A bumper edition of local age friendly creative opportunities and information
Oxfordshire Age Friendly Creative Network Newsletter April 2022
Welcome to the April edition of theOxfordshire Age Friendly Creative Network (OAFCN) e-newsletter, featuring a brilliant selection of age friendly creative opportunities from Oxfordshire and beyond. We are very much looking to seeing some of you at the Home Instead Older Persons day event at the Corn Exchange in Witney on 20th May 2022 at 10am-1pm. Age UK Oxfordshire's Creative Team will be there alongside organisations offering useful advice for older people.
We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded funding from Arts Council England to deliver a project to mark the the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. The Creative Windows for the Jubilee project will take place throughout May and will culminate in a celebration event at the Mill Arts Centre in Banbury on 4th June 2022 (see article below for more information).
The Age of Creativity Festival 2022, which takes place from 1st-31st May, is shaping up brilliantly with lots of fantastic Age Friendly Creative activities and events already listed and many more being added to the website. The Festival is nationwide but we want to feature as many Oxfordshire based activities as possible so please upload you Age Friendly Creative events and explore the website site by clicking on the link here - Age of Creativity Festival 2022
Also a reminder that it is Creativity and Wellbeing week from 16th-23rd May 2022 - more information here Creativity and Wellbeing week
The April OAFCN e-news features a fantastic range of age friendly creative opportunities and insights including; our exciting Creative Windows for the Jubilee project, a series of workshops exploring the Shakespeare Play Romeo and Juliet, Discovering Heritage and Green Spaces event in Rosehill, a Daybreak Oxford Art and Musical experience at Dorchester Festival, the South Bank Centre's Art By Post project evaluation film and our regular Creative of the Month which this month features Oxford photographer Pete Upham and a photo of an installation in Oxford in support of the people of Ukraine. If you have any suggestions for great age friendly creative items for the newsletter please email- helenfountain@ageukoxfordshire.org.uk
Creative Windows for the Jubilee project We are very excited to announce that we have been awarded funding from the Arts Council’s Let’s Create Jubilee Fund by Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF) for a creative project project ensuring that creativity plays an important role in local community celebrations in Banbury and across Oxfordshire for Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The Creative Windows for the Jubilee Project will focus the Cherwell area of Oxfordshire and will also be open to participants across the County who will create art and display it in the windows of their homes to brighten up the streets for the 2 weeks leading up to the Platinum Jubilee weekend. Working in partnership with the Mill Arts Centre in Banbury we will distribute Creative Challenge Packs in the community and also deliver a series of creative workshops both online and in person to inspire creativity and engagement with the project. The Creative Windows for the Jubilee project will culminate with creative event at the Mill Arts Centre in Banbury on 4th June 2022 (SAVE THE DATE!) to bring the everyone together for a community celebration. If you would like to find out more visit our website by clicking on the link here Creative Windows for the Jubilee project or email Helen Fountain at helenfountain@ageukoxfordshire.org.uk
Romeo and Juliet project workshops at Oxford Playhouse Oxford University Researcher Dr Sophie Duncan will be delivering a series of workshops linked to Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, about “star-crossed lovers” in Italy’s Verona. The workshops will take place on 5th, 12th and 19th May from 12.30pm-2pm in person at the Oxford Playhouse Theatre. Sophie will read some short extracts and talk about the play, the decisions the characters make, and the issues of “first love” and the “generation gap” and seek to engage workshop participants in a discussion about the play.
The workshops are free to attend and will support research that Sophie is conducting for a book about Shakespeare's Juliet. Participants are asked to be mindful that the play Romeo and Juliet does contains some sensitive themes which may arise in discussions during the project workshops, if you would like to discuss the project in more detail please contact Dr Sophie Duncan for further information on e: sophie.duncan@chch.ox.ac.uk
or t: 01865 276150
Discovering Heritage and Green Spaces at Rosehill in Oxford project at Rosehill Community Centre 26th April 5.30pm-7.30pm Oxford Preservation Trust are working with communities in Rosehill and local historian Liz Woolley on a project dedicated to celebrating the history and heritage of Rosehill, with the aim of creating a self-guided trail around the area to tell Rose Hill’s story.
To help create this trail, they would love to hear experiences and memories of living and working in Rose Hill and are hosting a Drop-In Community Engagement Workshop on Tuesday 26 April between 5.30-7.30pm at the Rose Hill Community Centre- Norman Brown Rooms 1 & 2. It will be an informal and fun session with no preparation needed and is free to attend. To find out more please email Shona Carr
e: S.Carr@oxfordpreservation.org.uk
An Art and Musical Experience in Dorchester on Friday 6th May 10.30am-12noon free entry. Enjoy live music at Dorchester Festival from local saxophonist George Haslam in collaboration with Daybreak Oxford who will putting music to canvas at this dementia friendly event. Daybreak have been working on an research project entitled Science Together with Oxford University and this performance will present the project and invite the public to join in. There will also be the opportunity to find out more about Daybreak Clubs and the dementia day centres that they run in the Oxford area. Dorchester Festival is taking place at Dorchester Abbey OX10 7HH. More information is available on the website by clicking on the link here - Dorchester Festival and you can find out more about Daybreak Clubs by clicking on the link here -Daybreak Clubs
South Bank Centre Art by Post project evaluation film We are really pleased to be able to share this lovely evaluation film created in response to the South Bank Centre's Art By Post project. The project is ongoing but the film explores the impact of the project during the pandemic.. Age UK Oxfordshire is a project delivery partner and we were delighted that the Art By Post: Of Home and Hope exhibition visited the Mill Arts Centre and Banbury Museum last year. You may spot the brilliant self portrait created by Janet from Banbury in the film and there is even a very brief appearance by a member of our Age UK Oxfordshire Creative Team! More information about the project can be found by clicking on the link here - Art By Post and to view the film click on the image below.
Oxfordshire Age Friendly Creative of the Month We love to hear from our Oxfordshire creatives and share their brilliant work. This month we would like to share this powerful photograph, taken by Pete Upham of Oxford, of an art installation in support of the people of Ukraine created by the Oxfordshire based community project, Standing With Giants. The installation is entitled the Monumental Solidarity Project and was created in collaboration with sculptor Peter Naylor. It is situated in Broad St Oxford and you can find out more by visiting the website here- Standing With Giants
We love to share artistic creations from OAFCN members, be it painting, needlecraft, poetry, music or anything that you have made at home or in group settings. If you would like to be included please email a photo to helenfountain@ageukoxfordshire.org.uk
Our mailing address is:
Oxfordshire Age Friendly Creative Network / Age UK Oxfordshire
9 Napier Court
Barton Lane
Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3YT
United Kingdom
