As the season draws in, the team at ARTlifeLAND is preparing to ride off into the sunset, to new adventures in the world of landscape art. We began this journey four years ago and it has taken us through the realms of Romantic poetry, dark starry skies, geo-located word clouds and walking the land with pencil and paper in hand. We've recorded its changes - both subtle and dramatic - and mapped its contours according to those who live and visit here. We have a wealth of imagery and words as a lasting archive of the story we've woven over these four years, and a legacy of imaginative and ground-breaking arts trails and publications. As project leader and ARTlife Coordinator, I give my heartfelt thanks to all those who made it happen and I wish us well on our individual journeys ahead - may our paths cross in the future!
- Tracey Roberts




All the ARTlifeLAND projects interweave with the stories of other arts companies and creatives. Find the archives and the ongoing journeys here:

Coleridge Way projects led by Chris Jelley: Story Boxes, QR code poetry trails and Flycatchers walks - http://coleridgeway.blogspot.co.uk

'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' book and exhibition with Contains Art, who have gone on to commission imagery by local artists for other reprints of famous stories - http://containsart.co.uk/

Frances Harrison's Dark Starry Skies storytelling and film-making  - http://www.darkstarryskies.com/

Ignite Somerset, led by Richard Tomlinson, who mentored individual ARTlifeLAND artists and led our New Romantics film promotion project - http://www.somersetfilm.com/initiatives/ignite/

Poetry Pin - an ongoing journey with Chris and Davina Jelley - https://poetrypin.info/

Ralph Hoyte's exploratory Romantic Litscape project, capturing the voices of the poets in Somerset - http://romanticlitscape.blogspot.co.uk/

Ange Hardy's Coleridge Way journey expressed in words and music - http://www.angehardy.com/shop/details/esteesee






Who would have thought that a simple idea to place story-writing journals in boxes along the Coleridge Way would have grown into a nationally-recognised community poetry phenomenon! Well, Chris Jelley and the team at ARTlife certainly didn't when we first commissioned the boxes in 2012 as part of ARTlifeLAND and the reinvigoration of the walking route. The hugely successful concept was taken up by Exmoor National Park Authority, morphed into poetry boxes, and to date over 5,000 poems have been added to the boxes in their summer locations across the moor.

BBC national news covered the story yesterday and we are all very excited to see this rural community arts project make the national stage - all credit to Chris and his original idea. Where next Chris?
See the news item here - www.bbc.co.uk/news/

In celebration of the poetry boxes project, a selection of the poems have been published by Flycatcher Press. The book launch is on Monday 21st November at the Bath Hotel in Lynmouth and an exhibition of the original journals and boxes is at Lynmouth Pavilion.


On Saturday, we celebrated the sixth (and final) workshop walk along the Mineral Line Poetry Pin trail. The weather blessed us with sunshine and the words were flowing as we walked the gentle two miles from Washford to the harbour town of Watchet.

We watched steam trains pass by, and visited the Witch's Tree (hidden just off the trail). And after collecting some poems (it's a bit like a treasure hunt), and posting a few new ones, we reached the courtyard at Contains Art on the East Quay, to find a fabulous floating exhibition of words - courtesy of Christopher Jelley's hard work that morning to get everything ready.

Have a read of Chris's blog about the walk, and then get yourself down to the UK's first Poetry Town and grab some poems out of the ether! poetrypin.info/news






Mineral Line Poetry Pin
Read and write and walk with us along the Mineral Line on Saturday afternoon - meeting at Washford recreation ground at 1pm and taking a poetic meander to Watchet via the Poetry Pin trail of new works. Bring your smartphone and you can add your own words to the trail as you walk!
www.poetrypin.info

ARTlifeLAND News #11 invites you to add your words to Poetry Pin Watchet - the UK's first virtual poetry town and history in the making. Meanwhile, over at Shurton Bars, in the shadow of the new nuclear power station building site, Poetry Pin Hinkley re-opens to new submissions as part of the finale of ARTlife's landscape art programme.


Join us in the latest issue of ARTlifeLAND, with the promise of uncovering myth and mystery along the Mineral Line and a new trail of geo-located poetry. And we celebrate two hundred years of Coleridge's magical poem Kubla Khan. Walking Words #10

Poetry Pin 2.0 is on its way! And this time we're walking the richly historical route from the village of Washford to the harbour town of Watchet, along the West Somerset Mineral Line.

Although the tracks of the old railway line have long since gone, this path is a well-trodden two-miles of beautiful and changing scenery. Its history and heritage are multi-layered and full of stories to inspire the poet in us all. We're teaming up with the West Somerset Mineral Line Association who care for and promote walks along the whole of the route. And we're working with the four local schools and Pebbles Poetry Group to begin a new trail of geo-located poems that everyone is invited to add to this summer.

More details to follow. Keep up with the latest news at facebook.com/PoetryPin



For the person who has everything.... I bet they don't have a book of toxic poetry! Thoughtful Christmas presents come book-shaped this year. A Walk Down the Rift (£10) is available from Amazon and local Exmoor bookseller Number Seven in Dulverton.
And if the classics are more your thing, how about The Rime of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge - the original version inspired by Watchet and the hills of West Somerset - beautifully reproduced with images by Somerset artists. £12 from Amazon or direct from containsarts.co.uk



Sunday is your last chance to try the Toxic Visitor Book Challenge, at A Walk Down the Rift, Contains Art, Watchet. 11am-4pm.



Here are a few snippets from the Poetry Pin exhibition visitor book, and if the handwriting looks a bit chaotic in places, it's because everyone was wearing industrial rubber gloves! ... you'll just have to come and see for yourself...
A Walk Down the Rift is at Contains Art in Watchet, Wednesdays to Sundays until the 1st November.





Poets and songsters celebrate the romance of landscape in our latest newsletter - ARTlifeLAND #9


This October we are proud, with Poetry Pin, to launch a brand new book of poetry springing from the narrow trail of land dividing rural, coastal Somerset from the new nuclear power station build at Hinkley C.

 Poetry Pin is a ground breaking project, creating poetry in response to particular landscapes. Starting with pencil and paper, but harnessing the power of smartphones, it allows readers and writers to ‘pin’ their words to the landscape, location and moment which inspired them.

‘A Walk Down the Rift’ brings a selection of the poems from different contributors into print alongside beautiful photographs of the landscape in a state of change over the last year.

‘A Walk Down the Rift’, with an accompanying exhibition, launches at Contains Art, Watchet on 31st October 7 -9 pm where contributing poets will be reading their submissions, and will be on hand to discuss their motivation and inspiration.

A Walk Down the Rift - poems from the great Somerset imposition’ (Fly Catcher Press - Hard Back £10) will be available from 21st October 2015 and can be pre ordered from http://numbersevendulverton.co.uk

Poetry Pin was funded by EDF Energy as part of the planning agreement with West Somerset Council for the Hinkley C development. It has been co-ordinated by ARTlife, the West Somerset Arts Consortium.
Latest project news, hiding words at Tarr Steps, and opportunities to write in the wild.


                                                     ARTlifeLAND news: August 2015
As Coleridge observed two centuries ago. Spring is a busy time...

with the natural world around us racing towards summer, while many of us sit, not with quills any more, but at our computers.

Read our latest newsletter to find out about ARTlife supported projects taking you out.

You can even take your screen with you!

                                                          ARTlifeLAND news May 2015
These sunny days and clear night skies make perfect conditions for a bit of stargazing. And there's no place better than Exmoor's Dark Sky Reserve - a haven of darkness in which to explore the mystery of the constellations and awaken awe and wonder at our place in the universe.
Get in the mood with this lovely short film by Frances Harrison, which she made as part of ARTlife's Dark Starry Skies community arts project.

(there are more stories, images and information at Dark Starry Skies)
Welcome to ARTlife's revamped blog! - a new look for a new era and lots of exciting work to share with you.
West Somerset Council has confirmed an investment of £6,000 in our partnership for 2015-16, despite huge pressures on their budget, and so we're delighted that we can continue to employ our Coordinator and look for funds to deliver arts activity on behalf of the local authority.
These new pages include all our current projects and links to the partners we're working with. Check in regularly to see what we're doing, or sign up to receive our newsletter.
PLEASE NOTE: the Arts Grants pot of money we set aside for investing in local arts and community groups has now been spent, and we're very pleased to have been able to support lots of valuable and vibrant arts activities and events in West Somerset this year.
The first ARTlifeLAND newsletter of 2015 is out now, with some important dates for creatives coming up very soon.

 Saturday 14 Feb is your very last chance to join the Poetry Pin team on a focus walk along the boundary of Hinkley C to the sea.
Meet 10.45am for an 11.00am departure, Shurton Meadow gate, Shurton TA5 1QQ.
The walk takes about 2 hours; bring a notebook, pen and an open mind.
This is followed by the deadline for all poetry pin online submissions, digitally pinned on the Poetry Pin trail on Saturday 28 February.
Saturday 28 February is also the deadline for artwork submissions for a new exhibition and publication of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, our exciting collaboration with Contains Art, Watchet.
For full application details and links, take a look at our February newsletter via the link below.
Happy New Year!

ARTlife, West Somerset’s Arts agency, has grants of up to £1,000 to give to community groups undertaking creative projects and events. We still have £4000 available for this financial year.

If you have an exciting, relevant and valuable idea for a new Arts project or event and if you are based in West Somerset your group could be eligible for a grant of up to £1000 from ARTlife.
The next deadlines for submitting an application are: 9th of January 2015 and then 2nd of March 2015.

This year ARTlife  has awarded grants to Watchet Roots for Summer workshops for children. Tutored community workshops linked to the 'Making an Exhibition of Ourselves' self-portrait show during Somerset Art Weeks for Contains ART (look at the 'resources page) - also in Watchet.


Stogumber Festival for their free events 
The Halsway Manor Xanadu event and Minehead EYE - funding for professional design support for merchandising.

You will find a grant scheme guidelines document to check if your project meets our criteria and you can download the application pack from the ARTlife website by clicking on this link: Arts Grants

And apply NOW!

What is ARTlife?

ARTlife works with creatives, organisations and communities across Somerset, focusing on art and walking projects, the changing landscape, and a rich cultural heritage. Read our latest posts to get a flavour of what we are doing.

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