A recap of our Spring/Summer 2024
Message from Our Director Ray
As we celebrate our 22nd anniversary on September 25th as a UK charity and arts organisation, we reflect on another successful spring and summer program, which remains our busiest season. This milestone reflects our dedication and growth as we strengthened relationships with regular partners while developing new collaborations and projects. Special thanks to Arts Council England for making much of this possible through our NPO funding.
Since 2019, our delivery model has evolved, largely shaped by the changing needs of our audience post-pandemic. Our new mission, #ThinkLocal, has placed significant focus on early learning, with programs for children aged 0-5 and their families.
This shift has allowed us to engage a wider demographic, ensuring arts and cultural experiences are accessible to young audiences and their caregivers. We’ve also expanded our programs to use arts and culture as tools for well-being and recycled art, addressing the social and economic challenges many families are facing today.
Additionally, our artistic programming has grown, introducing new initiatives that bring the vibrant culture of carnival to communities who may not have had the opportunity to experience this dynamic art form. These programs have been instrumental in broadening our reach and sharing the rich heritage of carnival with diverse audiences across the UK.
Looking ahead, we remain committed to enriching lives through the arts, fostering creativity, and ensuring that our programs continue to evolve and make a meaningful impact. We are excited for what the future holds as we continue to champion the art and culture of carnival and beyond. We remain committed to supporting young and emerging artists by offering volunteering, placements, and internships to local students.
We continued our annual college project, Cultural Identity, Creativity, and Carnival, with Kingston College, collaborating with 40 first-year students. This quarter, we delivered two sessions, one online and one in person. We also took a step back from Notting Hill Carnival this year to focus on delivering carnival arts to a broader audience.
Our Sunshine Studios continues to offer affordable space for a wide range of cultural, arts, and theatre workshops, serving both locals and the wider London community. I am proud that Sunshine Studios is a melting pot for a diverse range of arts, cultural, and carnival activities. We remain actively involved in local networks, such as Thriving Fiveways and First Five Lambeth, and are expanding our connections in the Stockwell area while building new partnerships within Lambeth for both in-house and external projects.
In May, we celebrated our 14th anniversary as a Cultural Art Centre by showcasing Art in De Alleyway, featuring the opening exhibition Carnival Dreams, which highlighted 27 years of Ray’s carnival achievements. Art in De Alleyway has provided a platform for local artists and organisations.
This year, we partnered with Threads Ahead and Warrior Studios while participating in Camberwell Arts Open Studios, offering 15 weekends of exhibitions.
Our Mini Mas Camp continues to engage and educate children and families by introducing them to carnival arts and culture. These workshops promote artistic expression and strengthen family bonds through collaborative activities, reaching a diverse local audience.
We expanded the Mini Mas Camp to several venues, including Myatt’s Field, Max Roach Children’s Centre, Brixton Wings, Brixton House, and the Horniman Museum. We also celebrated LEAP’s 10th birthday by delivering activities at two of their local events.
Our #ThinkLocal initiative not only promotes carnival and culture but also fosters mental health awareness, creative expression, inclusivity, and cultural enrichment.
These projects demonstrate the power of arts and community engagement in fostering positive social change and well-being. An example is our Living Room Project partnered with artists and Thriving Fiveways to offer a diverse range of programs, while our Memory Project at St. Stephen’s Children’s Centre Refugee Hub included storytelling and tapestry-making workshops for the refugee community.
We also hosted Shorinji Kempo workshops, promoting physical and mental well-being, and reintroduced our popular Art & Craft with Waste workshops to encourage sustainable artistic practices delivered by visual artist Pá.ú.lú.
Our Brazilian games and culture night, Nerd na Avenida, blended geek culture with samba, offering carnival-themed board games and interactive experiences by GRES.
After surpassing our annual targets, we made the decision to focus on refining our delivery processes and legacy planning. Over the past few years, our in-house productions have been deprioritised to meet the demands of external programming commitments, which consume significant resources with little financial return. Moving forward, we aim to explore new ways of delivering our programs to expand our reach.
Our focus now is on internal development and a fresh approach to delivery. We are in the process of reviewing our studio and in-house programming, revising funding strategies, enhancing outreach efforts, and refining internal operations.
This strategic pause will allow us to strengthen our internal systems, ensuring our future projects are more impactful and sustainable. By dedicating time and resources to these improvements, we are laying a solid foundation for our long-term goals and legacy.
We look forward to an exciting year ahead as we implement these changes and continue to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of our community.
I would like to thank everyone who has attended, supported, and believed in the work we do. Your ongoing support makes our success possible.