ARTSPLAY was an arts in childcare project that was developed by HI~Arts.  It commenced in Spring 2002, and was completed two years later in Spring 2004.

The report can be downloaded at the side of this page.
 

Project Background

Stimulating Creativity was launched by HI~Arts in September 1997 to run as a year-long pilot project to explore the potential benefits of linking the arts and childcare. Partnerships were created between local musicians, visual artists and drama practitioners and childcare groups in four remote areas of the Highlands and Islands.

HI~Arts worked again in consortium with the childcare sector in the more remote areas of the Highlands and Islands to provide a rolling programme of training for childcare workers and artists, with the emphasis on ‘training the trainers’, under the name of ArtsPlay. 

A pool of six local artists in each area worked with Gaelic and English medium playgroups, out of school clubs, childminding groups, Sradagan (Gaelic medium out of school clubs) and nurseries, with an age group range of 3 to 12 years – in each of the ten Local Enterprise Company areas of the Highlands and Islands.

The project was delivered over two years in the Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, Sutherland, Ross and Cromarty, Inverness, Nairn, Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey, Skye and Lochalsh, Lochaber and Argyll and Bute, and started in Spring 2002.

A consortium of partners, which consisted of HI~Arts and the voluntary childcare sector organisations in the Highlands and Islands, worked together to deliver ‘ArtsPlay’. The project was monitored and evaluated by Consortium Partners, whose representatives met three times a year.

The project attracted funding from The Community Fund, Highlands and Islands Enterprise Network, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and the Local Childcare Partnerships in the Highlands and Islands.

In April 2002 Kay Smith was appointed as ArtsPlay Regional Coordinator until March 2004. After this time Jelica Gavrilovic, who had been appointed as the Inverness area Coordinator took over the role of Regional Coordinator until March 2005. 

When the pilot project was completed, there was considerable demand from childcare organisations in the rest of the Highlands and Islands to take part in a similar project and experience the benefits, which resulted from the pilot project.

The major benefits included:
• Enhancing children's social, intellectual, personal and physical development.
• Increased access for communities in rural areas to arts activities, arts opportunities and new resources.
• Improved level of skills in the childcare sector and professional development for artists.
• Increased employment opportunities for artists in their own communities.

During the project it became apparent that most of the areas involved wanted to continue.  The decision was made to enter ArtsPlay Phase 2 from April 2004 to March 2005.  During this period ArtsPlay Hebrides, ArtsPlay Skye & Lochalsh, ArtsPlay Shetland, Artexchange in Lochaber were formed locally in order to deliver a training programme in each region which was either like the original ArtsPlay or developed to work with other client groups.  

A database of artists who were involved with ArtsPlay can also be downloaded from the side of this page.

ArtsPlay National Conference 2004

To celebrate the completion of the project, HI~Arts organised an ArtsPlay National Conference which took place on Thursday, 2 December 2004 at the Craigmonie Centre, Drumnadrochit, Inverness-shire.

The conference was attended by 70 people from a variety of sectors across Scotland. Attendees included artists, teachers, childcareworkers, statutory sector workers, members from Gaelic-speaking groups, voluntary organisations, colleges and artists’ organisations.

Workshops were provided by Artsplay Highland, Fèisean nan Gaidheal, Imaginate and The Wolf Trap Foundation. Presentations came from Kay Smith on ArtsPlay and Mimi Flaherty on Wolf Trap.

The end of ArtsPlay also saw the production of a training DVD, which will be a lasting resource from the project. The DVD shows examples of workshops held during the project and has many ideas and tips on how to run arts activities in childcare settings.

Copies of the DVD were distributed to organisations throughout the Highlands and Islands.