the WEA Creative News blog...

 

Getting excited about the Olympics? If you like Seurat’s Bathers at Asnieres, you’ll enjoy this website…

Friday, January 27th, 2012

Neville Gabie is the 2012 Olympic Artist in Residence and he’s got a fab new website showcasing his work. Take a look.

And here’s a write up of Neville’s work in the London Metro.

 

Olympics in London. BBC Sport moved to Salford. Bonkers!

Monday, December 12th, 2011

Read Stephen Fry’s comments on the BBC’s ill-thought-out decision to move their sport department to Salford, when the 2012 Olympics will be in London – all in the name of ‘regionalism’.

And yet – I know a journalist from Liverpool who, when she joined the BBC, was made to attend elocution lessons because her Scouse accent was deemed to be too regional!

 

Let’s Get Political

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Labour Posters PHM

Political Posters: then and now

I would love to take a Peripheral Vision group to the People’s History Museum to view the latest exhibition: Picturing Politics – exploring the political poster in Britain.

Chris Burgess has a great blog: Picturing Politics: The British election poster. Here’s some information about Chris below:

Political parties have used posters in every British general election of the 20th century. This blog looks at some of the trends and oddities in election posters produced during the period. In addition, the blog details preparation for an exhibition on the history of the poster due to open at the People’s History Museum in Manchester in November. I’m a PhD student at the University of Nottingham researching the history of the British election poster. The PhD is a collaboration between Nottingham and museum, funded by the AHRC. All the opinions published here are of course my own.

This is a topical subject as the Guardian’s Jonathan Jones states in his article The art of anger: how underground comics are inspiring the Occupy movement in which he likens the posters being produced for the current Occupy movement to those from the 1930s and 1960s in Europe:

They are nostalgic in that they resemble the posters of Paris 1968, or Spain 1936. Expressionist graphics, decisive slogans and modernist wit pervade these images.

So come on WEA tutors, get in touch with your ideas for a course around people’s rights, campaigning, activism or poster history and let’s get political…

Conservatives Poster PHM

 

Writing a script? Read this…

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

Cath Bore - Liverpool Writer About Town, has many writing hats. She writes for Hello magazine in her blog The Full Picture. She writes scripts, musicals and crime novels, and has a regular guest spot on various local radio stations. Anyway, here’s a blog post of Cath’s that might be of interest if you are a writer seeking advice on writing a treatment.

 

New ESOL ILPs & booklets coming out soon!

Sunday, October 16th, 2011

Here’s a sneak preview of the lovely little booklet that Lauren Powter is in the process of designing for our ESOL learners. I bumped into Lauren at Mad Lab when I went there to tell Hwa Young about the North West’s latest project – Peripheral Vision. Lauren handed me her business card and a few weeks later I got in touch to offer her the work.

Lauren is a graphic designer who recently graduated from Teesside University. She is designing a new cut and fold Individual Learning Plan (ILP) for our Entry 1 and 2 ESOL learners, in addition to the Seasons booklet, which is pictured above.

I intend to showcase the two little books at the regional Skills for Life meeting in Birmingham on 10 November. I’m sure all my colleagues will want copies for their learners…

 

Have your say on informal adult learning

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

NIACE are conducting a survey on informal adult and community learning and would like you to fill in their online questionnaire. The results can help inform the government, at local, and national level, on future adult learning planning.

 

Read all about it

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Here’s a link to the stories and biographies of the shortlisted entries for the Manchester Fiction Prize. Bet they’re all very excited to have been chosen.

 

So egalitarian…

Friday, September 9th, 2011

Fancy attending a course on beginner’s photography? Then why not join The Guardian’s

Absolute essentials of photography

Dates: Begins 27 September 2011

Duration: 12 weeks, Tuesdays 6.30pm-9pm

Location: Tower Bridge Studios, London E1

Course price: £2100 (inclusive of VAT)

Maximum number of places: 15

Yes, you read that correctly £2100… keeps the riff-raff out I suppose.

 

Design Stylist’s 100th magazine cover!

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Magazines

Calling all photographers, graphic designers and illustrators – here’s a fantastic opportunity to create your own magazine cover to celebrate Stylist’s 100th edition. The competition ends on Wednesday 5th October, so that gives you plenty of time to put together something stylish and eye-catching. Good Luck!

 

Working Class Movement Library needs your help!

Monday, September 5th, 2011

The Working Class Movement Library needs your help:

Reduced financial support from Salford Council means that we need to raise £80,000 this year (and every year) to keep the Library running. 

 This vast and unique collection tells the compelling story of working people’s campaigns for radical social and political change over the past 200 years.  Thanks to our hugely successful Heritage Lottery Fund project to make the Library more open and accessible, the number of people visiting us has gone up more than fivefold in three years, and our volunteer team figures are at an all-time high.

You can donate here.

They have a fantastic blog, and you can follow them on twitter too.