Arts by the Sea is one of the latest festivals to be included Arts Council England‘s latest Sustaining Great Art and Culture Environmental Report.
The Bournemouth-based event, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, was used as a case study amongst other national festivals, events and exhibitions.
The report showcases and celebrates the successes of arts and cultural organisations in acting on national and international climate targets.
Speaking about their involvement, Festival Director Andrea Francis highlights that although their environmental action is an obligation, sustainability is already high on their agenda.
“They asked us to appear as a case study as we’ve been working quite closely with them in terms of what we’re doing for environmental sustainability. It’s been brilliant!
“All of what we’ve done has raised our profile nationally, which is great for Bournemouth and for the festival as a whole. It also shares our work so other people can use it and they can install it in their own events.
As an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation, the festival is obliged to take action towards environmental sustainability.
“We’re hoping that, yes it’s great for us to be part of that report and to have our work showcased, but also it’s clearly having an impact already on other festivals, because then they can take all the hard work that we’ve done, and just implement it as part of their own festival. It’s a win win on all counts really!
“We’re a really small team, but I think everybody has been on board with the whole sustainability agenda because we’re all really aware of how important it is. And the good thing about running an event is that it’s a great platform. You can do a lot with it.
Yesterday I spoke to @BCPCouncil‘s Andrea Francis, Festival Director of @artsbythesea. Here, she speaks about being environmentally conscious through festivals. After their inclusion in @ace__london & @JuliesBicycle‘s report, she’s hoping it will inspire others to follow suit.? pic.twitter.com/LKaMOhQlDE
— maya (@maya_derrick) January 30, 2020
“It’s a good opportunity to do lots of things to a festival platform. It’s something that we’ve wanted to have underlying the festival every year. It runs through every aspect of the festival.”
Andrea also brought attention a big factor challenging festivals in recent years: CO2 pollution.
In a bid to reduce emissions, the festival are promoting more sustainable travel.
Andrea continued: “We still need to do quite a lot of work to encourage travel to the festival by sustainable means, but it’s a lot easier if your audience is local.”
Arts by the Sea have promoted cycling and taking buses, through their online interactive map and partnership with Yellow Buses.
“Artists often can’t travel sustainably, but certainly the audience could, and that’s what we try and encourage,” she said.
“The bus routes are there, they could cycle, they can car-share whereas, if you’re travelling from long distances your CO2 emissions for your event are much larger.”
Sustainability and environmental impact is also a focus for artists, too.
Award-winning author and underwater photographer Maria Munn‘s passion for tackling marine pollution was a feature of last year’s festival with her Ocean Bus.
An inspiring morning speaking to award-winning author, auxiliary nurse & underwater photographer Maria Munn. Her underwater photography work has taken her worldwide, but she spoke today of her love for Bournemouth & Dorset’s coastline. Thanks for swinging by the studio!??? pic.twitter.com/nXo4kTwQYT
— maya (@maya_derrick) January 30, 2020
The artist spoke of how her love of the ocean started with her recovery from ill-health.
“I never dreamt that I would be able to take a good photograph, but it was something that really helped me recover from life-threatening illnesses after being run over twice.
Here’s a snippet of Maria talking about her journey through ill health that kickstarted her artistic and environmental career ????? pic.twitter.com/k0izY8eAAw
— maya (@maya_derrick) January 30, 2020
“I had both physical and mental health traumas that I had to go through – horrific flashbacks – and just having a camera and learning about the ocean and following these animals really helped me to just forget about everything and to learn something new, to do something positive to go out and help protect their environment. Trying to help them was helping me at the same time.”
“I had this kind of dream that, if I survived and managed to walk again, I’d learn about whale sharks. And that was it! I went off with my little backpack and my tiny compact 3-megapixel camera wanting to learn about them and other marine species.”
She encourages others to find the same motivation from Dorset’s coastline that she found.
“I think our local area is really important for art because we are in a coastal area and so many people find it inspiring. They find the sea inspiring, they find our little towns quirky, quaint and have lots of things to offer to different people, and certainly, a lot of artists are drawn to our coastlines to encourage their art to develop even further.
“For me, I was interested in portraying a different side to our local coastlines. Trying to show that the seas aren’t just grey, murky and cold – that there is colour, there is life and there are important species.”
Her biggest project to date is her Ocean Bus – a VW campervan that she drives across the county to educate on marine pollution.
“Children can learn about local seas as well as overseas creatures and learning about plastic-free products.”
Through the support of organisations, Maria’s been inundated with donations of plastic waste to use as an educational craft tool with children.
“Lush kindly donated bottle tops to me and children from St. Mark’s Primary School in Swanage, they kindly made beautiful seahorses and octopus-creatures out of them. It was great because it really inspired other children that they could do that or say to parents that they don’t need to be throwing these things away, that they can do something positive with them and inspire the children to make a difference.
This year’s festival will be held from 25 – 27 Sept 2020.
I’m creating a story on environmentally-conscious art after @artsbythesea‘s inclusion in @ace__london & @JuliesBicycle’s annual report. It’s been a pleasure to talk to @BCPCouncil‘s Andrea Francis & local artist Maria Munn. Stay tuned for more on this throughout the day! ????
— maya (@maya_derrick) January 30, 2020
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