Community Arts & Festivals

The healing power of art is especially important in the most deprived areas of the North East. While millions of pounds are invested in job creation and saving declining industries, the creative spirit of people living with deprivation is easily neglected. Community arts programmes are often the first victims of budget cuts. But, as these films show, community art can leave a legacy of hope, curiosity, and self-confidence among the people who need nurturing most. Village Arts was a community filmmaking organisation set up in the 1980s to give creative outlets to people living in cultural deserts. In the 1990s Village Arts launched a project to bring together some of East Cleveland's most remote communities, and artists and filmmakers who could help them find their voice. These films are a legacy of that unique collaboration.