Community Owned Arts & Culture: Support for Create Local work

We are really pleased to share some words from our Co-Director Mel:

'For my first article as part of CG’s interim leadership team, I’m happy to be sharing some fantastic news: Create Gloucestershire has received funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to support  “Community Owned Arts & Culture”, a 3-year programme and part of our Create Local strand.

Create Local is about helping everyday creativity take root and grow in neighbourhoods across Gloucestershire, especially in places where arts haven’t always felt close to hand. It starts by noticing what’s already there: the people, the culture, the stories. And then gently tending to those seeds so they can flourish.

This isn’t about one-off projects - Create Local is CG’s way of working long-term at neighbourhood level. We bring people together around open tables, making space for relationships to form, ideas to surface, and local people to shape what cultural life looks like where they live. Over time, this builds confidence, shared ownership and the kind of creative, financial and data power that helps communities influence what happens next.

Our current Create Local communities are Culture Matson, Cam & Dursley Creatives, and Bream Dream, and in collaboration with the NHS we’re beginning to explore a new focus around Women’s Creative Health. 

Huge thanks to Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for backing this work, and to the communities, artists, partners and investors who are bringing it to life day by day.'