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VAN newsletter (Update) - Update is our quarterly printed newsletter.
- The most recent ones are available here in PDF.
- For past copies or to receive the newsletter in print email info@voluntaryarts.org.
Update Issue 61, June 2010 (pdf - 881k) Feature article: A leadership debate for the voluntary arts – are you a hidden leader?
It doesn’t seem so very long ago that leadership was something that was only talked about in management circles. Yet its role in the general election and the global financial crisis has made all of us more aware of its value. It has been gaining prominence in the arts too, with the emergence of leadership programmes like the Clore Cultural Leadership Programme. But for small, voluntary organisations set up purely for the love of a creative pursuit, leadership may seem completely irrelevant, or only possible when a particular ‘type’ of person gets involved. So can voluntary arts groups learn anything from leadership, or vice versa?
Update Issue 60, March 2010 (pdf - 934k) Feature article: Living creative lives is a public health issue
Those of us who are involved in the arts are not surprised that more and more research is proving that engaging in arts activity is good for us. And yet what is a surprise is how slowly the dots are being joined up. Ginny Brink ponders on the state of the nation’s health and the huge cutbacks in public services we are about to experience, and asks why is it that policymakers are so slow to recognise the really big role the voluntary arts have to play in contributing to the UK’s health and wellbeing?
Update Issue 59, December 2009 (pdf - 974k) Feature article: Voluntary arts across the world
Robin Simpson, CEO of Voluntary Arts, takes a look at an unusual and innovative project in South Korea and reflects on how we might use the lessons from this and the voluntary arts sector in Europe, Japan and the USA to create new and powerful opportunities for the voluntary arts sector back at home.
Update Issue 58, September 2009 (pdf - 1323k) Feature article: Celtic Neighbours - working across culture, language and community
Are collaborative projects between nations with different native languages possible? And can this collaboration really strengthen the participating communities and their cultures? These were just some of the questions posed by Celtic Neighbours, a three-year action research project funded by the Carnegie UK Trust. This project recently ended, and Voluntary Arts Wales, one of the key partners, examines what we might learn from this innovative initiative.
Update Issue 57, June 2009 (pdf - 847k) Feature article: If not now, when? Celebrating creativity in older age
If you think that old dogs can’t learn new tricks, you wouldn’t be alone. We live in a society that perpetuates a stubborn myth – that ageing is defined by the miserable decline of mind and body until we have nothing left to contribute. The idea that advancing age could offer exciting opportunities for growth and profound satisfaction is crazy to most people. However, this is changing. Not only are we witnessing a growing number of older people who are models of enthusiastic and vibrant living, new research shows that our potential can actually blossom with age.
Update Issue 56, March 2009 (pdf - 1244k) Feature article: Creative communities are sustainable communities
Any crisis, be it at individual, community or global level, forces an urgent re-think of the way we live. This time is no different. Pressures on the environment and current financial dilemmas are forcing people to search for new solutions. It is a very difficult period to live through, filled with fear, uncertainty and human suffering. However, times like this can also bring huge potential and opportunity, promising real and lasting positive change. And the voluntary arts have a huge role to play – in creating and sustaining a new way of living.
Update Issue 55, December 2008 (pdf - 1002k) Feature article: Not just buildings and things - the voluntary arts as intangible cultural heritage
When you hear the word 'heritage', what first comes into your mind? A grand building like Caernarfon Castle, an ancient monument like Newgrange, or maybe a priceless artifact like the Stone of Scone? What about the less tangible parts of our cultural heritage, the cultural traditions passed from generation to generation within local communities and societies of enthusiasts, and which are still being practised today?
Update Issue 54, September 2008 (pdf - 1444k) Feature article: Our Creative Talent
In July 2008, DCMS and ACE published the results of the first ever national study of the voluntary and amateur arts sector in England. This article features some of the headline findings from the research and calls for more recognition for the sector.
Update Issue 53, June 2008 (pdf - 721k) Feature article: Whose excellence?
Renowned commentator, researcher and writer on the arts, Francois Matarasso, suggests that it is not that McMaster is wrong; its just that his approach is simply too limited.
Update Issue 52, March 2008 (pdf - 904k) Feature article: Off the payroll ... onto the scrapheap?
One of society’s less visible but looming issues is men’s health, isolation, loneliness and depression. In this issue of Update, Ginny Brink suggests that we may find the makings of a solution in the uniquely Australian concept – Men’s Sheds.
Update Issue 51, December 2007 (pdf - 877k) Feature article: On being and wellness
In this issue of Update, we look at how life expectancy in this country has increased by around 30 years over the course of the twentieth century. However, even though we are living longer, this doesn’t mean we are living 'better'. In being forced to deal with the sheer cost of new medical advances and of treating our rapidly expanding and ageing population, academics, doctors and policy-makers are beginning to look at alternatives to expensive clinical interventions. And this is where the arts come in.
Update Issue 50, September 2007 (pdf - 849k) Feature article: Play is to art – as art is to play
In this issue of Update, we explore how, as we get older, our drive to play tends to be subsumed by pressures to conform and to embrace a more highly valued 'adult' existence. We are processed through an arguably rigid and unimaginative educational system, and the manifestation of our play drive ceases to be acceptable in the grown-up world.
Update Issue 49, June 2007 (pdf - 639k) Feature article: Of castles and palaces ... and dancing and singing
In this issue of Update, Steve Heap from Folk Arts England explains that there is more to heritage than just the buildings left behind by our ancestors. The people of these islands have always sung, danced and played music. This forms as much a part of our heritage as the buildings and the paintings.
This edition of Update also features the first in a series of case studies of national voluntary arts umbrella bodies.
Update Issue 48, March 2007 (pdf - 1148k) Feature article: Once in a Lifetime: the potential of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and the UK-wide cultural festival
Some of the big questions exercising artists and voluntary arts organisations at the moment centre on the Olympics – what’s in it for us, how can we get involved, will there be any money to stage events, is the re-allocation of Lottery funds going to mean arts funding is reduced? This article argues that it is up to the sector to think creatively and use the resources it has to get fully behind a national cultural festival.
Update Issue 47, December 2006 (pdf - 1530k) Feature article: In our own words
Participating in the voluntary arts benefits people in many ways – so many ways, in fact, that evaluative terms such as 'educational benchmarking' and 'social regeneration' are often unable to convey the wealth of what is really going on. More often, the best way to discover the good that the voluntary arts are doing in communities is through the stories that emerge from the participants themselves.
This edition of Update also features a list of 2007 national voluntary arts umbrella body events.
Update Issue 46, September 2006 (pdf - 547k) Feature article: Learning for the love of it
In spite of the Government’s continuing emphasis on accreditation in adult learning, the desire to learn for learning’s sake is greater than ever. In view of current funding priorities, the voluntary arts are in an excellent position to step in and meet this need.
This edition of Update includes a new section featuring news from the wider voluntary arts sector.
Update Issue 45, June 2006 (pdf - 149k) Feature article: The Economic Impact of Arts and Crafts on Rural Communities
Rural areas can often be defined by geographic isolation, poor infrastructure, poor physical access, a dependence on agriculture and tourism – and an abundance of artists and craftspeople. This article assesses the benefits of arts and crafts to rural economies.
Also, in this edition of Update, VAN announces Voluntary Arts Link, the new department set up to co-ordinate a programme of work that will focus on national voluntary arts umbrella bodies.
Update Issue 44, March 2006 (pdf - 254k) Feature article: Celebrating the New Young!
Our population is ageing. Although the world of advertising and pop culture would have us reaching for botox it is a fact we cannot deny. But is getting older really as grey as its purported to be?
Update Issue 43, December 2005 (pdf - 347k) Value-Include-Connect, A reason to celebrate!
This special issue of Update contains a summary of the Value-Include-Connect 2005 Conference held in Cardiff in November 2005.
Update Issue 42, September 2005 (pdf - 133k) Conference 2005 Special issue
Feature article: Participation in cultural activity: does 'Europe' help? by Christopher Gordon, expert on European Cultural Policy, key note speaker at Value - Include - Connect, the Role of the Voluntary Arts in Europe
Update Issue 41, June 2005 (pdf - 269k) Feature article: The place of the voluntary arts sector in a changing world
The world appears to get smaller and bigger simultaneosly. Improved travel and communications allow us to be world citizens, and our lives seems to be increasingly controlled by remote events and structures. As this process seems here to stay, it is vital that we protect the huge diversity of the ways we express our cultures.
Update Issue 40, March 2005 (pdf - 317k) Feature article: The voluntary arts - assets in the heart of rural communities
Rural communities are facing growing challenges to their economic and social sustainability.
Update Issue 39, December 2004 (pdf - 177k) Feature article: Cultural Rights - essential to personal development and dignity
For many years the issue of cultural rights and human development - as separate from, or as part of, other human rights - has been a source of regular debate by academics, policy makers and those in the cultural sector.
Update Issue 38, September 2004 (pdf - 177k) Feature article: Mental Health - depends on the arts.
There is a connection between individual and community well-being and arts practice. October 10th is designated World Mental Health Day to raise awarenes of mental health issues. We ought to be paying attention - the arts are high on the mental health agenda.
Update Issue 37, July 2004 (pdf - 177k) Feature article: Government and the Value of Culture
In May, Tessa Jowell MP, Secretary for Culture, Media & Sport presented an essay on Culuture. The feature article is an outline of VAN's response.
Update Issue 36, March 2004 (pdf - 392k) Feature Article: Social Capital - building bridges, bonding us together
Update Issue 35, December 2003 (pdf - 535k) Feature Article: VAN Working Knowledge and Foundation Skills
During 1999 – 2002 VAN developed a new framework for training and education – the VAN Working-knowledge programme - offering learning opportunities to trustees, staff and members of voluntary organisations in the cultural sector throughout the UK with accreditation from the National Open College Network.
Update Issue 34, September 2003 (pdf - 129k) Feature Article: The Age Shift
Many voluntary arts groups have an ageing membership: some worry about this a lot.Why is this happening? Does it matter? Should these older groups be actively trying to recruit young people? How is demographic change going to alter our lives and what role do the voluntary arts play in these shifts...
Update Issue 33, March 2003
(pdf - 320k) Feature Article: The European Year of Disabled People - what are you doing for it?
Promoting the human rights of people with disabilities will not only help reduce suffering but could also promote economic and social development.Respect for human rights is increasingly viewed as the most fundamental feature of successful and healthy societies.
Update Issue 32, October 2002
(pdf - 671k) Feature Article: The voluntary arts and 'social exclusion'
Update Issue 31, June 2002
(pdf - 585k) Feature Article: Recruit, Retain, Reward, Recognise - volunteering in the voluntary arts
Update Issue 30, April 2002
(pdf - 533k) Feature Article: 'You've trained for it all your life' - VAN teams up with the Experience Corps to help the voluntary arts
Update Issue 29, January 2002 (pdf - 337k) Feature Article: Are we 'Partnershipped' out?
Update Issue 28, October 2001 (pdf - 362k) Feature Article: Cultural Volunteering is different
Update Issue 27, July 2001 Feature Article: Onwards and Upwards: VAN expands across all four nations.
Update Issue 26, April 2001 Feature Article: 'Volunteers at the Heart of Culture' - VAN's conference in November.
Update Issue 25, January 2001 (pdf - 338k) Feature Article: 'A Culture in Common' - a policy for the arts in Wales.
Update Issue 24, Sept 2000 Feature Article: Scotland's National Cultural Strategy.
Update Issue 23, July 2000 Feature Article: Arts and Culture in Northern Ireland.
Update Issue 22, April 2000 Feature Article: Funding cuts for national organisations(setbacks after devolution).
Update Issue 21, January 2000 Feature Article: Digital is here to stay.
Update Issue 20, Sept 1999 Feature Article: A good climate for growth.
Update Issue 19, June 1999 Feature Article: 1999 International Year of Older People.
Update Issue 18, April 1999 Feature Article: Devolution..... and the arts.
Update Issue 17, January 1999 Feature Article: Today Wales, tomorrow the world!
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