Funding for Wisbech Virtual Arts Trail

Exciting news! Wisbech Projects CIC has been awarded funding from Arts Council England to run a project for the town over the next few months. I’m very proud of this achievement and I’d like to thank all those who’ve been cheerleaders and supporters to get us to this stage of arts funding.

The project is a Virtual Arts Trail, with art from everyone who would like to contribute.

As the funding is specifically to support communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, while many have been, or still will be at home, the project is going to be using online tools to display the work on a website, across social media, and within a Minecraft map.

The map will display as many of the artworks as we can. It will be accessible to those who play Minecraft and we will take screenshots and videos to share with everyone. The plan is to then run a physical Studio/Arts Trail next year.

I started my IT career some 30 years ago and enjoyed gaming then, though we didn’t call it that as we were mostly just programming our own games and messing around to see what we could make the systems do.

We had text-based games and also, because I was working with some high-end equipment (the same systems that Disney uses to produce its cartoons), I was able to play flight simulators with excellent graphics, even back then!

So it is particularly exciting to combine creative, tech and heritage in this one project. We’re still planning where we’re going to put the artworks within the virtual world, but with so many beautiful buildings to choose from, we’re sure to be using the heritage of the town to good creative effect.

Everyone is welcome – I subscribe to the maxim that “Everyone is an Artist” and if you’ve been watching Grayson Perry the last few weeks (Channel4, available to watch online), or you’ve heard of Fun Palaces, you’ll understand that creativity is personal, there is no right or wrong, it is part of being human.

Go to the website www.WisbechArtSpace.com for more details, or get in touch via social media, @WisbechArts

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture and says: “By 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish.” (see more: www.artscouncil.org.uk)