Hello and Welcome
Welcome to the official blog for New Expressions – an exciting project across three areas of the UK that, thanks to funding support from Arts Council England, is providing opportunities for contemporary artists and heritage organisations to work together in new and interesting ways.
We are currently in the middle of New Expressions 3 (NE3) and have 15 projects spread across the South West, Midlands and North of England. The partners involved include major partner museums, regional museums, galleries and heritage sites as well as National Trust properties. Our artists cover a wide variety of specialisms and media.
I am based at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and have worked on New Expressions since it began.
The first two iterations were focused on the South West and, as part of the Plymouth project team, I got the chance to work with Dail Behennah (NE1) and Clare Twomey (NE2). They were excellent to work with. Our commissions offered them a chance to work in ways they hadn’t before. They also challenged the staff here at the Museum and Art Gallery and we were really pleased with the outcomes.
For NE3 I am wearing two hats: one as the lead for communications across the project as a whole, and one as the marketing and events officer for Plymouth’s commission. They are busy hats!
For Plymouth’s individual commission, we are working with Keith Harrison on an exciting public art project inspired by the breakwater. The project is going to challenge us all again but we’ve had a great response from the partners who need to be involved. Secretly, I’m guessing they probably think we’re all a bit crazy – but there is a willingness from everyone to work together to produce something really good.
We’ve just confirmed a number of small-scale build-up events for Spring 2015 which are designed to introduce children and adults to some of the themes and ideas behind Keith’s commission. We’ll be revealing details of our main public event very soon.
Jo Clarke
Communications – New Expressions
Marketing and Programme Development Officer – Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery
Recent Posts
Bristol Museum's Wood and Harrison commission
By: Emily Cooper, Bristol City Museums on 21 September 2015
Experiencing the moment: An outreach project for New Expressions
By: Ruth Gidley, Community Participation Officer, RAMM on 05 August 2015
Volunteers enrich re creation of war time at historic house
By: Susie O'Reilly on 01 June 2015
Imagination and resilience: Seven years of New Expressions and museum collaboration with artists
By: Claire Gulliver on 20 April 2015
Hello and Welcome
By: Jo Clarke on 06 December 2014