Newsletter 2023!
Another year passes and we’ve been busier than ever at Jack Drum Arts!
January blasted off with the wonderful news that we’d received funding from Spirit 2012 for our Year of the King project to bring a parade, gala event and several ongoing legacy groups to our community exploring arts and culture!
In February our house Rock Band Jazzy Dystopia recorded and released their brand new single ‘Cookie Crimes’, a song exploring the cost of living crisis through the lens of metaphor and confectionary.
March brought us the beginnings of our Green Man puppet created by artist Mel Roberts working together with our social prescribing group ! Inspired by climate action and the passion King Charles has for the environment, the Green Man has made an appearance at many of our processions this year.
In April young people gathered at Jack Drum Arts to learn all about Carnival Arts including drumming and dance as part of Durham County Council’s Fun and Food programme. In just a few days the group pulled together an incredible performance for their friends and family, showcasing their new skills and knowledge about samba and samba reggae.
In May we celebrated the coronation of King Charles with a huge parade that winded through Crook before rolling in to Crook Cricket Club, where the festivities continued with community games, storytelling and performances galore (in spite of some damp weather!)
June brought us Darlington Carnival, where Runaway Samba along with members of Get Set Samba our junior group took to the streets and really brought the thunder to a bright summers day! It was a privilege to share the procession with so many passionate people and organisations bringing life and positive energy to the town.
In July we showcased our carnival arts collaboration Nordestinos in its full glory with drummers, singers, dancers and brass coming together from all over the country to blow away the crowds at Durham Miners Gala. It was a very moving day to be playing this unique music, singing the songs of our heritage and performing in our home city.
To close out July and bring us in to August, Jackass Youth Theatre brought a brand new original performance piece to the stage with ‘SMILE’- a theatrical debut exploring technology, isolation, pressure to conform, and the importance of human connection.
We capped off our Summer with the return of B.O.P Fest!!! Our award winning family-friendly music festival co-created with young people and centred on generating discussion surrounding the climate crisis through music and the arts!
In September our Year of the King legacy groups started in full, creating incredible artworks to be showcased at our exhibition in Willington Methodist Church in January 2024!
October brought us our BFI film academy! We were thrilled to partner with Writer’s Block North East in order to run not one but two BFI Film Academy short courses in County Duhram and Teesside respectively in 2023. The films are currently in post-production and will be released in early 2024.
November saw us light up our local streets once again with our bigger and brighter than ever Crook Winter Light Parade! And gosh was it huge. Theatre! Sound! Light! A presence of community spirit and energy that brings us in to the winter season.
In December, we celebrated a brilliant win at the North East Journal Culture Awards with our Youth Board winning the 'Special Award for Youth Achievement'. What a way to say goodbye to 2023!
Finally, as we head out of 2023… we let ourselves rest up and prepare for the excitement ahead in 2024. The Jack Drum office will be closed from Saturday 16th of December and will re-open on Tuesday the 2nd of January. Sessions will have a staggered start due to maintenance work taking place in our workshop room- keep an eye out in your inboxes for letters from session facilitators for specific start times!
Thank you so much to all of you for your support throughout 2023. We’re privileged to have you with us, and from the whole Jack Drum Team please have a very happy Christmas and an incredible New Year.
We leave you with a Jackass Youth Theatre production 'No Art for Christmas' created in 2020 during the long forgotten times of restrictions on our lives.
See you in 2024!