A straw bale version of the Greek temple the Parthenon will greet visitors to the conference. © Amazon Nails

Farmers, rural leaders, artists, architects and designers are meeting to discuss how the arts and creative industries will play a key role in the transformation of rural England in the near future.

Arts Council England and the Department for Culture (DCMS) will be listening intently as the Arts and Rural Regeneration Conference at Lancaster University asks whether farmers and artists will be at the centre of the new rural economy.

The conference, running from September 10-13 2006, will look at how the arts can aid rural areas, which are currently facing significant economic challenges. Attracting visitors, creating employment and new businesses will be at the heart of the debate over the value of the arts outside urban centres.

Ian Hunter, of arts trust Littoral – the organisation behind the conference – explained that the country is on the verge of great change and the opportunity to give arts a central position must be seized.

A Keith Wilson cattle fence sculpture. © Keith Wilson

“They’re developing,” he said of the creative industries in rural areas, “but what’s accelerating it all is the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), starting in 2007. The next five years will change the face of rural England.”

“We’ve done some research work and DCMS have picked up on it. The aim now is to get Defra [the Department for Rural Affairs] and the DCMS to work together on it.”

The RDPE, about to be launched by the government, acknowledges that one way to avoid a steep decline in the rural economy is to encourage more creative people to live and work in the rural environs.

“The creative industries make a significant, and sometimes unacknowledged, contribution to rural economies and societies,” said Margaret Clark, Director, Commission for Rural Communities. “They can play a positive role in economic and social regeneration, helping to build social capital between and within communities and also investing in local distinctiveness and identity."

Farmers will work more with artists in future as an alternative way generate income. © Keith Wilson

“There is a need for greater national, strategic focus to reflect and channel energy at the regional and local levels. This conference will, I am sure, help to achieve this.”

Farmers have already found new ways to make a living from their work and assets. Employing crop circle makers and creating corn mazes is one way to generate income from visitors. One farmer attracted more visitors than Stone Henge with a crop circle on his land, grossing £30,000 in four weeks.

Festivals and other arts activities in the countryside are also blossoming, acting as social occasions, bringing communities together, and having positive economic effects.

Following an age-old tradition of artists working in rural locations, many new small creative businesses are now operating from ‘the cottage’ rather than the ‘industrial unit’, too.

The entrance to the conference will feature some innovative artworks with a rural twist.

A straw bale 'castle' built by Amazon Nails. © Amazon Nails

The 10-metre-high Strawthenon – a replica of the Parthenon constructed from straw bales – has been created by Hebden Bridge group Amazon Nails. The group of women architects have erected many straw bale buildings in the UK and Ireland and offer courses and consultancy.

Also on show will be steel welded cattle fence sculptures by Keith Wilson, whose work has been exhibited at Tate Britain and National Trust properties.

In addition, conference participants will visit crafts initiatives and art installations in the rural North West, including the restoration of Kurt Schwitter’s Merz barn art and architectural installation at Elterwater, Cumbria, and a workshop and crafts centre in Slaidburn, Lancashire.

“The arts are a growing part of the rural economy across England,” said Michael Eakin, Executive Director of Arts Council England, North West. “We are pleased to be supporting this international conference which will be a unique opportunity to consider and debate the place of artists in rural areas, and strategies to ensure their continued success.”

For more information about the conference and arts-led projects in rural areas, visit www.littoral.org.uk.