The Corn Exchange Newbury & New Greenham Arts

Cultivating Ideas

Brief Introduction | Download Details |Cultivated

We have just completed our 3rd year of the Arts Council England funded Cultivating Ideas artists' development project.

This was a fluid, open-ended programme of activities with the intention of supporting artists to explore ideas, forge new partnerships and act as a catalyst for the development of new and original creative practices.

Professional artists wishing to be considered for the next phase of this project, Evolve, should contact Nick Giles, Director, The Corn Exchange, Market Place, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5BD. Or e-mail programming@cornexchangenew.co.uk

Cultivated

Studio 8
New Greenham Arts has nine artist's studios currently used by ceramicists, sculptors, painters and mixed media. The artists have the advantage of subsidised rent and an annual exhibition.

Plested and Brown
Physical comedy duo Plested and Brown are virtual residents; having developed two productions which have subsequently toured the UK and abroad, at New Greenham Arts. Their relationship with the organisation is an ongoing programme of development time, a space to experiment and play and full access to the office and other resources. Additionally we provide marketing and producing advice and support.
www.plestedandbrown.co.uk

Gecko
We have provided development space and commissioning funds to Gecko to assist with the 1st stage of their new project, The Arab and the Jew. Gecko is in residence in May 2007, with a showing of their work at June's Cultivate.

Barb Jungr & John Paul Zaccarini
Over a period of nine months, chansonnier Barb and aerialist John Paul have been spending time at The Corn Exchange sharing skills and developing ideas for a narrative led dance theatre production.

Andrew Dawson
Performer and Director Andrew Dawson will be in residence in July as he develops ideas for his next project.

Roger Perkins
The Greenham Resort Sculptor Roger Perkins and photographer Giles Penfound met at a monthly Cultivate event. Following a period of research and reflection Roger decided to work towards constructing a temporary museum, exploring the idea of what the alternative history(s) of Greenham Common could have been and what they could mean to us now. We provided seed funding, and assistance in writing funding applications. We secured a full-time workspace for Roger on New Greenham Park. This project has been supported by Arts Council England and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.

Keira Martin
Choreographer Keira Martin wanted some time to play with some ideas about fusing traditional Irish dancing with contemporary dance. A 2-week residency at New Greenham Arts culminated in a lively and stimulating showing of work achieved to date. Keira will undertake a further period of residency in summer 2007, working with live musicians to further develop these ideas.

Biserk Dance
Oxford based dance company spent a week at New Greenham Arts in autumn 2005, working and training with the UK Power Lifting Team as part of the research and development for their latest production. They return in June 2007 to complete this work.
www.biserk.co.uk

Claire Coache
Through summer 2007 we are working with Director and writer Claire Coache to assist her realising her vision for a large scale, puppet and animation production - scheduled for 2008.

Chris Goode
The multi-award winning writer/director/performer was based at New Greenham Arts while developing ideas for his latest project - Longwave. We successfully produced this project in Autumn 2006, undertaking a national tour. The production has subsequently been invited to the Lyric Hammersmith in June 2007 and will be one of 20 productions included in the British Council showcase in Edinburgh in August.

Unlimited Theatre
As part of an ongoing relationship, we supported the development of a new theatre production, Tangle, through a combination of commissioning funds, development time, constructive feedback, advocacy and producing advice. www.unlimited.org.uk

Lyndsey Butcher
We provided technical time and premiered a new production by Lyndsey Butcher's Gravity & Levity. The show, Taking Flight, has since been seen throughout the UK, including at the Royal Opera House.

Redcape
In conjunction with our Berkshire venues partners, we supported the development of Reading based Redcape Theatre's inaugural show, The Idiot Colony. Directed by Andrew Dawson it was a lyrical and magical production, to which we provided producing and fundraising support, development space and vital advocacy.

curious
Helen Cole from Bristol's leading contemporary arts centre teamed up with New Greenham Arts and live artists curious who used Greenham Common as a catalyst for new work, during two residencies.
www.placelessness.com | www.arnolfini.org.uk

dotComedy
We provided access to an aircraft hangar on Greenham Common to enable dotComedy to construct their new street show - The Get Lost Maze. In return for free use of the hangar for 3 weeks, dotComedy presented 5 events during the 3rd Newbury Comedy Festival in July 2006. www.dotcomedy.co.uk

Angela de Castro
We also provided technical time and premiered a new production by Angela De Castro's Contemporary Clowning Projects. The show, only fools no horses, was directed by John Wright and has since been seen throughout the UK.

Spymonkey
We were one of two commissioning partners for physical comedy troupe Spymonkey's new production, Bless. We provided development time, production resourcing and commissioning funds for the project which premiered in Spring 2007.

Cassie Friend & David Leddy
Glasgow-based performance artist/director David Leddy and Reading-based performer Cassie Friend undertook a weekend residency at New Greenham Arts to explore whether or not they could work together. Having been long-term friends (both being graduates of the Theatre Studies department at Lancaster University), they had admired each other's work for some time.

The Baba Yaga Project
This was an opportunity for the creative team (Mervyn Millar, Janet Bird, Rachael McGill and Jim Marcovitch) to explore the possiblities for carrying narrative through design, hosted at The Corn Exchange. The next stage of this work was seen at BAC in October 2005.

Debbie Camp
Choreographer/dancer Debbie Camp worked at New Greenham Arts, developing ideas for a new duet with her long-term collaborator. We provided workshop space and developed a structure for critical analysis in association with Debbie.

Barb Jungr
We provided commissioning funds, design support, and development time for 2 productions by Britain's leading song-stylist. The productions, Love Me Tender and Beautiful Life have toured throughout the UK and internationally.
www.barbjungr.com

During the two years of Cultivating Ideas we have also co-commissioned work by Motionhouse Dance Theatre, Unlimited Theatre, Spymonkey, Plested & Brown, theimaginarybody, Barb Jungr, Richard Thompson, Stan Won't Dance, Company FZ and Chris Goode.