Prism Arts

Prism Arts exists to support and enable excluded groups in Cumbria to realise their creative potential and celebrate their experience through active participation in and exploration of the arts’

Call for Artists

Artist Database Submission Form

Background

Prism Arts was established in 1987 and became a Charitable Trust in 1992.  Since its inception Prism Arts has initiated hundreds of projects throughout Cumbria working with a wide range of groups including disabled people, elders and those with mental-health difficulties.

Current Projects

Starfish Theatre Company
Starfish Theatre Company creates arts projects for adults with learning disabilities.  They perform and exhibit art work, which demonstrates the talent, creativity and commitment to provide work for all to enjoy. It was established in June 2004. 

Starfish Theatre Company produced a play called The Haunted Trees, written by one of their members and inspired by an old English folktale.  They used the folktale to explore environmental issues and the recent floods.  They toured the performance around the county and delivered workshops to schools.  A DVD is available on request. 

Spinning Yarns
Prism Arts seeks to offer an exciting and challenging arts and social development programme for older people throughout Cumbria.  The idea for the Spinning Yarns project came about after Prism Arts worked with Age Concern in Carlisle on a dance project.  Prism Arts was also inspired by an inter-generational project in Barrow which Barrow Age Concern had organised with local schools.  Through taster days that Prism Arts offered the local community, a need for accessible arts activities for older people throughout Cumbria was identified.  One activity, reminiscing, was called Spinning Yarns, as in telling a tale.  So the idea for this project was born.
 
Spinning Yarns offers arts activities for people aged 55 and over throughout Cumbria.  Arts workshops have taken place in Appleby, Barrow, Brampton, Carlisle, Cockermouth, Egremont, Longtown, Penrith, Roadhead & Wigton.
 
Regular Spinning Yarns groups are now established in Appleby, Barrow, Brampton, Egremont, Longtown & Roadhead, with occasional groups in Carlisle.

Many older people do not have a great deal of direct experience of the arts, having been denied access to the arts for a greater part of their lives.  They may consider themselves unable to 'do' art.  The arts activities are designed to give participants a feel of the possibilities the arts can offer.  Workshops are led by experienced participatory artists and offer participants the chance to pursue a wide range of art forms.

A variety of arts activities have been undertaken by the Spinning Yarns groups: card & gift box making; mosaics; marbling; quilling; felt & patchwork quilt making; jewellery making; weaving; spinning; crochet; paper maché; paper making; calligraphy; Chinese calligraphy; flower arrangements; drawing with pastels; painting with watercolours; glass painting; painting on china; making stained glass; sculpture; photographic restoration & reminiscence; digital photography, computer graphics; poetry; dance & theatre; making music and having a good old sing-a-long.

The activities are chosen by, and in some cases led by the participants.  Exhibitions have been held throughout the county in Brampton, Carlisle, Appleby, Longtown, Barrow, Egremont & Roadhead and intergenerational links have been established with participants assisting artists to run workshops for children.

Past Projects

‘Christmas Carnival’
In December 2004, Starfish performed a series of short drama pieces based on animals.  They also sang songs such as ‘Hound Dog’, ‘Kumbaya’ and their own composition, ‘The Starfish Song’
‘The Magical Maze’ and ‘Darth Halla’
Two shows written by participants and inspired by their drawings, which led to performances in 2005 at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick and The Tithe Barn in Carlisle.
‘The Fantastic Fruit Show’
Following a short performance concerning healthy eating during a conference at The Rosehill Theatre in Whitehaven, Starfish decided to develop their ideas into a full length show called ‘The Fantastic Fruit Show’.  It was performed throughout 2006 at Theatre by the Lake, La’al Fest, The Brewery Arts Centre and The Tithe Barn, whilst musical numbers that had been written for the show by the participants, were performed to over seventy people at Tullie House Museum in Carlisle.
‘The Sensory Zone of Touch’
This is an interactive installation using natural and synthetic textiles, shells, feathers, metal, stone etc. which explores the sense of touch and has been exhibited at Cockermouth School, Rheged Discovery Centre, The Tithe Barn and is due to be on display at The Sands Centre, Carlisle early in 2007.
‘The Weavers’
Based on a true story, The Weavers is a production highlighting the plight of the Carlisle weavers during the 1830’s.  It focused two families: the Riggs, who were very poor and worked many hours in the mill, and the Fergusons, who owned the mill, but spent most of their days playing croquet on their lawn.  Once again, the script and all the songs were written by the participants.  The show was performed at the Tithe Barn in Carlisle and Theatre by the Lake as part of the La’al Fest 2007. 
‘Starfish United!’
Starfish United! is a musical that developed from an art workshop during which some of the group began to talk about their favourite football teams.  The conversations soon began to turn to the subject of how good it would be if there was a Starfish team and how well they would do due to the fact that everyone was so friendly and supportive of each other.  Many of the pictures that were drawn and painted were of hands, so it was decided that they would provide the scenery for the production.  
‘Starfish Christmas Cracker’ & ‘Starfish Celebration 2008’ 
In December 2007 and January 2008, Starfish were back in action with a ‘Best Of’ production plus some new bits added in. In this production Starfish invited their current audience members to take a stroll down memory lane, and for those of them new to the fold, it was a chance to see what they had missed from previous years. This was the first production of the new season, and it lived up to the promise of delivering “sheer entertainment”. The performance also acted as a launch for the Starfish Celebration 2008 CD.
‘Journey’
In April 2008, Starfish premiered Journey at Theatre by the Lake during part of the annual La’al Fest.  The show explored some of the many journeys that we take in life and apart from the usual trademark Starfish elements of music and dance, the group highlighted issues such as discrimination in the workplace and accessibility on public transport.  As usual, Starfish wrote and performed Journey, but this time some of the group turned their hands to directing a large majority of the performances.
Anchor Admin
Anchor Admin is the management and administration group that is being trained to run the Starfish Theatre Company.  So far the participants have been learning how to use a lap-top, produced a newsletter and are learning how to film, photograph and edit so they can be involved in recording evidence of the progress and performances by the Starfish Theatre Company.

Our funders are currently:
Arts Council England
Cumbria County Council
Carlisle City Council
Northern Rock Foundation
Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales
LankellyChase Foundation