AngelShares is a new crowdfunding service for the arts.

It was developed locally (founded by Sarah Gee of Indigo Ltd and built by Made Media) and launches with projects from Ikon Gallery, Craftspace, Light House Media Centre, Belgrade Theatre and Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.

The interesting thing about this one being that eligible donations can attract Gift Aid, adding a healthy chunk of extra cash to any projects that you choose to support.

AngelShares is on Twitter and on Facebook.

Brilliantly Birmingham kicked off together with the fifth annual FLUX exhibition, Aedas Presents launched a new monthly art programme and Art of Ideas finally arrived with a host of associated events running over four days.

The We Are Birmingham Shop opened its doors with a drinks reception, Chris gave a debrief of the Arts Council briefing on funding and the West Midlands creative jobs board, Jobplot, returned with a fresh makeover.

November also saw the launch of The Pilot Project, Jennifer Tee’s exhibition, Memento Park opened at Eastside Projects, and Chris attended the wedding of the year.

Lucy McLauchlan returned with her paintbrushes to add something a little interesting to the Moseley Road hoardings, while VIVID launched their latest project, Language, and as December approached, the Christmas fairs sprung into action.

As winter kicked in, we bid a Blonde Farewell to Ikon Eastside, got crafty with Craftspace, said hello to Creative Central and looked ahead to Flatpack and Fierce’s joint 2011 venture.

I had no idea what it meant or where it had come from, so I had a little look around. The Cultural Learning Alliance came up with the goods:

Since 2006, strategic partners in Birmingham have been working together to develop A Creative Future, a strategy for children and young people (0-19 years) and the arts. The aim of the strategy is to increase access to the arts, raise the quality of arts activities and recognise the achievements of children and young people in the arts.

‘Strategic partners’ isn’t expanded upon, but Birmingham City Council seem to be leading on things and the pic on the CLA’s website is attributed to Craftspace.

To explain the diagram above:

The Birmingham model for cultural entitlement illustrates how the Creative Future roles overlap (see Venn diagram). The vertical axis shows how we would like to see young people progress through from first-time experiences to independent engagement, and on the horizontal axis how they develop skills and understanding from basic to advanced

I also found an interview with Val Birchall, head of BCC Arts Team, about one of the projects that came as a result of the strategy.

So there you go.

Activites include pin badge making, t-shirt printing, sweet graffti, DIY gaming, giant drawing with pins and a few festive activities including pom pom snow balls and greeting card printing.

The day is aimed at 16-25 year olds, so you get stuck into craft making without feeling you should be there with a child, plus there’s free lunches if you take a copy of this flyer.

Held at New Art Gallery Walsall, AIRTIME is open to practicing visual and applied artists in the West Midlands who are looking for advice on professional matters such as insurance, promotion and funding, along with developing networks and collaborations with like-minded people.

This is a chance to gain information and tips from artists, arts organisations and other experts, including Hencilla Canworth Insurance Brokers, representatives from AIR, a-n, Companis, Coventry Artspace, Craftspace, DACS (Design and Artists Copyright Society), NAN,  New Art Gallery Walsall, Rhubarb Rhubarb, Trove, Walsall City Council Creative Development Team and other arts organisations from the region.

The events are busy and fast-paced, so make sure you have in mind the kind of information you want to get out of this unique opportunity. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come-first-served-basis, with some reserved especially for final year and graduating design students, so pre-booking is essential.

RSVP your name and address to airevents@a-n.co.uk with AIRTIME Walsall in subject box.

Wondered where all those felt monsters in Victoria Square appeared from or why skateboarders around the Custard Factory have been dressed in mysterious costumes based on Morris dancers?

It’s all the crafty work of Craftspace, who’ve been popping up around the city centre inviting 16-19 yr olds to express themselves through a series of activities led by professional artists.

The intention is to create a collective who will then go on to organise their own interventions throughout the city and develop ideas based on their own issues.

The project will continue into the autumn through Arts on the Move, a adapted vehicle which will host an exhibition of craftivism and travels to 40 wards in Birmingham.

Only question is, can I pass for a 16-19 yr old and join in?

The project will focus on ideas of guerrilla craft, DIY Craft and Craftivism – with a view to developing a young people led craft collective which will then organise a series of interventions throughout the city.

We will recruit a series of makers to engage with young people We want young people to develop a shared interest in making, to have a voice/express opinions and to explore theirs’ and other’s creativity.

Young people that attend will then be invited to apply to be part of the collective where they will work along side makers over a period of months to plan and deliver the city interventions. Craftspace are also hoping to secure a regular base at the custard factory.

For more information, there’s a Facebook event page, the Craftspace website, and the e-flyer below.

Here are a few opportunities and support networks around at the moment:

Designer Maker West Midlands –  the advocate for the designer maker sector in the WM and holds quarterly meetings with designer makers to maintain a dialogue on funding and future opportunities.

Craftspace – a crafts development organisation.

designGap – a selective membership group of well over 200 designer producers, designer-makers and artists.

The Mailbox – have exhibition space available.
Contact: Helen – 0121 6321000, info@mailboxlife.com.

Bilston Craft Gallery – have exhibition space available.
Contact: Carrie Jones – 01902 552506.

Moseley Arts Market – is organised by the Moseley Creative Forum and is held alongside the Farmers Market on the fourth Saturday of every month.

Own Art (Arts Council) – you can sell your work in participating WM galleries through this scheme.