Folk Arts Oxford aims to promote folk and traditional dance, music and song in the Oxfordshire region. In particular we are interested in improving access for those who might face barriers to participation in the arts.
Through our funded project work: children in Headington have learned about local lad William Kimber, and the musical legacy he has left; a new band called Iris has been formed, who accompany all their songs with Makaton signing; children from mainstream and special schools in Oxfordshire have the chance to create music together, and perform on the main stage at Folk Weekend: Oxford.
Alongside our own projects and events, FAO works collaboratively with other local organisations, forging links and creating opportunities for folk artists to work in education and community projects, as well as showcase their talent in local events.
In 2016, FAO was awarded funding from Arts Council England and Oxford City Council to carry out a pilot project aimed at improving access to the arts for children with disabilities. We will be working with three Oxfordshire SEN schools, bringing artists in to the schools to work with the children as well as helping to build their confidence in attending cultural events such as Folk Weekend.
You can follow what we've been up to on our blog below, or on our YouTube channel by clicking here!
On 27th Feb, Inclusive Folk Artists got together for a day of training, skill sharing, and development. It sounds quite boring when you put it like that, but in reality we just played all day! It was lovely to have the freedom to explore instruments and props and bounce ideas off other artists.
Here we are dancing with colourful scarves, and experimenting with where you get the best vibrations from an accordion!
Hello and welcome to the project blog for Inclusive Folk! We will be updating this periodically with interesting titbits and behind-the-scenes stories from the project.
