Principles

[Jenny]

Owen has compiled a draft of the principles for WMPAF for your
comment:

West Midlands Participatory Arts Forum

The West Midlands Participatory Arts Form promotes and develops
community arts in the West Midlands through sharing of knowledge and
practice.

We seek to:

Raise the profile and advocate for the community arts sector in the
West Midlands
 WMPAF will act as an accessible voice for the participatory and
community arts sector by making a case for project development and
investment.
 We want recognition and understanding of the impact on individuals
and communities by participating in community arts.
 Members can choose to be involved in the forum and bring with them
what they can offer in terms of partnerships and skills.

Encourage debate and develop the practice of community arts in the
West Midlands
 We will encourage open and honest discussion about quality and
practice in community arts by sharing what hasn’t worked well, as well
as ‘best practice’.
 To use creativity to encourage discussion and develop a structure
for sharing of skills and knowledge in an inspirational way.

Aims
 To be a net work to support each other
 To raise the profile of community arts
 To be a grass roots organisation
 To campaign and to lobby for community arts
 Encourage debate and reflection
 To organise events
 Act as a consultative body

How do we want to do it:
 We are principally a group of individuals and organisations meeting
to share knowledge and practice about community arts.
 A core group of organisers to keep continuity. This group could
change.
 Blog/Web Presence.
 Keep it organic and flexible.
 Change Facilitators at every meeting.
 Piggy back onto other events where appropriate.

This will be achieved by:
 Encouraging debate
 Working collectively and openly
 Being open and inclusive
 Sharing cooperatively
 Acting as a consultative body