Arts network aims to boost economy

ANEW arts summit and festival will be held in the South West as part of a major project to use culture to boost the economy, environment and health in the region.

University of Exeter experts will partner with the area’s heritage and arts organisations, along with local authorities. The new Creative Peninsula network will explore collaborative approaches in Devon and Cornwall, with a focus on increasing access and exchange between urban and rural communities, celebrating the region’s distinctive landscape and Atlantic coastline, and exploring its complex histories through arts programming.

The first phase of Creative Peninsula will be a year-long knowledge exchange project during 2022, including a Devon and Cornwall Arts Summit in September and two new artistic commissions. It is hoped that this will launch an ongoing partnership programme across the South West peninsula, leading to a new Atlantic Triennial international arts festival starting in 2025.

Creative Peninsula is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as part of investment in nine projects across different parts of the UK to support cultural regeneration and boost regional economies.

The project will help arts and heritage organisations across Devon and Cornwall to collaborate with local authorities so arts and culture can be used to support local development and social change.

The network will connect local and regional policymakers with arts research and support local government to take advantage of central government funding opportunities as part of the ‘levelling up’ agenda.

The project will involve local authorities and cultural partnerships, including Exeter City Council, Torbay Council, Plymouth City Council, Devon County Council, Cornwall Council and the Cornwall Museums Partnership, along with University of Exeter’s network of partner organisations, including national and regional museums, galleries, theatre companies, arts and heritage agencies.

The project builds from the work of the ‘Creative Arc’ in Exeter, a partnership between the University of Exeter, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery and Exeter City Council.

University of Exeter academics are working on AHRC-funded research into socially distanced ‘open air’ arts events and how to promote health and wellbeing through increased connection to green spaces and public engagement with the environment.

Professor Tom Trevor, academic director of the Creative Arc and principal investigator for the AHRC-funded Creative Peninsula project, said: “Over the past 18 months I have been working closely with colleagues to develop the Creative Arc, which is a new model of cultural partnership with Exeter City Council and RAMM, focused on culture-led regeneration and place-making in the city and its rural surroundings.

“Now, with the support of the AHRC, Creative Peninsula will aim to extend this approach to the region, building on close working relationships around the university’s Devon and Cornwall campuses, and with local government, as well as activating our network of partner organisations in arts and heritage.”