CreArt (Network of Cities for Artistic Creation) responds to a need amongst European cultural institutions who share a common challenge: to maximise the economic, social and cultural contribution that visual arts can make by better facilitating artists, managers, industry and the general public to allow them to create, present and enjoy art work, as well as to access training and education, through seminars, artists residences, workshops and research and analysis programmes.

Launched and coordinated by the Fundación Municipal de Cultura (Valladolid –ES–), CreArt was presented for the first time to the 2010 “Culture Programme (2007-2013)” call, and over the last months has developed into a solid network of 14 partner cities and institutions, representative of Europe’s cultural diversity and richness.

1. All partners have experience in the development of public artistic cultural activities.
2. All are involved in the promotion of creativity in their territories.
3. All are working in mediumsize territorial entities.
4. All partners have experience in European collaboration.

CreArt partners also share a common objective: to promote, from the solid base of their local reality, a competitive offer in the European and international creative industries sector, by improving training, exchange and the exhibition of visual arts. The diversity of the CreArt network and the sum of synergies are the sources of its strength. From a variety of cultures and contexts, and based on public-private partnerships, CreArt works towards a “single cultural currency” across its network. Fostering creativity, both in the industry and in society while developing a sense of belonging to a common Europe, will lead us to build a strong position in an equally diverse and highly competitive international cultural market with incredible potential.

We are convinced that in times of difficulty in Europe it is necessary to coordinate policies, actions and joint working methods. CreArt believes that cultural actions support and foster economic development, but there are still challenges to face: access to financing and sustainability; adapted management models; mobility programmes; citizen participation or recognition of local artists; access to European artists and trends; incorporation of ITCs. CreArt offers a simple and sustainable approach to these challenges, based on direct communication and networking by the main participants in the creative process, with the use of local resources and the necessary initial collaboration of EU. 

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

1. Foster creativity through the exchange of experiences, good practices and joint work among artists, artist groups and associations, cultural operators, researchers, industry and civil society bodies, educational institutions and the general public, from different countries and cultural traditions, including intergenerational exchanges.
2. Promote cultural exploration amongst target groups, encouraging the development of Europe’s cultural heritage.
3. Develop common training methodologies for specific groups (children, youth and adults) promoting creativity as a skill for personal development.
4. Establish a permanent and professional system of mobility, exchange and joint work experiences among artists and cultural managers.
5. Identify a methodology of professional management that generates sustainable cultural organizations in medium-sized cities, fostering public-private partnerships and civil society participation.
6. Support creativity networking among medium-sized cities.
7. Develop and better exploit technological tools for the exchange of creativity and cultural resource management.
8. Create and standardize systems of analysis and research within the framework of local cultural policies, in order to maximize the sustainability of the project and its financial resources in the future.

METHODOLOGY

The methodology established in CreArt focuses on 5 areas: 

1. IDENTIFICATION
This will be a process which balances clarity of need with potential for benefit. Focusing on the latter, we will identify individuals, communities and institutions which display the greatest artistic innovation and potential for excellence. Focusing on clarity of need, we will identify individuals, communities and organisations where the network’s targeted intervention will be able to yield positive artistic, social and/or economic results. Our aim is to create a network of target communities and institutions who will act as partners for the CreArt network and allow us both to produce the touring exhibition and also to refine, test and measure the impact of our intervention.

2. TRAINING AND INNOVATION
Once the “creative core”, target communities and best practices have been identified by the CreArt partners, we will promote the best and most innovative artistic, management and outreach practices across our network. We will implement training programmes to share these practices across our network. We will disseminate the best practices in fostering creativity to the related industries.

3. EXCHANGE
The process of taking up the various training opportunities, for instance through permanent mobility systems, will result in the exchange of ways of understanding visual creation, improvement in visual arts management and broader, deeper artistic literacy amongst both the “creative core” sectors and across the network’s target communities. As a network of medium-sized cities, we believe that our ability to foster complex intercommunity relationships provides a potential advantage, and also provides the potential for the long-term impact of our project on artistic creation and creativity at large.

4. ANALYSIS
Alongside the training and innovation and exchange programmes, CreArt will research and analyse the cultural and creative environments of the partner cities. Findings of any study will be disseminated amongst the network in “real time” to ensure that learning can be acted upon whilst the project is taking place. This “active learning” will be distributed through seminars, conferences and a research document exploring and identifying best practices in the promotion of creativity.

5. DISSEMINATION AND EXHIBITION
We will place creativity in medium-size urban areas in the centre of the debate, using traditional dissemination tools as well as new technologies, involving artists, cultural operators, creative industries and the public in these territories, offering direct experience of Europe’s current cultural richness diversity and creative potential.

The CreArt Dossier is available in these languages: