Essex County Council is committed to developing the arts across the county for the benefit of residents and visitors to Essex.
The Arts Development team have a proven reputation for quality and innovative work, delivering a wide range of projects which contribute to the local economy, boost tourism, tackle health and social agendas and increase skills.
Arts Development supports all art forms including visual, performance, digital/media and public art. We provide a range of services:
- Information, advice and dissemination of good practice
- Strategic partnership projects and commissions
- Countywide festivals
- Education/training and participation
- Funding (Arts in Essex and Strategic Arts Organisation Programme)
- Jaywick Martello Tower culture/heritage venue
- Support for our Strategic Delivery Partners (Essex On Tour, Essex Cultural Diversity Project, Sound Exchange)
- ECC Arts Development has a unique role within Essex that complements the role of the District and Borough Councils as well as the regional and national bodies representing the arts
Current projects
Essex County Council is working on a number of projects, which have been designed to enhance or promote specific aspects of the art and cultural life of the county.
Make + Do
Make + Do Resources for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is a set of resources to help schools, community groups and individuals make their own site décor and outfits to celebrate the 2012 Games and all the exciting events coming up in Essex. The pack features simple and affordable techniques for making bunting and flags to decorate homes, schools and community spaces as well as rosettes, sashes and bowler hats to wear this summer.
Essex Book Festival
After 11 successive years as part of Essex County Council Library Services, Essex Book Festival has taken a new direction. With major support from Arts Council England and local partners, it has become a registered charity and is overseen by a new board of voluntary trustees, all with a shared love of literature. For information about this year's events, visit the
Essex Book Festival website.
Submit a Story to The Giants are Coming!
A new and exciting storytelling project has officially launched in Essex and will see residents of all ages creating giant-sized stories and poems.
The Giants are Coming is a storytelling project that invites people from across the county to create their own giant-themed stories and poems. The project is inspired by Sparks will Fly… in Essex, a cultural celebration of the Olympics from May – July 2012.
You can submit you stories
online or email them to:
stories@giantsarecoming.co.uk. You can also pick up a story sheet from your local library and submit by post. Supporting illustrations are also welcome as part of a submission.
Each submission will need to consider Sparks will Fly in 2012 and the idea that two larger-than-life Champions are due to arrive in Essex in May 2012, for something very special.
Sparks will Fly in Essex
Two great Champions are coming to the county to pit their wits against one another in a cultural celebration.
From 18 May to 1 July, in two marathon journeys around towns and villages in Essex, each Champion will be welcomed to their chosen locations and presented with a bead, filled with "the best of Essex".
On Friday 6 July 2012 the Champions will come face to face for the first time at Hylands Park in a spectacular event to coincide with the arrival of the Olympic Torch in Essex that day.
Fire, music and special effects will create a breathtaking and spectacular showdown...when sparks are guaranteed to fly!
Sparks Will Fly in Essex is commissioned by Essex County Council and Chelmsford Borough Council and created by internationally acclaimed outdoor performance specialists Walk the Plank working with local authorities and communities throughout Essex.
The project is supported by Arts Council England.
Sparks Will Fly in Chelmsford, Hylands welcomes the Olympic Torch is part of the London 2012 Festival and free to attend, however a ticket will be required. Tickets will be available from March 2012.
To find out more visit sparkswillfly.org.uk from March 2012.
Art in schools
Essex County Council is committed to working with schools to encourage children to develop their artistic talents.
In the Members’ corridor in County Hall, Chelmsford, there is an opportunity for schools to exhibit displays of their work. The artwork on display is changed every half term, in order to ensure that a wide selection of young artists have the
opportunity to exhibit.
If you wish to apply for an exhibition slot, please contact the Arts Development team. Alternatively, an
arts application form can be downloaded directly and submitted to the Arts Development team. A factsheet is available to ensure that artworks are submitted in the correct format.
For more information go to the Visit Essex website for all arts events in Essex, including the Summer of Art
Journey to the Podium
As part of the 2012 Essex Legacy project, Essex County Council have commissioned eight artists to work with athletes from the county to create artworks that mark their preparations and journey to the 2012 Olympic Games. For further information, look at the
Journey to the Podium page on the Essex Legacy website.
Rob Smith still from ‘Player’
Artist Studios in Essex
Essex County Council Arts Development in partnership with local authorities and partners have helped implement several thriving artist studios in Essex, helping to regenerate empty spaces into vibrant artistic, community hubs.
After extensive refurbishment by Essex County Council in association with Castle Point Regeneration Partnership and with funding from the Homes and Communities Agency, Hadleigh Old Fire Station is now home to 15 artists and two local community groups.
Hadleigh Old Fire Station will be an important stepping stone towards supporting and developing an arts and cultural community in Hadleigh for many years to come, as part of the regeneration plans for the town centre.
Gatehouse Arts, situated in the heart of Harlow provides studios for up to 29 new and emerging artists.
The studios, which make use of previously empty shop and office premises in the town centre is part of an ongoing programme to regenerate the West Square area in Harlow.
Gatehouse Arts has a community gallery and project space that promotes the work of resident artists and local community arts organisations.
Summer of Art
From May to October 2012 Essex will be celebrating the fourth
Summer of Art, a countywide showcase of art across Essex. Once again local artists will be exhibiting their work throughout 14 Art trails and open studios in the county's rural, coastal and urban settings. Taking in painting, photography, ceramics, textiles and sculpture, the art trails feature a wide variety of creative talent at both innovative and traditional venues across Essex.
If you have attended an Essex Summer of Art event last year and would like to tell us what you thought then please complete our
online evaluation. Your feedback is important to us and helps to support and improve our projects.
Please refer to the
Visit Essex website for further information.
‘Grandma’s Garden’ Tessa Frampton
Strategically funded arts projects
Jaywick Martello Tower
Jaywick Martello Tower supports creative collaborations relating to the themes of community, heritage and environment. The tower creates opportunities and ventures that make it not only a gallery, workshop space and meeting point but an innovative and unique combination of all these things.
Jaywick Martello Tower
Essex Cultural Diversity Project
'Bohemian Rhapsody of a Union Jack' Khaveer Idrees
The Essex Cultural Diversity Project is a collaborative initiative developed in partnership with Essex County Council and Arts Council England, East. The activities of the project span the entire cultural sector including museums, heritage, libraries, archives and arts, enhancing the participation of the region's Black and Minority Ethnic communities in all of these sectors.
Essex on Tour
Essex on Tour works with local volunteers in venues across Essex to promote professional live arts events, often in rural and hard to reach locations. The scheme offers a huge selection of shows which include theatre, dance, music, children’s shows and comedy.