No Boundaries – Lynsey Merrick

This week I will be heading over to York to speak at the No Boundaries conference, which I am very excited to attend. The theme of the conference is the idea of "arts and culture in a world with no normal", which particularly intrigues me and really connects to the topic of my presentation.

In the first session on the first day of the two-day conference, my presentation will pose the question: ‘How do we mainstream creativity and culture as part of young people’s development journey, so that I becomes part of a life long journey?’

This notion of a lifelong engagement with creativity and culture is something that I feel passionate about advocating, as it resonates with themes of sustainability and a deeper, more meaningful type of engagement with children and young people, which is exactly the type of engagement that we strive to achieve in our work at The Lowry.

With this in mind, at The Lowry we are working hard to build on and deepen our relationship with the local authority, to ensure that creativity and culture are seen as a core and valuable part of our society, alongside other statutory services for children and young people.

In the presentation, it is this relationship that I will highlight, calling for a #CreativeRevolution to make it happen. The presentation will strive to advocate the non-arts sector as the vehicle for creativity and culture on the journey from the margins to the mainstream.

What I hope the resounding message to the delegates at the conference will be from my modest input, is the need for creative and cultural organisations to build meaningful relationships with children and young people that are part of the holistic service for families at a local level. For us to revive the intrinsic value of creativity and culture in our contemporary society, seeing it as an equal and fundamental part of the local environment.

I think that the No Boundaries conference is vitally important, as it gives us time and space to think big!

In such a fast-paced sector like ours, it’s crucial that we create the opportunity to bring people together to have a positive, imaginative and open-minded dialogue about what we can ‘do’ to improve the future of our sector.

I can’t wait to get there and contribute to this fresh and valuable symposium, and more importantly to hear the other speakers, allowing their wise words to stimulate more ideas and thoughts for the future.

Lynsey Merrick is Learning and Participation Manager at The Lowry in Manchester.  No Boundaries is a two-day conference supported by the British Council and Arts Council England, taking place simultaneously in Bristol and York on 25 and 26 February. The conference is being produced by Watershed in Bristol and a consortium of partners. For details of the conference, tickets and provocations, visit the No Boundaries website, and follow @UKTheatreDance and #nb2014 or @nbd2014 on Twitter.