West London Story Forum Summaries:How can we create community theatre of professional quality and of interest beyond the community? (27th Feb, Willesden Green Library Centre)
Leader: Vicky Graham
vicky@giltandgrime.co.uk
Key points of discussion:
• Who or what is the community at the centre of a community arts project? How do we identify it?
• Is London one big community, or essentially community-less?
• Is there such a thing as a West London community and a West London story?
• A community arts project needs a purpose, a theme/ story and artists
• The West London Story could come out of what West London artists are already doing
• Research and development bursaries could allow us to find grassroots stories
• We need a structure to share these stories, e.g. pairings of arts organisations/ artists so that stories start moving, being exchanged or pairings of story ‘owners’ with artists who can give them expression and a professional platform
• Since West London is so huge, we could think of identifying one artist/ organisation/ ambassador/ art form, and bring them all together
• We can never reflect ever element/ story of West London’s community. We should instead assume that a strong enough personal story can be of universal relevance.
Key Actions
Ask for management support, ladder of development and funding to:
1) Identify new stories
2) Give those stories the best possible, professional expression