What is Percent for Art?

Our Percent for Art team comprises two officers who are based in our Community Engagement Team and work across all areas of Bolton.  Our arts officers work with residents, community groups, partners and other community stakeholders to develop socially engaged arts projects that help to improve our communities and benefit customers.

We commission appropriate artists or arts organisations, to work with the local community, and we manage the project from start to finish.

The Percent for Art service actively encourages individuals and community groups to get involved in schemes that can offer creative solutions to neighbourhood issues.

Ideas for arts projects can come from our neighbourhood teams and they will focus on specific neighbourhood priorities or be developed through conversations with community groups, partner organisations or other community stakeholders.  Sometimes local arts projects are developed through wider Greater Manchester, regional or national networks or funding.

Our service also offers advice and guidance to our partners with regard to developing arts projects involving other social housing customers across Bolton.  We have also been commissioned by partners to project manage a number of community arts and public / environmental art projects in Bolton.

Projects can be in any medium including visual arts, performance, music, crafts, digital art and film. They can take the form of arts based consultation, skills and confidence building projects, arts in health & wellbeing work, festivals and celebratory arts, as well as streetscaping and environmental arts projects designed to enhance the physical environment.

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2021 Mini Movie Moments

2021 Mini Movie Moments

In January 2021 Bolton at Home commissioned video artists Illuminos to develop and deliver a Covid-safe proposal for a spectacular temporary artwork that engaged our residents on their own doorsteps.  Mini Movie Moments provided opportunities for residents to contribute to the artwork.  Mini Movie Moments was promoted on Bolton FM and BBC Radio Manchester and social media (1836 engagements) and residents were encouraged to send in their mini moments of good news (text, photos and little bits of film) through a variety of platforms.

In a world first, a tiny Mini vehicle drove around Bolton, stopping at various locations in five different areas of Bolton (Breightmet & Darcy Lever, Little Lever, Farnworth & Moses Gate, Halliwell, Horwich & Blackrod) over five nights in March to share residents’ moments of joy and delight as specially made news footage beamed out from the car like headlines in the headlights. 

We had a socially-distanced audience of over 350 over the five nights, and for those unable to see the Mini in real life, we live-streamed some of the film footage on our Bolton at Home Communities Facebook page.

Click here to see some footage of the Mini in action

We received some really positive messages from residents of all ages:

Wow I really enjoyed that, the whole idea is so different and the kids really enjoyed it

It was fun to see something different on our estate, I’ve never seen that before

It’s really put a smile on my face

Was brilliant on the brazley just what we all needed thanks

Mini Movie Moments in Breightmet  Mini Movie Moments in Blackrod