ONCA Centre for Arts and Ecology in Brighton have been awarded £75,000 from Arts Council England for a two-year participatory arts programme called Navigating Change.
Exploring themes such as rewilding, citizen science and climate change ONCA will initiate eleven projects during the next two years in the form of exhibitions, events and educational projects. The programme opens in ONCA’s gallery on 12 August, with a multi-media installation by art-science collaboration Pale Blue Dot, which makes links between consumerism and environmental decline.
“Navigating Change explores how we – as a society, and as a community of artists and arts organisations – can cultivate biodiversity, social inclusion and personal and institutional resilience, as we navigate through this time of unprecedented ecological change,” says ONCA Director Laura Coleman.
The organisation, which was founded in 2012, has recently expanded, converting the rest of its building into low-carbon offices, studios and creative spaces, with plans to open an artists’ resource centre and shop in development. The Arts Council Funding is matched by support from a number of other funders, as well as ONCA’s own low-cost desk and studio rental scheme.
“This is fantastic news for ONCA, and marks the beginning of a new phase of growth and development for us,” says Coleman. “This funding also allows us to welcome more people into our space with a changing weekly programme of talks and events, and a series of exciting exhibitions and projects that invite the whole community to get involved.”
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