TERRESTRIAL:
socially engaged arts projects, community events and wild adventures in the West of England.

LIFT-OFF!

We are excited to announce that we have secured funding from Arts Council England and Jerwood Charitable Foundation, as well as support from North Somerset Council, for a series of exciting projects in Weston-super-Mare.

TERRESTRIAL’s first programme of arts adventures will begin this autumn. We’ll be launching details of how you can get involved over the next few weeks. For now, you can register your interest in free artist studios, read about launch event, or apply to be our new Executive Producer.

COMMUNITY STUDIOS

While we are in residence in Weston, we will steward a space in the centre of town for use as free artist studios. Whether you’re a sculptor or a storyteller, a graphic designer or a gymnast, and whether you’re an experienced practitioner or just starting out, you will be welcome to join a community of creatives. We will publish more details about this soon, but for now please get in touch to register your interest in using space to work, meet, learn and share ideas.

THE TERRESTRIAL ‘A TO B’ WALK
Sat 27th & Sun 28th October 2018

As a way to informally launch the organisation, we invite you to join us on a two-day walk across the width of our home region – from Avonmouth to Bath. Along the way there will be a series of stops and surprises, as well as a chance to chat with artists, our team and allies, and a friendly group of fellow walkers.

We will follow the River Avon Trail, which is designed to be accessible to buggies, wheelchairs etc. Start/end points will be reached by train, and there will be various places to join and depart along the journey. On Saturday evening we will gather in a central Bristol venue for food, drink and conversation. Please put a shiny star in your diary for the weekend, and we will publish full details closer to the event.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

We are looking for an Executive Producer to join TERRESTRIAL at this exciting stage in the organisation’s development. Please download the application pack here to find out more.

Images: Exploring Weston empty buildings (photo: Terrestrial); The River Avon Trail (photo: Eleanor Shipman).

OUR VISION

TERRESTRIAL means both ‘relating to the earth’ and ‘an inhabitant of the earth’, so it embraces both a place and the people who live there.

We believe that the towns, terrain and communities of the Avon region of the West of England (made up of the counties of North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset, and Bristol) can support an arts ecology that is locally thriving, internationally valued, full of surprises, and open to all.

We believe strongly in the power of co-authorship - in the wonderful things that happen when innovative artists and groups of local people work together to explore creative ideas.

Image: Mark Storor preparing a Donkey Tea Party (photo: Terrestrial).

OUR APPROACH

You could describe TERRESTRIAL's approach as a nomadic 'Town of Culture' for Avon. Each year, in a single town or area, we will commission and produce a range of bold, socially engaged arts projects - which could involve music, dance, storytelling, sculpture, podcasts, games and more. Each project we help to produce will be co-created by an innovative artist or company and an existing local group: a school, a social club, a charity, a group of residents. 

We want to provide opportunities for people living in, working in, and visiting the region to create and share extraordinary experiences. We’re particularly keen to collaborate with people outside city centres, with people facing barriers that make it harder for them to access cultural events, and with people who have been led to feel that the arts are ‘not for them’.

We believe that artists are great instigators: they are often brilliant at sniffing out underground stories, asking difficult questions, or getting the party started. We want to support artists to take risks, develop skills and learn from these experiences.

Images: Strolling Artists (photo by Megan Clark-Bagnall); Keynsham Signpost (photo by Priya Mistry); Residency Doodle (by Alison Neighbour).

OUR STORY SO FAR

TERRESTRIAL was founded by Tom Spencer. Tom is a producer and artist based in Bristol. He's previously organised shows and events in pubs, schools, farms, festivals, warehouses, castles, village halls and town centres, across the UK and internationally.

The company began with an extensive research project, through which a team of producers, artists, thinkers and helpers worked with Tom to explore the potential for a new organisation that could support groundbreaking arts projects in the region.

As part of our research, we hosted a series of artist residencies - opportunities for experienced practitioners to explore the region and help us to develop our ideas about how best to work in these unique places. With these artists, we set about meeting a range of local groups: we joined gardening sessions and litter picking walks, coffee mornings and community lunches, craft clubs and sports teams; and we chatted to local councillors and youth workers, small charities and independent businesses. Some of the brilliant artists who helped us on this journey were: Common Wealth, John Norton, Mark Storor, Ben Osborn, Eleanor Shipman, Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari, Priya Mistry, Alison Neighbour, Ania Varez, Clare Reynolds, Daniel Bye and Megan Clark-Bagnall.

As our ambitions have grown, we have developed relationships with funders, local authorities and other strategic investors and champions. If you are interested in supporting TERRESTRIAL's work, please get in touch.

Image: Mapping Weston (photo by Ania Varez).

WESTON-SUPER-MARE

TERRESTRIAL's first programme will take place in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset's largest coastal town, starting this autumn. With a lively and fast-growing population, loads of brilliant community activity, and an inspiring natural landscape, we believe Weston is the perfect place to launch our work. We are currently planning and fundraising, and hope to announce a range of ways that people can get involved later this summer.

We have established a close partnership with North Somerset Council - who will help us to collaborate with diverse local groups and unlock a variety of exciting spaces across the town.

Image: Panorama by brilliant Weston-based photographer Paul Blakemore.
Below: Ammonites by Eleanor Shipman & Keynsham residency artists.

PROJECTS

We will produce a variety of projects in Weston over the course of our year in residence in the town. We will bring together artists (composers, choreographers, theatre makers, digital wizards) and local groups (schools, clubs, workplaces, charities) to work together to develop wild ideas for animating the town with creative energy.

STUDIOS

Throughout our research we have heard stories of enthusiastic community groups seeking places to gather, and dynamic artists (such as graduating students from Weston College) struggling to find spaces in the town to develop their craft. So we're hoping to secure temporary use of a large building that we can offer as studios to local individuals and groups.