Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh
The Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh promotes creativity and cultural diversity with high artistic quality throughout North Rhine-Westphalia . The association of currently almost 80 member cities (as of 2020), together with the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe and the State Association of Lippe , uses funding from the state's cultural budget. The aim is to strengthen municipal cultural work in the medium-sized and smaller member cities and in the more rural areas of North Rhine-Westphalia. The member cities and municipalities have their own theater, but no permanent ensemble. The culture secretariat based in Gütersloh also supports networking and knowledge transfer in the cultural sector of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and initiates cultural-political discourses.
Bodies
The decision-making body of the Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh is the permanent conference. It meets at least once a year and decides on the budget, funding and criteria. Every member city is entitled to vote. Regular meetings of the main committee, which consists of 14 elected representatives from the member cities, prepare the conference. The seat of Gütersloh , the regional association Westphalia-Lippe , the regional association Lippe and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia are also represented with a seat. The culture departments of the district governments and the spokespersons of the working groups take part in the main committee in an advisory capacity. Project funding is discussed and decided in various working groups and project groups.
management
The chairman of the main committee is Andreas Kimpel, alderman of the city of Gütersloh. Deputy chairman is Horst Müller-Baß, councilor of the city of Lünen. Antje Nöhren is managing director of the Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh, administrative director and deputy managing director is Christiane Venne-Pollmeier.
Bottom-up principle
The Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh follows the so-called "bottom-up principle". This means that projects and funding programs are developed from within the circle of the member cities, close to their needs.
advancement
As a sponsor and initiator, the Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh supports the member cities in promoting cultural projects, while the event organization is in the hands of the sponsored institutions. Funding decisions are generally based on the culture funding plan of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and are based on the bottom-up principle.
Sector promotion
The Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh supports cultural projects in the fields of fine arts , music , theater , dance , independent scene and literature . With the “Junge Kultursekretariat” (Young Culture Secretariat), it focuses on cultural education. Only productions of tested quality by the members of the working groups and project groups are included in the funding catalog. If a member city decides on a production from the catalog, it submits an application for a fee subsidy and can thus bring the event to its city.
Project funding
In addition to the projects in the sectoral funding, there is also the more open project funding. Here the member cities do not choose from the given funding opportunities, but apply with their own concepts.
Homeward
The "Heimwärts" funding program focuses on the cooperation between the sample theaters / program theaters in North Rhine-Westphalia. It connects existing resources and investments and increases awareness and appreciation for the work of the sample theater / program theater. Up to 80 percent of the funding is awarded to theater productions in which, for example, there is innovative cooperation with other theaters or the independent scene. All sample theaters / program theaters from NRW can apply.
NRW sculpture
The art project "NRWskulptur" is an internet portal that presents a selection of outstanding works of art in public space in NRW from the period after 1945. The works are freely accessible around the clock. The sculptures presented here were selected by a jury of experts from suggestions made by NRW cities. The app of the same name has been online for smartphones from all manufacturers since 2020.
City occupation
With the “City Occupation” project , the Culture Secretariat and the participating cities have been bringing art into the streets and public spaces once a year since 2016 - directly to the people. In each edition, the participants realize public art actions on a selected topic - from performances and sound installations to artist shared apartments.
Young culture secretariat
The Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh opens the door to art and culture for children and young people under the label “Young Culture Secretariat”. Dance festivals, reading clubs, children’s concerts and numerous other cultural education projects cover almost all branches of the arts, and some of them are interdisciplinary. The Junge Kultursekretariat is also taken into account when it comes to the funding of the various branches: among other things, children's theater and concerts have their regular place in the funding catalog.
Go berserk!
“ Crazy !” Promotes dance projects for young people from grade 5. Professional choreographers meet young dancers in order to spend a year doing dance. Every two years the dance festival of the same name wanders through the member cities. There, the participating dance groups show their developed choreographies and experience a diverse program of workshops, reflection formats and actions.
Culture thugs
The network of elementary schools, cultural institutions and local artists that is being created through the “Kulturstrolche” project aims to give the participating elementary school children individual access to culture at an early age . From the second to the fourth grade, extra-curricular learning locations can be explored in a hands-on and playful way in the class.
Summer reading club
As one of the largest reading promotion projects in North Rhine-Westphalia, the "Summer Reading Club (SLC)", in cooperation with numerous libraries in the state, is opening an extracurricular field in which reading pleasure, teamwork and creativity are in the foreground.
(Your thing
The funding series “(D) ein Ding” finances project ideas from extracurricular groups, ensembles, associations or cultural and educational institutions in the member cities. “(D) a thing” is treading new artistic paths with projects for young people from the age of 14 and experimenting with new formats.
create music NRW
Since January 2020 the funding project “ create music NRW ” for young musicians in the field of pop music has been sponsored by the State Music Council of North Rhine-Westphalia. The cultural secretariat continues to be a cooperation partner for the implementation of the project in its member cities.
history
In 1980 the cities in North Rhine-Westphalia with theaters without their own ensemble merged under the umbrella of the Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh. It followed the example of the NRW KULTURsekretariat (Wuppertal), which forms a network of cities with municipal theaters. The number of the 24 founding cities with sample theaters / program theaters has grown to almost 80 member cities in 2020 - the year of its 40th anniversary. They organize themselves in the network from the seat of Gütersloh. The basis of their cooperation is an agreement under public law. The current task still corresponds to that of the original founding mandate:
“(...) the promotion of cultural cooperation between the members. It includes, among other things, the constant cooperation between cultural institutions, joint cultural events, the exchange of individual productions and key events, especially those with a model character. "(Cf. public law agreement on the establishment of the Gütersloh Culture Secretariat, § 1 (3))