Bideford and Manteo, Twinned through the Arts

At a packed meeting in Gertie’s Café, on Mill Street in Bideford, Sadie and Dave Green gave an illustrated talk about their experiences in Manteo, focusing on the Arts Partnership they’ve developed.

In October Sadie and Dave met with Dare County Arts Council in Manteo through the support of the Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship and Networking Artists Network grants. The result was the production of a three year arts partnership plan between the twinned towns.

Bideford and Manteo are connected historically through the 1587 settlement of Roanoke Island, the 11 mile long island on the coast of North Carolina, under command of Sir Richard Grenville, Bideford’s Lord of the Manor; and more recently through the towns’ twinning. This was America’s first English colony which disappeared without a trace 2 years later becoming one of their biggest mysteries and known as the Lost Colony.

A 3-year plan of agreed aims and objectives will act as a springboard for a series of activities and events to take place, all with the focus of an Arts and Cultural Exchange Programme. This programme will enable the two communities to understand about and learn from each other through the medium of the arts, and for a real exchange of ideas, inspirations and local knowledge through a partnership between Dare County Arts Council, Bideford Bay Creatives and other potential partners. A programme of exhibitions, residencies, collaborations and educational activity will be developed, leading to new work being created and shared with both communities.

Manteo, Bideford and their surrounding areas have vibrant arts communities. Both towns have seasonal tourism and historically postcards have been sent as a greeting from overseas. The first phase of the arts plan is therefore an Artists’ Handmade Postcard Exchange. This will climax in exhibitions of unique handmade postcards, made by artists in both towns, at the Arts Council Gallery in Manteo and at the Appledore Visual Arts Festival in June 2011.

This is your chance to make contact with your twin via a postcard, handmade in any medium, to reflect in image and words something unique about where you live. Full details will be available here soon.