People's Millions: Zion Arts 08702 433 402 To Win

Throughout the 1990s I worked with a variety of arts organisations, many of them providing training for professionals as their core business, and several using the Zion in Hulme for at least some of their activities.

Physical State International (click PSI) put on dozens of master classes and workshops in the space. Basement Video Project a workers' cooperative (click the VHS icon) often documented these. Louis Ziegler's Le Grand Jeu from Strasbourg possessed the place for a week.

This was before it was refurbished as a community arts centre. Afterwards I thought the place rather missed a trick by not having the old lags back.

But soon enough connections were back with my organisation IDEA (click the bulb) equipping various media arts projects. And with my daughter joining the Manchester Youth Soul Choir which was based there. The Video (above) shows Yvonne Shelton - who was amongst many other things a Distant Cousins backing singer - leading the new crew in rehearsals at Zion for the Magic Monkey Project.

Lines are open until Midnight. Here's their pitch:

Vote for Zion to win the £80k funding because Zion wants to:

Offer even bigger and better programme of multi-arts participatory activity sessions in summer 2008 for local young people. We know there is demand as seen by the success of recent half term activities. Help us to meet this demand, engage twice as many young people and deliver activities we could not otherwise dream of funding.

Convert Zion's studio space into a multi-functional performance and dance space to meet the demands of the community and emerging theatre and dance companies that need these facilities NOW!

Refurbish and upgrade Zion's gallery and gallery workspace into two activity spaces for their intended purpose ­ visual arts! Dancers should be able to use the upstairs studio space with mirrors as funded by People's Millions. This way the gallery can be used for arts education purposes and dancers will not have to 'make do' with gallery space window reflections as they hone their dance skills!

We want the funding because we need to meet the demands of young people and groups that already use Zion Arts Centre

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