Preston's Harris Museum Gets Blaze Arts Makeover

Feb, 22 2018

~When you think back to the London 2012 Opening Ceremony and the storytelling that took place, the music and iconic British artists from the last fifty years as well as the intake of  actors and actresses that represented different fields of employment many of which were young people  it all helped to re-imagine Britain and the cultural country that it is.

Closer to home and in more recent years, Liverpool has experienced giant puppets that tell a local tale and in Preston it’s had a newly refurbished markets which has helped to revitalise trade and enhance the city.

Now in 2018, Preston’s Harris Museum and Art Gallery has become the central focus and a continual project for the teenage sector to get involved in.

Here’s a little background about the collective group known as Blaze Arts and their involvement with the Harris, :-

Blaze began in 2009  as a cultural project that would later be part of WE PLAY, the North West cultural legacy programme for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The programme was designed for 30 young festival producers to organize and programme Blaze Festival 2012. At the closure of the Games there was a window of opportunity to carry the group forward as a creative concept. Support came from Lancashire County Council and Curious Minds enabling Blaze Arts continue to the present day engaging in local communities and giving places like libraries, museums and galleries a complete makeover.

Curious Minds has since provided £49,000 to help re-imagine the Harris Museum and Art Gallery. Over a nine month period a series of  young people will meet together at The Harris to have a  shared creative discussion with curators, historians, artists, digital creators and designers to help develop two events.

The first of which is a cinematic light and sound installation for the facade of the building. The second is a digital trail, which will animate and bring to life the Harris collections.

Funding will come from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Chief executive of Curious Minds Derri Burdon speaks of her joy of the grant as well as the positive collaboration with the youth of Preston,

“We’re delighted to have won the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund for this exciting programme of work. It is important that we find creative ways for Lancashire’s young people to be able to influence how their local cultural offer is shaped, as this will help to ensure that more young people are able to experience the many educational and social benefits that engagement in the arts and culture bring to our lives.”

Blaze Arts works mostly with 14-21 year old and they are proud of the vision that their members represent which they  can talk assuredly and confident about,

To develop the next generation of cultural producers by offering opportunities for young people to realise their creative visions with professional artists and leaders.

This ideology sets Blaze Arts apart from any other collective organisation providing the young people of today a future in the world of employment tomorrow.

^Alex Ashworth.