Emerge: Verbal Arts Festivals
Emerge delivered a series of verbal arts festivals across the Midlands over the course of three years. The festivals were designed by young people, for young people, and in collaboration with young artists.
Emerge
This project is now complete
A three-year project across the Midlands working with young people on a series of verbal arts festivals.
The project in numbers
£990,645
Project spend
3 years
Project duration
Visit The Mighty Creative’s website
For further information
In April 2016, Spirit awarded The Mighty Creatives with £1m worth of investment to deliver a series of verbal arts festivals across the Midlands as part of the Emerge Programme. The project, which launched on the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, took inspiration from his plays, reinterpreting them for a contemporary audience.
The Mighty Creatives, an Arts Council England’s Bridge Organisation for the East Midlands, worked in partnership with UK Young Artists and Arts Connect to deliver Emerge. They also worked in schools, youth settings and practitioners to run ‘labs’, with teenagers developing their own festival concepts and content under the tutelage of a young artist.
The Emerge Programme spanned 12 Midlands locations across the three years: Corby, Tamworth, Dudley, Walsall, Hornchurch, Wolverhampton, Cannock Chase, Sandwell, Ashford, Mansfield, South Holland and Boston.
Project aims
- Give young people in the Midlands the chance to engage with the arts
