17 July 2023
The Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership is offering four artistic commissions worth up to £8,000 each to help engage local communities in its work to conserve and restore the water quality and habitats of the River Rye and its tributaries.
A further three bursaries worth £500 each are also available for young artists aged 16-30 years old, to help them develop their skills and knowledge of an area of interest to the Ryevitalise project. This could include research, training, shadowing other creatives, site visits or materials.
Ryevitalise is a partnership project led by the North York Moors National Park and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund that is delivering nature recovery across 160 square miles of the western River Rye catchment. Now, the project team are launching a new community arts programme to help increase awareness and deepen understanding of the River Rye's natural and cultural heritage.
Alexandra Cripps, Rivers Programme Manager said:
“We are excited to receive applications from all creative avenues, whether that’s traditional art or photography, theatre, festivals or something completely different. What’s important to us is that each commission is developed with, or shaped by the communities in and around our project area and that the final result helps tell the story of the River Rye and its landscape.
The four commission themes are:
- The River Rye; its history and its exploitation by our ancestors
- Re-connecting the River Rye’s fragmented habitats
- The impact of climate change (working with people aged 18-30)
- Species of the River Rye and their decline over time
Alex continued:
“We are also looking for three emerging artists, aged between 16-30 years old, whose skills and practice would benefit from a £500 bursary. It would be fantastic if they lived or worked in our project area, although this isn’t essential as long as they can visit and learn about our work.”
Alongside habitat creation throughout the project area, and schemes to improve water quality, Ryevitalise is focusing on creating a more naturally-functioning river by removing in-channel obstacles and giving the river the space to move freely. This helps restore the aquatic environment, boosting biodiversity and benefiting species such as brown trout and kingfisher.
The aim of the community arts programme is to raise the profile of these fascinating river environments, and bring the public closer to the different aspects of the project before it finally comes to a close in December 2024.
Applicants are asked to submit a short proposal, together with a brief CV and images or web links to their previous work. The deadline for entry is Wednesday 26 July. For more information, or to discuss potential projects, please visit www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/beinvolved or contact the Ryevitalise team on ryevitalise@northyorkmoors.org.uk
ENDS
Media contact
Nina Beadle
Communications Officer, North York Moors National Park Authority
press@northyorkmoors.org.uk
01439 772577
The North York Moors National Park
The North York Moors is a beautiful landscape of stunning moorland, ancient woodland and historic sites. Created on 28 November 1952, it become Britain’s sixth national park. Covering an area of 554 square miles (1,436 square kilometres) the National Park has 26 miles of coastline, two national nature reserves, 840 Scheduled Monuments and over 3,000 listed buildings, attracting an estimated 7.7 million visitors a year.
The National Park has two visitor centres, Danby Lodge National Park Centre and Sutton Bank National Park Centre, providing opportunities for cycling, walking, eating, picnicking, shopping, crafts and wildlife-watching. The centre in Danby also houses the Inspired by… gallery, which features regularly changing exhibitions by artists who draw their inspiration from the North York Moors.
The North York Moors National Park Authority works with a wide variety of people to care for this beautiful corner of Yorkshire, providing apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities with nearly 14% of staff being apprentices from local families. To view other press releases and for further information about the North York Moors National Park, visit www.northyorkmoors.org.uk