Torbay ArtsBase (see below) was one of the organisations involved with the development of a new and exciting website, CreativeTorbay.com. This was funded by the Lottery (through the Arts Council) and includes a directory of people and organisations involved with all aspects of creativity within Torbay - architects, artists, designers, drama groups, musicians, sculptors, writers and many more.  There is also an events calendar, listings of spaces available for creativity (rehearsals, exhibitions and the like), training and employment opportunities and other features.  More recently there has been a forum added to the site, so that members can exchange views about a whole variety of subjects.

Chelston Gallery has a directory page on the CreativeTorbay site.  If you are a creative person living or working in the Torbay area, then I would recommend you joined this site - it is free!  Over 600 members of the creative and arts community can be seen on the site and thousands more have joined to receive a weekly newsletter that highlights some of the members and their activities.  It would be a good place to advertise what you do and your events.

There are also a number of other websites that feature and highlight the arts in this area.  For a list of these please see the Links page. 

Torbay Cultural Animators Network is a recently formed group comprising members of creativetorbay.com, local authority arts officers, library services, community groups, artists and other interested parties. We also have Audiences South West working with us at present. We are still in the process of formalising our vision, aims and objectives, but some areas that we are confident that we all support include:

Making Torbay / The English Riviera a place where:

• high quality artistic activity goes on
• high quality activity is seen to go on
• people come from wider afield to see the high quality of artistic activity
• people in the area regularly engage with the variety of artistic activities.

Seeing the construction and proper use of an Arts Centre where there will be facilities to:

• see a variety of exhibitions
• hear a variety of music
• watch a variety of shows, plays and other performances
• enable participation in a wide variety of creative activities
• allow community groups access to the full range of facilities and activities
• celebrate the high quality of artistic activity going on in the region
• attract and display work of national and international importance.

Promoting and furthering a greater dialogue between those that do, those that enable and those that attend.

Assisting in the Councils commitment to raising the area’s performance in terms of NI11 (National Indicator 11 – Engagement in the Arts). In the Torbay Local Area Agreement 2008 it states that “The inclusion of this indicator was considered to be important as it will help to raise the profile of the Bay; it would set an aspirational tone and also would link in with the delivery of economic prosperity. There was strong support from the Arts Council for inclusion of this indicator.”

Any assistance from those not already involved in the group would be most welcome. For more information please contact Kate Wilson (email kate.martin09@yahoo.co.uk) or see the Cultural Animators Network directory entry on creativetorbay.com

What we would be after in terms of support for an Arts Centre would be somebody who could act as our ‘Champion’ and help see the development and consultation process through; somebody to come to talk to us (both the Cultural Animators and the Artistic Community at large) about what is we are really after and/or somebody to express an interest in developing such a facility.  This may well be three different people – and all would be welcome to attend all or some of our monthly meetings (typically the third Monday in the month 5pm to 7pm).

Torbay ArtsBase was a forum for local artists and creatives, that aimed to help promote and celebrate all forms of The Arts and Creativity within the Bay.

Over the last few years Torbay ArtsBase set out to achieve three main goals.  They were to help promote and celebrate what is good about the Arts in the Torbay area, to facilitate the meeting/getting together of members of the arts community and to help set up a website that would provide those interested in the arts in the area (and beyond) with details of the members of the local arts community and the activities/events that they take part in.

For four years in a row Torbay ArtsBase held an Awards Ceremony in the Ballroom at Oldway Mansion.  Each year the event was slightly different in its structure, but the essential element – ie the presentation of a number of Awards – was the same.  In the four years over 50 individuals and groups have been recognised as carrying out exceptional work in Torbay.  Some were individual artists, singers or poets, some were groups of musicians or theatre performers, some were individuals who worked on behalf of others in the arts community and some were owners of business or venues where some of this area’s wonderful artists and musicians displayed their paintings or played their songs.  All were recognised as having produced work of a high standard in terms of creativity and finished product, carrying out their creative activity in the Bay and that the work they did in some way contributed to the cultural landscape of the Bay (this could be by way of enriching the lives of those who live here, or by spreading the word about the creativity here to a wider area/audience).  And all who received an Award did so in the knowledge that they had been nominated by fans of their work.

Throughout the time that Torbay ArtsBase was running, the central committee would meet every month to make plans for the Awards, to discuss and support other arts events and to meet members of the artistic community.  At some of the monthly meetings the venue was crowded with like-minded individuals who eagerly exchanged ideas and planned joint ventures.  Torbay ArtsBase were also involved with events such as the first Great Create (an arts festival) at Greenway on the banks of the River Dart and the Oxjam music event at the Town Hall in Torquay.

CreativeTorbay.com was launched just about a year ago (funded by an Arts Council Grant) and now has well over 500 individuals, places and business from the area registered and showing a directory page with information about what they do, pictures, lists of events, news and so on.  And there are thousands more who have registered just to be able to receive a weekly newsletter highlighting some of the people and events listed in the directory.  The newly launched forum on CreativeTorbay will allow members to exchange ideas and thoughts and this in turn will encourage more to join in. 

When put together like this, it can be seen that Torbay ArtsBase has achieved some tangible successes. In addition to this, the support that has been offered by the Council to Torbay ArtsBase and more recently to the Arts in general in the Bay, has been notable. Several events through out the year are supported in different ways - it may be with advertising, it may be with assisting with venues, it may be playing host, all contributions have been and will continue to be welcome. Torbay ArtsBase has helped to maintain a high level of involvement of members of the council and has encouraged the business community to also get involved, some for example by sponsoring the annual Awards event or by displaying some locally produced artworks.

It was therefore at this point that the Torbay ArtsBase committee decided to call it a day and to pass the torch over to the artistic community to carry on holding.  Individually the members of the committee will continue with their work in and support their own areas of the arts community and no doubt they will be seen at various events and happenings as time goes on.  It is time to hand over the mantle to the greater community.  If new ideas come along to help in the promotion and celebration of what is going on in our communities, then let us all support and encourage.  If some of the old ideas are seen to be worthy of continuing, then again, lets support and encourage those who wish to take them on.  The artistic activity in Torbay is something we all should treasure – we should all go to see more exhibitions, go to listen to more music and go to watch more performances.  It is out there – let’s enjoy and celebrate it!

On a personal note, I would like to thank all who were involved in Torbay ArtsBase in one way or another over the last few years.  Their support, enthusiasm and encouragement have been valued by me and all those we have worked with.

Kevin Alexander

Chairman (retiring) Torbay ArtsBase.

footnote:
It is hoped that the recently formed Torbay Cultural Animators Network, with their much wider brief, will be able to develop things much further than Torbay ArtsBase was ever able to. 

The Awards were an opportunity for the finalists to meet others in the Torbay Arts World and to share with them in the celebration and recognition of the best in the Bay this year. The evening included performances by Hannah Williams, Ragged Fish, Memo and Dodgy Practice and was attended by over 200 people.

For a full list of winners, finalists and sponsors and a few pictures, see creativetorbay.

The area known as 'The Englsh Riviera' (or as an authority as 'Torbay') has been awarded Geopark status. This is a world-wide recognition of the importance of the natural environment of this beautiful area. The film below is a seven minute promo made to explain this GeoPark idea.