WHERE TO START TELLING THIS STORY?
If you can’t wait to read all about our #Community Lock-in below, have a sneak peak at this cheeky film we threw together in it, appearing as if we were at Glastonbury, appearing as if we were appearing on BBC Breakfast.
Well it was 1st April! ;-)
It had about 5,000 views that day, which is quite good for us.
But first let’s go back to 2019 and a chat with the Culture Minister
#EPICFAIL20 OR #NOEPICFAIL20?
We’ve never built an internet TV studio and collaboration hub or run a virtual festival before before. It might not have worked. But it did.
Did we care? We are dreamers, birdmen, mothers, grandads, creative carers. This is our art. We aim high.
We are artists:
“It might not work, but here’s the thing.
The guy who invented the ship also invented the shipwreck, and either you’re in or you’re out.
Either you want to play this game or you don’t.
Art doesn’t work because we did something conventional and predictable, and here it is industrialised, right?
Art works because we connected.”
2019: #ARTCONNECTS19 - A YEAR IN REVIEW
The #CommunityLockIn is our creative response to the Covid19 emergency and aligns perfectly with our already launched and planned #COLLABORATE20 Year.
See the short film below to see how the then Culture Minister inspired our #ARTCONNECTS19 year that preceded it and then take a look at a short films of a few of the events that made up that momentous year, supported by a small Arts Council Grant.
From the Culture minister to Nile Rodgers
A short film above that captures the amazing story of our 2019 and its gift for 2020
The Boy and the Train Set
How a lad off an estate in Leeds ended up at our the Parliament launch of our #ARTCONNECTS19 Festival.
OUR INSPIRATION
A chat with the Culture Minister gave us an idea not only for #ARTCONNECTS19 but to co-fund it.
ART FOR ALL
The world famous but penniless ‘Windrush generaiton‘ photographer had never been to parliament before.
SUMMER/AUTUMN TOURS
How we hit the road with an all school assembly, creative workshops and a community rocket launch to send everyone home buzzing at having connected with their art.
ART OF FESTIVALS
An evening we hosted with Waltham Forest London Borough Of Culture
ART OF CODE
A week of school sessions to encourage kids to create digital experiences
ART OF TEACHING
Moving account of how a head teacher uses her art to engage hungry kids
THE ART OF CAMP BESTIVAL
We had a massive What’s Your Art stage and a whole load of other stuff going on
THE ART OF INSPIRATION
A head teacher in Liverpool gave us some lovely feedback after our art talk
ART OF INCLUSION
We saw Kirpa sing at a conference in Leeds and gave her a stage in London
THE WHITE HEART OF YORKSHIRE
How a school community in Bradford collaborated on a huge artwork, that revealed their true love from a great height.
ART OF CARNIVAL
A wonderful day where we popped up during and after Bude Carnival
ART OF BRENT
A pop-up where a mum complimented us for using art to connect her borough.
THE ART OF STREETS
Our Pop-Up at Notting Hill Carnival with Gaz Mayall and Portobello Radio
THE ART OF HAPPY
We were blown away by the compliment from a community nurse at our Pop-Up at the Notting Hill Pioneers Festival
THE ART OF KEITH HARING
We were blown away by this show at Tate Liverpool and set out to take it to as many kids across the city and UK as possible
THE ART OF Ordinary people
After a Community Activist Camp at Eden Project we ran a Pop-Up in Leeds
THE ART OF NILE RODGERS
When Nile Rodgers generously offered to do a video call for us in Liverpool
THE ART OF FAILING
When we failed to get a grant for a tour we tried to crowd fund it with Stormzy
ARE YOU WITH US?
Everything you see at STEAM Co. has been conceived and delivered in collaboration with communities by a dad, Nick Corston who co-founded STEAM Co. in his sons primary in Paddington nine years ago.
Five years ago he gave up his career to roll it out across the UK as a non-profit community enterprise and now works with school communities across the UK
“A Man on a mission” - The Guardian/Wired magazine
"STEAM Co. is doing fantastic work. it's putting the 'A' back in, for the arts" - Sir Ken Robinson
“We have to take the argument for art in education to head teachers” - Matt Hancock MP, Former Culture Secretary
2020: #COLLABORATE20 - THE #COMMUNITY LOCK-IN
LIVE ON BBC RADIO
We launched our #Collaborate20 Year in a school in Dorset live on BBC Radio
ISLE OF WIGHT ART TAKEOVER
A collaboration with local secondary schools and local enterprises
IT TAKES WHOLE VILLAGE
How a local electrician paid for us to run session in his grand chidlren’s schools.
ED TECH GIANT SIGNS UP TO SPONSOR
See the short film below announcing our collaboration with LGfL as the first sponsor of our #CommunityLockIn and a project to deliver a #Co-Conference for their Curriculum Conference set for 7 May on our hastily thrown together Content Creation and Community Collaboration Studio.
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?
This plane took off before we’d finished building it but just to say we relocated STEAM Co. to an undisclosed location where we set up a fully functioning Content Creation and Community Collaboration Studio.
All under the banner of #COMMUNITY LOCK-IN:
#ARTCONNECTS
Online content and inspiration showcasing Creativity with a weekly #ArtConnectsShow as above
An safe online community for kids and their creative carers who aim high, a place to be inspired, create and share. Weekly show.
#UK ART TAKE OVER
A month of UK wide creative activity kicking off with a Parliament launch event like we did above two summers ago
#CO-CONFERENCES
A facility to host confabs online for grassroots and big organisations like we were due to be speak at for LGfL.