A VIRTUAL day of hope and positivity is set to be held to mark the winter solstice.
The West Midlands Culture Response Unit’s (WMCRU) next event is titled ‘It Gets Lighter From Here’ on Monday December 21 and will feature a collection of one minute commissions from organisations across the region.
To date, the It Gets Lighter From Here project has raised more than £34,000 for commissions, providing vital financial support local freelancers who have been impacted by the pandemic.
The event marks the shortest day and longest night of the year and aims to provide moments of happiness and hope during a challenging time for the arts and culture industry.
Actor and Playwright Tyrone Huggins, who helped organise the event, said: “When covid 19 caused the closure of venues in March this year, the arts community in the West Midlands came together to support each other and find ways of supporting our audiences. We came up with a unique idea of charting moments through this pandemic with a series of online festivals where organisations, producers and freelance artists could share their work.
“There is much uncertainty to the immediate future and nobody can say what state things may be on December 21, but what we will be able to say at sunset on that shortest day of the year is “it gets lighter from here.” And there’s a kind of magic in that thought. I’m looking forward to it.”
Artists and cultural institutions from across the West Midlands will release hundreds of commissions across their social media channels, through the hashtag #ItGetsLighterFromHere.
audiences, but another way for artists and organisations to do and share what they love.”
Birmingham Royal Ballet, Pentabus, Warwick Arts Centre, Royal Shakespeare Company, China Plate, Town Hall Symphony Hall and University of Worcester are among those to get involved.
Visit www.culturecentral.co.uk for more information.
