offered us great hope for the future. The confidence that has been expressed in the work that we do is both reassuring and inspiring encouraging us to future develop new and innovative Youth Arts programme that will impact on the health and wellbeing of our young people whilst unlocking their creative potential as we return to a new normal adjusting to the impacts of Covid-19.
To our board members and volunteers without who’s support we would not thrive and our wonderful team at Greater Shantallow Community Arts who bring their skills, creativity and enthusiasm to each day I offer my deepest thanks and appreciation.
The NI Executive Office
Through their support, The NI Executive Office under its TBUC Central Good Relations fund has continued to play a vital role in supporting our organisations aspiration of using the Arts in all its forms to celebrate diversity and to bring people from every section of our community together unlocking the creative potential and confidence of all our citizens and building a real peace through respect for difference something that the arts can do very well.
‘In all that we encounter in 2024 your constant encouragement will ensure that GSCA will go from strength to strength in the time ahead and that our ambition to really CREATE, CONNECT and INSPIRE will be achieved during 2024.’
Thank You all
Oliver Green, Artistic Director Greater Shantallow Community Arts
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CELEBRATING 24 YEARS OF BRING ARTS TO THE HEART OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES
STUDIO 2 Youth and Community Arts Centre Units 1-3 Foyle Business Park, 4 Beraghmore Road, Skeoge Industrial Estate, Derry, BT48 8SE Tel: 028 71 358750 Email: info@gscaderry.com