Denbighshire County Council, Partneriath Corwen Partnership and Addo are pleased to announce that Arts Council of Wales have awarded the Re-imagining Corwen Project Ideas:People:Places funding of £23,650.

For a number of years the project partners have been working collaboratively with artists looking at community and rural tourism in Corwen. A key focus of these projects has been the extension of the Llangollen Heritage Railway from Carrog into Corwen and the effect the estimated influx of tourists will have on this small town.

Most recently Camp Little Hope, an artist collective based primarily in the USA, spent four months as artists-in residence in Corwen. Looking at connectivity across the town Camp Little Hope worked with local people, the Corwen Partnership and Denbighshire County Council’s Countryside Services to come up with a plan to transform a under-used field into a community garden reflecting global concerns around climate change and bio security.

The overall aim of Ideas:People:Places funding is

“To embed the arts in a genuine and meaningful way, in a small number of imaginative, ambitious and innovative regeneration projects. In doing so we wish to explore new ways of working that generate cross sector collaboration, test new ideas and partnerships and inspire communities to re-imagine their environment in a creative and empowered way.”

 The Ideas People Places funding will allow for the delivery and planning of a dynamic arts programme for Corwen, working with a range of artists to engage the community and build an audience for high quality arts in Corwen. Artists include Camp Little Hope, Davies Community Films, Ben Davis and Jude Wood amongst other professionals.

Other key partners in the project are Cadwyn Clwyd, who are also funding the project, and whose students are involved in project research and evaluation.

The Corwen Project has also been included in the Shape My Town Toolkit http://www.shapemytown.org/blog?tag=local+economy This is an online toolkit developed by the Design Commission For Wales. It is a ‘how to’ guide giving anyone wishing to investigate the quality of their place, town, village or neighbourhood the tools to explore , identify what makes a place unique and to plan for its future before investing time and money in improving it.