dartington plus - the focus for the next five years

The process of developing ideas for the five-year plan has been led by three Dartington Plus partners and through discussions with organisations and individuals in the region.

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In developing these ideas, there were several questions to consider:

Through addressing these questions, four priorities for the Dartington Plus partnership have been developed:

  1. A continuing commitment to encouraging engagement in music & the arts for all ages and from all backgrounds through an innovative lifelong learning approach
  2. Supporting exceptionally gifted and talented people in the region
  3. Bridging the gap between education & the industry
  4. Supporting the practitioner once in the profession – practically, creatively and economically

Our five year strategic aims

This work has led to the development of the following 6 development aims and 4 enabling aims. Dartington Plus is committed to achieving these aims by 2010.

Development aims

  1. Establishing a specialist music school across all genres for gifted and talented young people from the South West region - LEAD PARTNER, KEVICC
  2. Developing an innovative Arts programme across the Dartington Plus partnership to sustain Dartington as a centre of creative excellence - LEAD PARTNER, DHT
  3. Implementing participant development initiatives to encourage continuing participation across all age groups and support continued lifelong learning - LEAD PARTNER, DHT
  4. Providing a regional resource to enable musicians and artists to progress from education to sustainable work. - LEAD PARTNER, DCA
  5. Providing a regional resource to support creative practitioners to develop and grow their business and skills - LEAD PARTNER, DCA
  6. Creating an Arts Park at Dartington, providing space, resources and support for creative practitioners to transition from education to industry - LEAD PARTNERS, DHT & DCA

Enabling Aims

  1. To ensure appropriate governance and management structures to support the effective delivery of the Dartington Plus development aims
  2. To maximise income generation and fundraising opportunities and leverage in additional funds to support the Arts
  3. To work with partner organisations to support their complementary strategic initiatives
  4. To work with and learn from the experience of other Centres of Excellence at The Sage Gateshead and Aldeburgh

The Dartington Plus partnership

Dartington Plus is a centre of excellence in music & the arts delivered through a partnership between The Dartington Hall Trust (DHT), a charitable trust with a long distinguished history of artistic and cultural endeavour; Dartington College of Arts (DCA), a university-sector college focused on contemporary performance and creative arts practices; King Edward VI Community College (KEVICC), a specialist performing arts college for young people from the ages of 11 – 18.

This partnership approach has created the potential for significant developments by building on the distinctive expertise of the partner organisations. For DHT this distinctiveness is in programming, for DCA it’s support for creative enterprise and for KEVICC it is its educational work with young people particularly in the performing arts. All partners share a common commitment to music & the arts and to lifelong learning for people of all ages and backgrounds.

The partnership has signed up to the six strategic aims over the next five years, making best use of the distinctive skills of the individual partners. Each partner takes the lead in delivering the strategic aims most relevant to the skills and expertise of their organisation.

Each partner does of course carry out a wide range of other activity, not directly relevant to the Dartington Plus direction. However, these activities often create added benefits for the partnership and many other opportunities to explore and deliver further collaborative activity.

The Dartington Hall Trust

The Dartington Hall Trust is a registered charity based on a 1,000 acre estate near Totnes in South Devon. It was founded in the 1920s by Dorothy & Leonard Elmhirst as an experiment in rural reconstruction combining farming, forestry and new industries with educational innovation and the promotion of the arts and crafts. The derelict medieval courtyard was restored and a wonderful garden created in the grounds. Many new buildings were erected, the finest Modernist example of which now houses the Trust’s archive and art collection. The aims of the Trust are realised through several strands of activity encompassing the arts and education, ecology, social research and commercial enterprise.

Arts & Education

Dartington Arts runs a year-round programme of theatre, music, dance, contemporary performance film and education projects for which Dartington is renowned both regionally and nationally. The Dartington International Summer School offers a five week programme of music courses, master classes, workshops and concerts delivered by high quality national and international professionals working with amateur musicians of all ages and abilities.

Dartington’s Craft Education Centre holds bookbinding and printmaking classes throughout the year and are open to all comers. All levels of experience from beginners to experienced artists can be accommodated. Enrolment is for day or half-day classes over a ten-week term. The workshops boast unique collections of expertise and equipment and are among the best in the southwest.

The Trust possesses an extraordinary archive, containing not only the history of the Trust itself and much about those who came to Dartington, but also illuminating the networks of connections that radiated from it. For example it includes many of the papers of the actor, theatre teacher and director Michael Chekhov who worked at Dartington in the 1930s. The Trust has a major collection of twentieth century paintings, drawings, pottery, furniture and other items collected by the founders and the Trust including works by Christopher Wood, Cecil Collins, Mark Tobey, Ben Nicholson, Bernard Leach and many others. These are housed at High Cross House, a Grade I listed modernist building on the Estate. It is open to the public and researchers may work in the archive by appointment.

Ecology

Schumacher College, founded by the Trust in 1991 runs courses, including an MSc programme, based upon an ecological, sustainable and holistic world view, and encompassing new thinking in a variety of fields.

The woodlands on the Estate are diverse. Its conservation is managed by a small department with the assistance of local volunteers and outside specialist expertise. The team’s primary focus is centred on the day-to-day operations of managing the Estate’s natural environment in conjunction with the Trust’s other charitable activities. The Trust aims to identify the importance and level of the Estate’s natural resources and implement a strategy of sustainable management to retain and where possible enhance the potential for wildlife diversity alongside a working environment.

The Trust’s 28 acre garden is widely recognised as one of this country’s great 20th century gardens, have a Grade II listed status. It is open to the public all year.

Social Research

Research in Practice is the largest children and families research implementation project in England and Wales. It is run in collaboration with the Association of Directors of Social Services, The University of Sheffield and our network of over 80 participating agencies in the UK. Established in 1996 as an ADSS initiative, Research in Practice is now the largest childcare research implementation project in the country.

Policy Research Bureau is an independent social policy research centre based in London but set within the overall charitable mission of The Dartington Hall Trust. PRB specialises in applied social policy research on children, young people and families. It contributes to current theoretical, policy and practice debates in the field from a soundly evidence-based and scientifically robust perspective.

Commercial Ventures

The Dartington Trading Company operates the Cider Press Centre at Dartington and the Totnes bookshop. The Cider Press Centre is a visitor, craft exhibition and retail complex, having eleven shops, two restaurants, a plant centre and a woodturning workshop. Based in historic farm buildings, the Centre attracts more than 600,000 visitors a year.

Dartington Accommodation and Catering Services Ltd (DACS) provides and manages almost all the accommodation and catering on the estate, including facilities for the students at Dartington College of Arts. In additional to regular festivals such as Ways with Words and the Dartington International Summer School, DACS hosts conferences for a range of clients, both public and private.

Dartington Property Ltd. The Trust’s small Property Management team acts through a wholly-owned subsidiary company and is responsible for the management of all the Trust’s land and property and thus acts on behalf of the Trust in its capacity as landlord to the many departments, organisations, small companies, public bodies and householders who are its tenants.

The Dartington Hall Trust’s distinctive role in, and contribution to, the Dartington Plus partnership is in arts programming and development.

Dartington College of Arts

Dartington College of Arts (DCA) is a university-sector college with a national and international reputation for contemporary performance and creative arts practices and their relation to changing social and cultural contexts.

Currently 500 undergraduates are studying for honours degrees in music, theatre, choreography, performance writing, visual performance and arts & cultural management. 100 postgraduates are pursuing research degrees, MPhil, PhD and taught MA degrees.

In addition, the College houses the highly successful Centre for Creative Enterprise & Participation and an International Office with over 30 collaborative partnerships in Europe alone. In recent years DCA has brought together key policy and decision makers in international higher education. Delegates from more than thirty countries have come together to exchange information, network and influence the process of internationalisation of higher education.

The College is situated at the heart of the Dartington Hall Estate and its facilities include:

• a 120 seat performance space
• a range of 17 studios for theatre, music and dance
• 20 practice and teaching rooms
• an exhibition gallery
• a library and learning resources centre
• 220 student bed-spaces

Dartington College of Arts’ distinctive role in, and contribution to, the Dartington Plus partnership is in creative enterprise.

King Edward VI Community College (KEVICC)

King Edward VI Community College (KEVICC) has over 1650 pupils between the ages of 11 and 18 drawn largely from 12 feeder primary schools. It has strong links with the nearby Bidwell Brook Special Needs School and operates an adult education programme with some 3,000 participants. A designated youth worker leads a team, which operates a drop-in centre for young people and runs a vibrant programme of events. KEVICC is designated with Specialist Arts College status in the performing arts and runs a rapidly expanding range of music, theatre and dance activities during and outside school hours.

In the mid 1990’s KEVICC worked with the local community to raise the funds to build bespoke arts facilities on its main site. The Ariel Centre comprises:

• a visual arts gallery
• a performance space with sprung floor and raked seating for up to 330
• 2 music rooms
• 2 drama studios

Following achievement of Arts College status, the Music Department has been extended and upgraded to provide an additional music room; 3 new practice rooms for small ensemble and individual use; an enlarged studio suitable for dance; and greatly enhanced disabled access.

KEVICC also is leading on a major capital project at The Mansion, a prominent building in the centre of Totnes that is the hub of its adult education programme. The plans include refurbishment of the main hall and the creation of a new live performance space focused on the needs of young people.

KEVICC’s distinctive role in, and contribution to, the Dartington Plus partnership is in music & arts education for young people.

What we do – the Dartington Plus pilot year 2004/05

In 2004/05, the Dartington Plus partnership delivered 12 significant projects designed to launch the initiative, whet the appetite and demonstrate the potential for the future. Many of these projects will be taken forward and developed for the future.

These projects were:

Future Opportunities, New Challenges – the South West region’s first music symposium, held at Dartington over five days, attracting over 450 delegates, with over 250 visiting Dartington for the first time. April 2004

VocaLatitude – a music theatre project involving students from Dartington College of Arts working with refugee groups in Plymouth and culminating in a world premiere performance at the Barbican Theatre. The project involved 10 second year students from Dartington College of Arts and 15 individuals from refugee groups in Plymouth. April – June 2004

Cultural Connections – a music education summer school provided by WOMAD. The project started with a sell out performance by WOMAD in the Great Hall, followed by a summer school for 45 primary aged children taking place at KEVICC. May – August 2004

BandIT - a rock & prop music education project, led by Rock On. This project started with a summer school for 45 secondary aged students, taking place at KEVICC. Workshops continued In the Autumn Term culminating in a CD of the tracks created and a sell out gig at the Civic Hall, Totnes. This project benefited from additional music industry input from the Centre for Creative Enterprise & Participation. July – December 2004

Dartington Recordings – the establishment of a record label led by the Centre for Creative Enterprise & Participation. Two CD releases in the pilot year, the first for the BandIT project and the second a CD of twelve tracks performed by emerging bands from the South West region. This will be released as a cover mount CD in the national music industry journal Music Week as part of the build up to the 2005 Music Symposium ‘South West Sound’. Ongoing

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Concert Plus - This project consisted of open rehearsals, schools workshops, master classes and two concerts in the Great Hall, one a children’s concert. Over 300 children and young people from 15 schools, primary and secondary, were involved in the residency. Composition workshops also took place with music students from Dartington College of Arts. The project formed part of OAE’s South West residency with St George’s Bristol, Wiltshire Music Centre, Jackdaws Educational Trust, Somerset and Dartington Plus. December 2004

Totnes Young People’s Theatre – a community project for young people in Totnes, creating a music theatre piece for performance in November 2004. Dartington Plus support for the creation of a new score through music composition workshops with a DJ artist

Music & Dance Exchange (MADE) – one-week residency for established musicians and dancers working together to refresh their creative practice and explore collaborative working. Led by staff from Dartington College of Arts. March 2005

South West Music Industry Forum (SWMIF) – the setting up of a regional forum to raise the profile of the region’s music industry, deliver partnership projects and undertake a mapping research exercise to demonstrate the economic value of the sector in the region. Ongoing

Music Industry Seminars – a package of specialist seminars, delivered throughout the region and led by the Centre for Creative Enterprise & Participation. In 2004/05, 6 seminars took place in Gloucester, Newquay, Bradford on Avon, Crediton, Plymouth and Bristol. Ongoing

Devon Artsculture - a programme of practical support to creative practitioners based in rural Devon to develop and grow their business. This projected is funded by European ERDF funding through Objective 2 and delivered through a partnership between Dartington Plus, Beaford Arts and Devon County Council. January 2005 – December 2007

Orchestras Live – Dartington Plus is part of the national Orchestras Live chamber orchestra touring initiative delivered by the Eastern Orchestral Board. Performances to date include OAE, City of London Sinfonia, Britten Sinfonia, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and London Sinfonietta. Ongoing