LeftCoast’s commissioning scheme, Future Popular, is once again seeking out exciting and ambitious projects from artists or creative producers from Blackpool or Wyre. The scheme, which has to date supported twenty three projects with over one hundred thousand pounds of investment, is now entering its fifth round and has a new emphasis on even more ambitious projects across three strands.
I imagined what Future Popular was in the summer of 2015 along with my good friend and co-conspirator: Jill Reidy. We conjured up “Whipper Snappers”, a series of free junior photography workshops created to hopefully inspire and engage.
We initially thought we would like to work with teenagers encouraging older children to engage, capture and blog how they see the world through photography. With LeftCoast’s guidance we ended up working with much younger children through Blackpool’s childrens centres, basing our free sessions around portrait, environment, architecture and self.
The Whipper Snappers sessions ran over a period of several weeks and culminated in a mobile “pop up” exhibition on a vintage bus, traveling to and from the various children’s centres to collect participants and show off their images in an imaginative way.

Our Future Popular adventure led us to create a new way of working and allowed new experiences and ideas leading to opportunities delivering similar sessions for further providers and groups.
Future Popular commissions have included loads of interesting happenings and interventions. A mobile art shed, yarn bombing in parks and on trams, poetry slams which were like stand up comedy shows. What else? Pop up contemporary dance, a kitsch tourism installation, free screen printing workshops, free street dance workshops and pop up performances.

I was blessed to have been able to capture some of the projects and spend time with some of the artists to experience sessions head on. I hope the photographs reflect the variety of creative interventions so far showing accessibility, comedic value and sometimes addressing something more serious but always compelling.
I think the most interesting thing about all of the projects commissioned was that they were literally just art based happenings, on par with Manchester, but staged here in Blackpool. For goodness sake I am desperate to live in a “cool” place where a hive of activity exists, a sort of northern Brighton.
LeftCoasts contributions to Blackpool’s thriving art scene has acted a bit like a sub culture, if you do not have your ear to the ground! But if you are a muso, painter, designer or creative community group stuck in a position where you want to reach out to new a audiences, or if you enjoy an indie film or have a massive stack of vinyl? Maybe you feel passionately about the place you live in and want to find new experiences of art, music, theatre etc. This is your time to get involved as a the audience or as a creator of imaginative happenings.
After all creativity should come from the people for the people, how else would we have great literature, music, film, painting, design and photography.
Whilst we have your attention it is worth making a note that The Other Worlds Festival is in its second year and starts today with a feast for your senses. Last year was an audio-visual banquet, combining local talent with artists from further-flung places. It was a gratifying success to see creatives come together and inspire and induce such a varied group of fans to participate. Whether it be making sounds at the fantastic Grundy Art Gallery installations, or flailing in a wild frenzy in the throes of dance, driven by the ululations of throbbing, sobbing notes, and some downright nasty beats.
“Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose” – the more things change, the more they stay the same. Or so said Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, which is weirdly apposite as he was Puccini’s inspiration once upon a time.

I think changing attitude towards a town such as Blackpool is a tough job for an organisation such as LeftCoast, when we question how we have been portrayed in popular media and although plenty of the residents love their hometown, a sometimes cynical attitude might stop us from getting involved either by applying for a mini grant or attending as an audience member.
But it is a definite must if LeftCoast’s involvement in the town is to help leave behind an enormous legacy rich in creative elements and like the afore mentioned Northern Brighton. Viva #Blackcool.
The Future Popular commissions allow creatives to make application via three strands including one dedicated to performance work with three commissions available of £3,000 each and one for collectives where at least three artists or arts organisations working together with one £10,000 commission available. The third and final strand gives artists the opportunity develop a big idea which they’ve not yet been able to make happen that isn’t performance based with one £10,000 commission available.

Proposals must each engage between one and three hundred people local to Blackpool and Wyre and be bold, creative and highly original, with thought given to marketing and long term sustainability. LeftCoast are also particularly interested in ideas which engage families and young people aged between fifteen and twenty-five but other focuses will also be considered. All of the projects must be completed within the budget and by October 2016, and successful artists will also receive a suite of professional development opportunities and support from the LeftCoast team.
Michael Trainor, Artistic Director at LeftCoast, said: “The independent sector in the area is hugely important if we are to continue to build a strong cultural identity and participation in the arts. Over the past two years we’ve supported a host of innovative, creative projects from experimental music festivals to therapeutic singing for people with dementia which have been extremely successful and taken art out into communities.
This latest round of commissions gives the creative community a great opportunity to scale up their ideas and ambitions in order to take that next step in their careers and help shape the future cultural landscape of Blackpool and Wyre.”
For more information about LeftCoast or to download the Future Popular guidance notes and application visit www.leftcoast.org.uk, call 01253 477973 or email [email protected]
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