Curious Minds

Bridge Organisation - Connecting young people with great arts and culture

 

Curious Minds is part of a national network of 10 bridge organisations, funded by Arts Council England to use our experience and expertise to connect children and young people, schools and communities with art and culture.

The Arts Council believes that every child and young person should have the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts and culture.

• Bridge organisations facilitate networks and make sure there is an ongoing dialogue across the arts, culture and education 
• Bridge organisations help educational settings, both formal and informal, identify and access arts and cultural opportunities
• Bridge organisations help other arts and cultural organisations, including museums and libraries, to bring the cultural experiences that they offer to more children and young people

What will bridge organisations do?

Bridge organisations will: 

• build on the good practice already out there but will also establish a sound evidence base. Then they will build and facilitate networks across the arts, culture and education to make sure that there’s an ongoing dialogue 
• help educational settings identify and access the right arts and cultural opportunities, and will help them to bring their views into local cultural planning. This work will build on the legacy of Creative Partnerships and Find Your Talent 
• help National Portfolio Organisations and other arts and cultural organisations, including museums and libraries, bring the cultural experiences that they offer to more children and young people. Bridge organisations will help them to connect with schools and to identify opportunities for new commissions 
• help National Portfolio Organisations and other arts and cultural organisations to identify investment opportunities from local authorities, local businesses, trusts and foundations – so that they can enhance the offer they make to children, young people and families 
• develop the reach of arts and cultural experiences and the numbers of people engaging with them through Artsmark and Arts Award. They will help to balance the need for universal access to Artsmark and Arts Award with the targeted development of both schemes 
• balance the need for universal access to Artsmark and Arts Award with the targeted development of both schemes support the Arts Council’s ambition to raise the quality of work for, by and with children and young people Arts Council England will play a facilitation role, consulting and working through National Portfolio Organisations and the wider sector to develop a shared understanding of how the quality of experience for children and young people and families can be judged 
• support the work of the new Music Hubs and National Music Plan

What won’t bridge organisations do? 

The Arts Council isn’t expecting bridge organisations to directly deliver arts and cultural opportunities for children and young people as part of their role as a bridge. Bridge funding relates just to bridge activities.

Some bridge organisations also receive National Portfolio Funding to produce and present art.  Bridge organisations will continue to deliver arts opportunities to children and young people as part of their core business – distinct from their bridge role. 

Bridge organisation may help to deliver opportunities for children and young people with other agencies and organisations (for example by modelling or piloting ways of working that directly benefit other arts and cultural organisations) in order to increase the capacity and long-term sustainability of the sector.

The Curious Bridge Team

Curious Minds has gathered together some of the greatest, most curious, Minds, in the country to help the organisation deliver this role for you in the North West. They are:

Katy May - Director of Programmes

Katy leads the delivery of Curious Minds’ arts, cultural and creative programmes, including Arts Council England’s Bridge Organisation programme across the North West of England; ensuring that all children and young people in the region have access to quality arts and cultural learning activities

Kelly Allen - Bridge Coordinator: Engagement

Kelly’s role is to work with external partners to ensure ALL children and young people have access to high quality arts and cultural provision by identifying and removing barriers to participation in arts and cultural activity for children and young people most at risk of missing out.  She is tasked with:Working  with staff in educational, youth, cultural and community settings to increase the range and accessibility of opportunities available to children and young people to be creators, consumers, critics, commissioners and leaders of culture and arts across the region. Supporting inter- and cross-sector collaboration to improve the coherence of locality arts and culture offers by supporting and growing vibrant networks across arts, culture, education, health and regeneration.

Hannah Baldwin - Bridge Coordinator: Achievement

Hannah is working with partners across the North West to develop and promote exciting opportunities for children and young people to explore, connect and celebrate their artistic talent and achieve appropriate recognition and accreditation, especially in the form of Arts Award.  Hannah will seek out and co-ordinate opportunities for children and young people to produce, exhibit and perform their own work.

Alice Demba - Bridge Coordinator: Quality 

Alice is responsible for promoting, developing and celebrating quality and excellence within the North West’s arts and cultural offer for children and young people.  Alice provides advice, support and challenge to schools and other organisations looking to embed quality approaches to their work with children and young people.  She also helps them to identify and engage with appropriate quality assurance frameworks and ‘kitemarks’, especially Artsmark.

Glen Meskell - Bridge Coordinator: Communications    

Glen is responsible for:Gathering, processing and sharing information and intelligence on the North West's arts and cultural offer for children and young people, including how it is perceived and levels of participation Developing  and implementing a marketing and communications strategy for Curious Minds, our Bridge Organisation role and wider activitiesWorks with external partners to improve marketing, information provision and the innovative use of digital technology within the region's arts and cultural sector

The Bridge team will also be supported by other internal members of staff within Curious Minds, as well as partners and leaders from across the North West and further afield.

If you have any questions about Curious Minds Bridge work, or any of our other work, please contact 01282 435835 or email: info@curiousminds.org.uk