Making the most of… participatory opportunities for communities. Curl Girl Theatre Productions is a small, Birmingham-based theatre company, established in 2023 by Kiren Jogi, a professional actress, writer and creative practitioner.

Making the most of… international partnerships and connections. Launched in 2021, Cultural Bridge is a national programme which aims to forge international partnerships and foster creative collaborations between the UK and Germany.

Making in the most of… creativity and performance at MELA. Birmingham MELA (also known as Sandwell and Birmingham MELA), established in 2011, is the “biggest South Asian music festival” of its kind across the UK and Europe.

Making the most of… exploring the Black Country. As part of the Creative Communities programme, Creative Black Country (CBC) provides support for groups of people to engage with cultural activities that they might have no previous experience with.

Culture Volunteers WM was a pilot project that set out to provide more opportunities for people to volunteer in the arts, creative and cultural sector.

Transplanting snowdrops. Just one of the things our D/deaf volunteers did at Wightwick Manor today

LAUNCHED THIS WEEK: More to Explore micro-commissions exploring and delivering creative ideas in the Black Country. 

This month we have relaunched our Creative Communities strand of support where communities are invited to try out something new; for example craft skills, setting up a choir, or starting a garden gallery with your neighbours. You can also use the support to ‘go and see’ something like a theatre show or visit a museum or gallery.

Filming begins on the BSL videos for the Stourbridge Glass Museum website

Can you help us tell our story? The Creative Black Country team are looking for talented creative documenters (this includes, photographers, filmmakers, animators and illustrators, designers) to help tell our story in 2024 and 2025. 

Creative Black Country’s Fundraising Fellowship Scheme cohort, a vibrant assembly of artists and arts organisations based across Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Sandwell boroughs.

We're giving you a WHOLE 365 days to get your party outfit ready as Creative Black Country celebrates 10 years of co-creating with communities, artists and creatives across the Black Country!

In the realm of creative collaboration, the fusion of art and activism often leads to compelling narratives that resonate deeply with our shared human experience. The participation in the Cultural Bridge Programme embarked on a transformative journey that saw our emerging Black Country artists initially working in solitude.

Theatre-makers, musicians, artists, writers, visual artists and community organisations from Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell and Dudley are invited to apply to the Black Country Digital Firsts programme.  

Creative Black Country’s Funding Network invite you to a special online webinar for funding advice with the National Lottery Heritage Fund: Applying for grants from £10,000 to £250,000 under its new 10-year strategy ‘Heritage 2033’.

2023 has been jam-packed full of projects here at CBC and we’ve really enjoyed meeting new creatives and communities, alongside supporting people to make projects happen in the places they live with the people that matter to them. As we begin to lean into 2024 we asked the team to share their best bits, favourite memories and key highlights of the year…

Some of the fantastic work completed as part of the Culture Volunteers WM project, working with the National Trust and the Refugee and Migrant Centre in Wolverhampton.

Thank you to everyone that came along to our Winter Warmer last week. We were thrilled to see you all getting creative with our workshops and enjoying meeting with new friends and old.

A morning of work in the grounds at Moseley kept our second group of volunteers busy.