Arts & Culture
I Am An Artist: Exhibition at Beeston Library
I Am An Artist is the second branch of our I Am A Creator cultural programme. I Am A Creator is fun…
Published 3rd December 2024
Inspire’s Ollerton Library is due to benefit from an Arts Council-funded programme that gives libraries "freedom and space to test ideas". The project titled Ollerton: Then and Now will aim to increase engagement with the area’s heritage, provide inclusive opportunities for all ages, and boost contributions to the Inspire Picture Archive.
The microgrants programme, funded by Arts Council England, awards grants of £1-5k to support small-scale projects in public libraries. Across the country 15 projects have been awarded the funding including those exploring the history of gaming, a World Book Day costume swap, and a new lending library of screen-free audiobook devices for children.
With their successful microgrant bid, Inspire intend to increase engagement with heritage services. Ollerton Library, which was subject to a refurbishment in 2022, is situated in one of the UK Government’s Levelling Up for Culture areas in Newark and Sherwood. Providing new cultural experiences is a priority for this location and Inspire’s project will contribute towards this work.
Inspire manage Nottinghamshire Archives who, alongside their own Heritage Service, are committed to documenting the transformation of Nottinghamshire’s landscapes and communities. Of particular interest are ex-mining towns like Ollerton, where there are gaps in collections like photographs, oral history and more. Working with local groups and schools, Inspire are excited to fill these gaps and engage members of the community along the way.
In early 2025, free workshops will be created with a professional photographer, targeted to adults in the community whose memories and accounts will be valuable to the project. A priority will be to add contemporary images of Ollerton to the Inspire Picture Archive, boosting Inspire’s collection and creating opportunities to compare the town ‘then and now’. A visual artist will also be commissioned to work with a local primary school in Ollerton, creating art maps using colour, pattern, layering and mark-making, and taking inspiration from local historical maps.
The materials used and created during the project will be used in an exhibition which will tour a minimum of three Inspire libraries over spring and summer, accompanied by free public workshops for families.
We’re delighted to have been awarded this funding and are thankful to Libraries
Connected for giving us the opportunity to address this need in the Ollerton
area. Heritage and preserving the Nottinghamshire story is something we’re
passionate about, and this project will be significant in encouraging new
members of the community to get involved. I’m excited for this work to begin
and can’t wait to witness the contributions made by those engaging with the
project in their exhibition next year.
Congratulations to all the successful recipients of our first round of microgrants. As always
I’m incredibly impressed by the innovative and creative ideas that libraries
come up with, all based on the needs and priorities of their communities. The
aim of the microgrants programme is to give libraries the freedom and space to
test ideas and try new approaches. These projects will make a big impact in
their own right, but we hope it will give libraries the confidence to bid for
larger and longer-term funding.
We are delighted to be able to provide funding to support libraries to deliver
such a wide range of interesting and potentially impactful community focused
projects. We hope that the experience of applying for these microgrants will
give applicants the confidence to consider applying for other grant funding in
the future. Congratulations to all the successful applicants and it will be
exciting to see these projects progress.
More information about Ollerton: Then and Now and the exhibition, will be listed on the website at inspireculture.org.uk/OllertonThenNow.
Events at Ollerton Library can be found at inspireculture.org.uk/ollerton
