We are brimming with excitement in anticipation of two very special visits this month...

The fab five that are MOISHE'S BAGEL are dropping into Dorset for one night only, as part of a national tour that takes in The Sage in Gateshead and Bristol's Colston Hall. Moishe's Bagel is made up of 5 extraordinary musicians, performing rip-roaring, foot-stomping, jazz-inflected Klezmer music from Eastern Europe. Tickets are selling fast!
The Exchange in Sturminster Newton, Fri 17 February (01258 457137)

The following weekend we are extremely lucky to welcome a very rare line-up of Irish folk royalty: Maire ni Chathasaigh & Chris Newman with Nollaig Casey & Arty McGlynn, performing sublime traditional Irish tunes on harp, guitars, fiddle and voice. Don't miss the sensational Heartstrings Quartet just before they head off to tour the USA:
Portesham Village Hall, Sat 25 Feb (01305 871925)
Studland Village Hall, Sun 26 Feb (01929 450204)

See the videos below:

Our cover stars this season are Bristol-based puppet company Pickled Image with their family show 'Travels with Granddad'.

If you have picked up a copy of the printed programme, or seen our advert in Evolver, please note that Pickled Image's Powerstock date has changed from Tues 14 Feb to Fri 17 Feb, still at 3:30pm.

Also an extra performance of this show has been added:
Nether Compton Village Hall Wed 15 Feb, 3:30pm.

The listings in our What's On section of this site is now all up to date with the correct info.

Our online gallery page has had a bit of a revamp! Have a look at the gallery here to see photos of Artsreach events, performances and workshops from 2011.

Our autumn programme is coming to an end with just one show left this year, Forest Forge's 'Phoenix and Carpet' at Piddle Valley School. Our Spring listings are now up - please go to What's On to see what's in store for January to March 2012.

We can announce a few high profile headliners:

John Etheridge & Chris Garrick's SWEET CHORUS quartet returns in January, performing an evening of hot jazz inspired by Stephane Grappelli (for whom Etheridge was accompanist) and Django Reinhardt. Be sure to book early!

Thurs 19 Jan Gillingham School 01747 833844
Fri 20 Jan Buckland Newton Village Hall 01300 345543
Sat 21 Jan Puddletown Middle School 01305 261984

MOISHE'S BAGEL makes a one-night-only return visit to Dorset to perform their hugely popular klezmer music and lively Eastern European rhythms at The Exchange in Sturminster Newton on Fri 17 Feb: 01258 475137.

Two of the most important names in Irish music, legendary guitarist Arty McGlynn (Van Morrison's band; Planxty) and virtuoso fiddler Nollaig Casey (Planxty; Coolfin), are joined by the brilliant and innovative harper Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Britain's finest flat-picking guitarist Chris Newman, for a very rare opportunity to hear this inimitable quartet play live. Don't miss their 'Heartstrings Sessions' at:

Portesham Village Hall Sat 25 Feb 01305 871780
Studland Village Hall Sun 26 Feb 01929 450204

Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston Castle Opens!

Durlston Country Park National Nature Reserve is 280 acres of Dorset's very best coast and countryside, carefully managed by Dorset County Council for conservation and public enjoyment. Attracting more than 250,000 visitors a year, Durlston's amazing wildlife, superb coastal scenery and curious Victorian history has inspired countless people including artists such as Paul Nash and Graham Sutherland.

Over the last eight years, funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and many others, has transformed Durlston Castle. The Castle is an extraordinary Victorian building, and will provide a unique and beautiful new facility for visitors to Durlston and the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Thanks to support from the Arts Council, the arts have been right at the heart of the project from the very beginning. New permanent works by artists including Gary Breeze, Lulu Quinn and Forkbeard Fantasy can be found in and around the Castle, while poets Carol Ann Duffy and Paul Hyland have also contributed work.

Opening on the 18th November, the Fine Foundation Gallery will be a key hub of the new building, offering a space for a varied programme of art exhibitions, live music and performance and interactive displays.
A partnership with Artsreach has helped Durlston develop a varied new programme of events.

On the opening night there was a live music celebration from internationally acclaimed Senegalese Kora maestro Doudou Cissoko - which enjoyed a sell out!

Next summer Artsreach's Deep Time exhibition will tour to the Fine Foundation Gallery from 23 June -27 August.

For more information about Durlston please contact Ali Tuckey (Countryside Ranger): 01929 424443 durlston@dorsetcc.gov.uk

Featuring the stunning photography of Ben Osborne's 'Jurassic Journey' along the World Heritage Jurassic Coast, our 2012 calendar is now half price! Iconic images of Ladram Bay; The Cobb at Lyme Regis; Swanage; Worbarrow Bay; Pulpit Rock and St Catherine's Chapel, Abbotsbury, are all featured in this calendar which is now available HALF PRICE for just £4 + £1 p&p each. All proceeds go to help Artsreach fundraise for the shortfall in our funding.
To order yours please send a cheque payable to Artsreach for the appropriate amount, and include a return address. You can also collect from our office in Dorchester to avoid postage costs.

A fund exclusively available to communities in rural Dorset has been revived for 2010 by Artsreach.

The Dorset Rural Fund offers grants of between £100 and £500 to support new creative arts projects/activities in rural areas of Dorset, and is supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. For the Dorset Rural Fund, Artsreach is advised by a locally based independent panel, which takes a very broad view of creative activity, but is particularly keen to assist projects which reflect the concerns, interests and identity of the community applying. This is a fund for people living in rural areas, which aims to touch upon rural issues and experiences: the things about rural life that matter to community members.

Applicants may choose any way to express their own project, from the written and spoken word, to performance or video production, or perhaps the making of lasting objects. Any group may apply, though the panel is particularly interested in reaching Dorset-born families and occupational groups within the rural community, e.g. those in the farming, fishing and stone industries. Applicants do not have to have previous experience of the arts, crafts, or of applying for grants, though might have some of these skills, know someone in the area who does, or wish to invite an artist, craftsman or company in to work with their community.

Successful applications in the past have included a wide variety of projects. To name a few:

• The Portland choir ‘Island Voices’ commissioned a local musician to compose and work with them on a new piece of music for them to add to their repertoire.
• To mark the millennium, Drimpton’s community development group ‘Village Voices’ commissioned an artist to paint portraits of members of the community, combined with local oral history, to create a lasting record of the village’s inhabitants of that time.
• To put an end to an unwanted echo affecting performances in its village hall, Cranborne set about involving its community groups of all ages to create a very large sound-absorbing wall hanging to run the length of the hall, depicting the beautiful countryside, flora and fauna of the Cranborne Estate.
• Powerstock held a historic pageant/community play, charting the 2000-year history of the village, which involved local actors, writers, musicians, villagers and families.
• Artist Serena de la Hey was commissioned by the community of Frampton to create with them a willow sculpture for the village’s Millennium Green. She also led workshops in the community for making willow sculptures.

Your community’s project could be next! For a Dorset Rural Fund application form please contact the Artsreach office: 01305 269512.