Arts Alive: 1999 – Today
Overview:
Founded in 1999 by Ian Kerry and Sian Allen, Arts Alive is a charity dedicated to bringing high-quality arts and cultural experiences to rural communities across Shropshire, Herefordshire, and surrounding areas. The charity runs two main initiatives: Touring with Arts Alive, which focuses on live professional performance, and Flicks in the Sticks, which transforms village halls and community spaces into pop-up cinemas.
Through these two strands, Arts Alive works closely with local volunteers, community venues and village halls to create a sustainable, community-led network of cultural events in places that would otherwise have limited access to the arts.
Touring with Arts Alive brings theatre, music, dance, storytelling, and spoken word by professional touring artists and companies into small rural venues. Flicks in the Sticks screens a wide range of films — from popular releases to independent and foreign-language titles — giving rural audiences the chance to enjoy cinema on their doorstep.
Since its founding, Arts Alive has grown significantly supporting hundreds of volunteer promoters and reaching thousands of people each year.
Aims and Mission:
The mission of Arts Alive is to make the arts accessible to our communities, tackling rural isolation and helping market towns and villages remain vibrant and connected. Our aims include:
- Bringing professional, high-quality live arts and cinema to local communities who might otherwise face barriers to accessing them.
- Empowering local people by working with volunteers who choose and promote events that reflect their community’s interests and needs.
- Supporting village halls and community venues by boosting footfall, income, and local engagement, helping these vital spaces stay open and active.
- Fostering community cohesion and wellbeing by providing opportunities for people to come together and share cultural experiences.
- Championing rural touring as an essential part of the UK’s cultural landscape, ensuring that rural areas have the same opportunities as urban centres and supporting artists to do this
More than two decades on, Arts Alive continues to show that world-class cultural experiences belong everywhere.
Support usCharity Registration Number: 1182373
