General art and culture policy

The most important resources are formed by the appropriations for art promotion. The Arts Council has an active role in the current issues on art and art and cultural life through its intellectual and social capital and specialist network.

The Arts Council of South Savo develops the cooperation, work opportunities, dialogue and international contacts of the art and cultural organisations in its region with the means available to it.

The Arts Council renders advisory opinions and makes proposals on the promotion of art activities and cultural services to other parts of administration.

The Arts Council of South Savo is an active player in the cultural policy that owns wide contacts to the art and cultural actors in its region, to the province administration, municipalities and media. With these measures the Arts Council tries to bring out the arts perspective in all social decision-making.

Children's culture

The position of a regional artist for art education is prepared to begin 1.1.2009. The Arts Council of South Savo wants to emphasise the meaning of regional art education work as the promoter of the national cultural heritage. The common target groups are children, adults and special groups. The regional artist will work closely together with the instances that organise basic art education and amateur activities thus enhancing their networking. The duties of a regional artist for art education include the organisation of an art education symposium together with the secretary general. The work of a regional artist involves representing as well as his/her own artistic work.

Projects

• ARCHITECTURE POLICY IN EASTERN FINLAND

Promotion of cultural productions and export opportunities

• International design 2008-2009

We join our marketing forces with the Finpro Trade unit, the Cultural Export Division of the Ministry of Education and other instances promoting international activities, e.g. Hill & Knowltton and Dadaa content creators. Together with the regional actors we provide departments to fairs/resale resorts and survey retailers on the selected resorts. Also the development of products and marketing materials belongs to the activities as part of the overall project.
• Art& Health

The aim of the project is to create “spaces of balance” with the Miepä project together with artists, architects and designers.
• Art & Industry 2008-2009

After the preliminary work of 2007, we start the actual cooperation with companies and builders in 2008 and combine artists’ and designers’ work input with the activity.

The objective of the project is to create cooperation between artists and industry/business life. For example: a company gets a personal music composition of its own that can be used in company presentations and trailers as well as in fairs and on web-sites. Visual artists, graphic designers and film-makers can be used in similar cases.

In accordance with its emphasis in the plan of action, the Arts Council of South Savo continues to carry out the following tasks

as part of art education activities

• Eletään yhdessä (Living together) –project
  In this project we offer artists work opportunities in which the artist – child interdependency and the realisation of a personal art experience are in focus. Schools are encouraged to develop pupils’ ability to combine meanings and things in unprecedented ways. The target is the implementation of creativity and goal requirements in education in cooperation with professional artists.
• As a new form of cooperation in the art education we and the Mikkeli City launch art scholarships that support art teaching. With art scholarships we encourage the schools in the province to maintain art as a structural part of the curricula. The Arts Council of South Savo wishes to draw attention to the allocation of adequate resources for teaching arts and practical skill subjects in municipalities. Art must be brought into the teaching environments, methods and contents.

as part of the promotion of film and media education we develop children’s and adolescents’ safe media environment and media literacy:

• continuing the cooperation in animated mini-operas that was started in 2006 with OOP! at the National Opera and the Mikkeli Regional Art Museum with an emphasis on the significance of the views on media education; the skills, information and knowledge to understand communications through media.
• launching the OMAKUVA (’self image’) documentary project for pupils in comprehensive schools in cooperation with the film director Kaija Juurikkala and municipalities. The objective is to get pupils to make a video documentary with the self image theme in a directed workshop.
• We arrange film shows and a film tour

as part of the promotion of performing arts

• extending the activities of Regional Dance Centre Kuopio. The activities in South Savo continue in the form of producing regional professional productions and performances in cooperation with Eastern arts councils
• supporting the workshop activities of basic dance education

as part of the promotion of dramatic art

• cooperation of drama professionals between South Savo and the Czech Republic. (e.g. in cooperation DAMU - Theatre Faculty, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.)
• the project is meant to promote the skills and international networking of the professionals in the theatre and children’s culture in the South Savo region.

as part of the promotion of children’s culture

• continuing the cooperation in children’s culture in Eastern Finland by drawing up a regional programme for children’s cultural policy together with the other arts councils in the County of Eastern Finland.
• preparing a children’s cultural centre in a network form to be joined with the national ”Taikalamppu” (“Magic Latern”) network.

as part of the promotion of music

• the training of technology as a tool for composing music
• carry on improving the conditions for skills and activities of choirs and orchestras

as part of the promotion of literary art

• arranging workshops and regional and provincial events that support the activities of writers’ associations, libraries and schools.

In addition to the above mentioned, there are projects included in the regional artists’ plans of action.

Art awards and grants of the Arts Council of South Savo:

Art award 4500€
Art education award 2500€
Newcomer of the Year 4000€ (together with the South Savo Fund and GalleriAri)
Kolonni Award for significant architectural work, presented every third year