Our History
Creativity Works has a long and varied history of valuable arts development and delivery within and beyond Bath and North East Somerset and Bristol.
1981 – The beginning
The start of the eighties saw the inception of Wansdyke Arts Council. The WAC was initially a forum for local amateur arts organisations as there were no professional arts organisations in the area. Since these early days there has been recognition for the need for the development and expansion of creative arts activity and education for local people, and WAC worked hard to involve the community in a variety of different arts events.
1994 – Amateur to Professional
WAC commissioned an arts development strategy for the area with the hope that they could seek more financial support. Consequently an arts development worker was employed to oversee the development of WAC, and thus began the professional phase of arts development within the local area.
1997 – The birth of North East Somerset Arts
A major change of local government boundaries saw the creation of the Bath and North East Somerset area. Responding rapidly to this change WAC became North East Somerset Arts, and continued its valuable work across a freshly labelled region, including Chew Valley, Keynsham, Bath and, our home, Norton Radstock. Projects got bigger and North East Somerset Arts became adept at working in partnerships with other local organisations, gaining a reputation for delivering high quality arts practice.
2005 – The 1st Re-brand
In 2005, due to the expanding target area of the organisation, North East Somerset Arts became nesa. There was by now a clear focus towards three areas of work: Health and Wellbeing, Community Art, and Creativity and Young People.
2010 – The 2nd Re-brand
Ever-expanding geographically, nesa (after a lengthy review and consultation process) changed its name to Creativity Works. Creativity Works continues to grow and develop, creating sustainable projects with real impact for participants. The central aim of the organisation remains to enable more people to access the arts, and to facilitate personal change in people’s lives through sensitive projects.
2011 – Creativity Works awarded Arts Council England National Portfolio funding for 2011 – 2014.
2015 – Creativity Works awarded Arts Council England National Portfolio funding for 2015 – 2018, the only organisation in Bath and North East Somerset to receive this status.
For more information please visit our About Us page.