The Proposal

What I found really beneficial about the grant was not so much the money but the agreement between the Arts Council of England and me. Most of us work to commission; we are given a brief, a budget and a deadline, but there are times when you have a creative project that is yours only, like a monster, which doesn’t let you sleep, that you have to release to remain sane. Applying for an ACE grant is allowing yourself to feed the monster using all the organisational skills you have learned in the ‘day job’ and putting them into something that is about you. Yes, because you’re worth it! The time I put into my 2000 word proposal enabled me to clarify exactly what I wanted to do.

Talk about yourself and your work

I had to learn a language around my creative process, something I normally don’t even think about, and understand more intellectually the impact my work could have on my career and on the place and people where I live. The proposal becomes a treatment, which will serve you through the process of bringing the thing to life.

Set a deadline to make it happen.

Yes, that thing that we love and hate. Most of us who work in the commercial sector achieve the most incredible things inside the craziest of deadlines. I am not suggesting that fear is a great motivator. You can set your own realistic deadline, which ACE will keep you to. How many unfinished or un-started project do you have because there was no deadline?

Manage your Budget

Making the figures balance became a truly creative part of my application. I needed to think about money and value and cost and all the things I usually avoid thinking about. ACE will rarely fund 100% of any project. My funding usually made up 50% – 60 % of the total funding. The Spanish word for cash is efectivo so for your idea to become effective you need cash from more than one source. A friend of mine used to say ‘people don’t give money to the poor’ and it’s true that if you have several streams of finance, even if it’s your own money, you have a greater chance of approval. Having the budget tightly worked out at the start of a project also allows a clear parameter for you to work within.

Evaluate before, during and after your project

Gathering evidence allows you to make judgements about what you have achieved and helps you improve as you continue. ACE are as much interested in your process as an artist as the finished product. Clear evaluation makes the ‘reflective practice of creative work explicit and conscious’ ( Moriarty 2002). Collect feedback as you go, keep a blog, take pictures, use film, encourage others to share their comments – this is all gold stars to ACE. Social media is a dream for artists in the research and development of new work; it allows us to share elements of our process and work with our network and evaluate through this initial engagement. I use the following headings suggested by Comedia, a European network for cultural diversity in the performing arts. 1. Technique. 2. Originality. 3. Ambition. 4. Connection 5. Magic. These key words help me evaluate and raise question to my process. They enable me to log and report how I find solutions to challenges in the creation of the work.

Finally, pick the phone up and speak to someone at the Arts Council

The cuts ACE are experiencing are in their operating costs which the Culture Secretary wants to reduce to 5% so it may get harder to develop a relationship with an ACE officer but the more you speak with them, attend the seminars the more chance you will have in getting your proposal right. With the ACE stamp on your project you may find private and commercial sponsors are keener to get on board such is the good name the council has built for itself over the past few years. Grayson Perry spoke to the Royal Philharmonic Society recently about the “insanely difficult” things that artists do, and that it takes 10,000 hours to achieve excellence in any field. If you feel it’s your turn to create a work of excellence why not apply? Because you’re worth it!

http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/grants-arts

This article originally appeared in The Hospital Club magazine in October 2010.

Optimistically confident, as ever.

A mish-mash of deleted tunes from the original stage show, the song was the work of unnamed backroom boys at 20th Century Fox with Rodgers credited. As the ‘life-force’, ‘light feminine’ character we travel with Maria on her call to adventure. In this clip, Family Guy’s Stuie joins her.

There’s Got To Be Something Better Than This – Sweet Charity

Cy Coleman’s jazzy 60’s score for Sweet Charity is an absolute joy. The dark and often depressing world that Charity inhabits is made brighter by all those brass stabs, onto which director/choreographer Bob Fosse placed shapes with bodies and hands. Our love for the central character is due to her optimistic voice best illustrated in this song.

Oh What A Beautiful Morning – Oklahoma!

We can’t imagine how powerful this song would have been when it was first heard in the darkest days of World War II in 1943. The show won a Pulitzer Prize. The bond of character, in this case Curly the cowboy, and this, the opening song, is so tight – no other character could sing it. It broke the tradition of shows opening with a chorus of girls and is considered by many to be the original book musical ushering in the “Golden Age” of American musical theatre.

I Got The Sun In The Morning – Annie Get Your Gun

The combination of Ethel Merman (the trumpet of Broadway) and Irving Berlin (the King of Tin Pan Alley) always made for an optimistic experience. Annie was written especially for Merman and when the show opened on Broadway in 1946 it was an instant hit. In post- war America this song was a reminder of the value of the simpler things in life. No film exists of Merman in the show and she was considered to old and hammy for the 1950 MGM movie, but this later TV special gives us a strong sense of what La Merm was like in action.

Somewhere – West Side Story

The show marked a turning point in the American Musical and was Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway debut. Based on Romeo and Juliet the show is full of social tension and Leonard Bernstein’s score is one of Broadway’s greatest. Taking its opening phrase from the slow movement of Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Piano Concerto, the song flutters beautifully between high and popular art. Maria reprises the song briefly as Tony dies in her arms. Optimistic? Kind of.

This post was inspired by Paul Smith’s new fragrance ‘Optimistic’.
http://www.facebook.com/PaulSmithOptimistic

Stuart Wood Showreel from Stuart Wood on Vimeo.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is the most beautiful film I’ve ever seen. I discovered it after Demy’s death of Aids in 1990 and the consequent resurgent interest in his work. The film won the Palm D’Or at Cannes in 1964 and was nominated for 5 Academy Awards. I had no idea of its pedigree; I simply loved the explosion of colour and melodies in the minor key with completely sung dialogue. It all looked like an average day of my own life!

Scenes from the 1964 film by Jacques Demy.

Read the full review of the West End stage version here

The corridors at the Royal Opera House

The hottest ticket in town was really not that difficult to come by. The Royal Opera House, or the Garden to those in the know, has 67 tickets available on the day of a performance from 10am, for priced between £20-£30, one ticket per person. I was number 13 in the queue at 8.45am and unscrewing the cap of my thermos a very well to do lady asked me if I would like 2 standing tickets with excellent sight lines for £4 each! I packed away my flask and phoned a friend.

Read my review on the Hospital Club site

Kathy Winkle designed china, no less!

Stuart- “Very fortunately I got on the music course at Goldsmiths. I remember sitting in the audition and them asking me what a C13 was and I thought it was a hopper bus that you catch into Kensington High Street and-”

Marnie – “And its not?”

Stuart – “No it’s a jazz chord!”

Read the full conversation on the Hackney Hive site.

Larry and Marilyn at the Savoy for press conference of The Prince and The Showgirl 1956

Read the full article at:

The Hospital Club

'Raif' 1872 -1958

Norman Lebrecht recently said “Famous as he was, he refused all official titles and conducted amateur choirs in Dorking with scruffy gusto and unfailing courtesy, always remembering to thank the worst of his singers for their enthusiasm. He strikes me as the kind of man whose greatest effort went into concealing his greatness.”