Arts Programme and Cultural Development

Barking and Dagenham Arts Development

Projects, Partnerships, Events and Activities

Schools and Community Partnerships

An exciting and educational festival of arts activities for the whole community.

Community Music Service and Rock School|

The Community Music Service has launched a new Rock School, offering instrumental tuition for young people who might want to be professional musicians, play in a band or develop skills for personal fun and enjoyment. The School is currently held at Castle Green on Saturday mornings and is supported by Jo Richardson School and Dagenham Park Community School.

We are working to develop the project to include other schools and more classes at other venues so that the Rock School can grow into a large training academy for the stars of the future, possibly involving an annual 'battle of the bands' and live performance and recording opportunities.

Barking Town Centre public arts|

As part of the Barking Town Centre Artscape we have commissioned several artists to produce work in direct collaboration with the local community, young people and schools.

Making Barking Brilliant

Artist Dale Devereux Barker will be creating permanent signage and interpretation panels for Barking Town Centre. Brightly coloured enamels will be printed onto metal panels fixed to walls, and etched granite slabs will be placed into pavements.

Pupils from all the secondary schools in Barking and Dagenham, young people from Ab-Phab youth club and members of the local community in Barking Town Centre took part in workshops with artist Dale Devereux Barker to create designs for the panels and flooring that could form a visual trail around the cultural quarter of the Town Centre.

Dale is producing the work as a series of colourful pedestrian way-markers between the retail areas of the Town Centre, across the Broadway and Abbey Green to the River Roding.

The Ice Harvest - Get Involved and Unlock the Past|

We are inviting people, with a local story or history, to donate a real key to be included in The Ice Harvest. The key can be any size and for any lock or object and it can eventually be returned to the owner.

We want people to send their keys and a story about it to us and we will then cast the key so its shape and size is included in the artwork and print the story in a booklet about the project.

The key could be for anything from an old shed or padlock, to your first car or perhaps it has been discovered and no one knows where it originated. Whatever its origins, we would like to include it and unlock its history alongside everyone else's.

Send your keys and personal stories to the Arts Administrative Assistant at the address shown on the right.

Re:Generation|

Michael Cousin is an artist, born and bred in Barking, now living in South Wales. He has been commissioned to produce a film and photographic exhibition in collaboration with the community.

The exhibition is called Memento and features places and personal events, from days past, as recorded by the community in their personal photo albums, alongside images of how those places and people are now.

His film, Re:Generation, is a recording of personal anecdotes, memories and views on change, past and present with a view to reflecting on all our futures in a borough currently undergoing large scale redevelopment and change.

Both the exhibition and the film were presented and displayed in community buildings and venues across the borough in 2006.

Dagenham Park|

Artist Alex Julyan is working with the local community and nearby schools to create public artworks and installations in and around Old Dagenham Park, which is undergoing improvements as part of the Parks and Green Spaces Strategy.

During February and March 2006, Alex worked with Year 6 pupils from William Ford Primary School and Year 9 pupils from Dagenham Park Community school to complete the designs.

The project is due for completion in April 2006.

Spread the Word literature development

Local schools are taking part in Spread the Word, the Thames Gateway literature development initiative.

Royal Ballet with Dagenham Park and Barking Abbey Schools

Schools work with the prestigious Royal Ballet School.