Fellfoot Forward Community arts programme

Inspired by the natural and cultural heritage of the landscape, and the many stories of its communities, the community arts programme aims to draw Fellfoot Forward people together, across village and parish boundaries.

Everything changes, everything stays the same, a year long arts project for 2023, funded by Arts Council England and Westmorland and Furness Council, will bring together residents, schools, voluntary sector groups, scientists, conservation groups, local councils, and landowners to collaborate with artists and creative practitioners, using sound and music as a medium to explore the past, present, and future of the area’s landscapes. Their created work will be performed across the Fellfoot Forward landscape at special events and will also be broadcast through an online radio channel to be created by the project team.

Artist commissions for 2022 were awarded to artists living and/or working in the Fellfoot Forward area. The commissions responded artistically to one, or more, of three Fellfoot Forward LPS priorities:
A place in time – Lithophones in the landscape by Stephen Burke and Bluejam Arts
Shifting natural worlds – Crossing thresholds by Dominic Smith
Look up – Our dark hearts by The Curious School

Artist bursaries for 2022 were awarded to six artists, who live or will work in the Fellfoot Forward scheme area.

Community arts pilot projects were commissioned for 2021, with six artists working with local community audiences to deliver their activity.

Fellfoot fables was the first community arts project to be delivered in 2020. A virtual creative writing series recording young people’s connection to the landscape during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and restrictions, through poetry and prose.

Our strategy has come from consultation and conversations through the first year of the scheme. You can read the strategy document included on this page. An artist coordinator has also been appointed to make connections with local and regional artists and arts centres, and to encourage the Fellfoot Forward community to join in with local and regional arts and crafts. We welcome feedback – you can email Fiona Knox with your comments.