Through our [Agri]Culture model, we aim to strengthen the voice of our towns and villages in both hosting and creating work that reflects our changing communities and the wider world. 

As part of a collaborative network of partners and communities, we re-imagine how and why our towns and villages in Devon engage with culture on their doorsteps. We want to open up the way our rural communities enjoy and grow new creative opportunities. To do this, we are growing a network of locally rooted co-curators who imagine and shape new creative projects with us, inspired by what their communities want and need.

At its heart, this model is about making work together, and making work happen together. Participatory activities, artist residencies and creative skills opportunities run alongside invitations to host and see visiting performances. Our aim is that, over time, this culturally-driven action-network will grow meaningful social & cultural capital within rural communities.

To do this, Villages In Action runs three main areas of activity that often connect and overlap to grow opportunities across the region:

The rural perspective is changing. People are no longer defined by where they live or where they come from. The rise of remote working has torn up the rule book as ties to traditional urban centres of employments are loosened. 

So what does that mean for rural communities and rural audiences? At Villages in Action, we believe that everyone in a community matters and we are committed to widening access to culture and creativite opportunities that are representative of all.

We saw that commitment  brough to life in the summer of 2026 with Out Loud in the Library, a series of live poetry and spoken word events held across Devon. Working with Libraries Unlimited and Spork!, supported by Doorstep Arts and with funding from Arts Council England, these events brought together a variety of LGBTQ+ voices to share their wise wit and wordsmithery in the very heart of the Exmouth, Paignton and Tavistock communities.

At Villages in Action,  we aim to facilitate  creative opportunities and enable participation in arts and culture in fun, inspiring and impactful ways.

Rather than artists parachuting into a community for a single night and moving on, we believe that creative residencies create the conditions for something more lasting: real creative exchange, where the place and its people genuinely shape the work, and where the work in turn plants seeds of curiosity, pride and appetite for more. For rural and coastal communities in Devon, where access to professional arts is too often limited by geography, this kind of sustained presence matters enormously. It builds relationships, bridges generations and makes clear to communities that extraordinary art belongs to them too, not just to cities.

One such creative residency was Something Outta Nothing, with the Jamaal O'Driscoll Collective. in FebruRY 2026. 

We were thrilled to welcome the Jamaal O'Driscoll Collective to Devon for a week-long dance residency made possible through the Rural Touring Dance Initiative. Our role was a convening one, bringing together partners, spaces and people to help this extraordinary company put down roots in Paignton, even briefly, and let the town leave its mark on their work.

The collective were in the midst of developing Something Outta Nothing (SON), an ambitious new performance that weaves together Breakin', audio technology and storytelling into a 60-minute piece designed to travel. Crucially, this isn't a show built for a conventional stage, it's made to transform the spaces communities already have, from village halls to housing estates. Torbay was both testing ground and inspiration.

Over the course of the week, the company worked with 109 young people across Torbay, with Doorstep Arts being central to the project. It's young members spent a full four-hour evening session with the collective, working through devising exercises, learning break fundamentals and filming. This extended, professional-style creative development gave the young participants a genuine sense of how the industry works and what it really takes to make a show.

The collective also visited White Rock Primary School for a morning of break dance sessions with Year 3 classes. Pupils were wowed by head spins, balances and intricate footwork before having a go themselves, the session closing in a cypher, the traditional breaking circle, where every child had a moment to step in and share their moves.

Another highlight was meeting Mike, a Paignton native and local breakdancer, whose interview about his life, his ties to the b-boy and breaking world, and what this town means to him gave the residency an extra dimension of local resonance.

This residency mattered because it worked in every direction at once. The company developed their show. Young people experienced something genuinely stretching. Paignton left its fingerprints on a piece of art that will tour nationally.

That is at the heart of what Villages in Action believes creative residencies are for. Rather than artists parachuting into a community for a single night and moving on, residencies create the conditions for something more lasting: real creative exchange, where the place and its people genuinely shape the work, and where the work in turn plants seeds of curiosity, pride and appetite for more. For rural and coastal communities in Devon, where access to professional arts is too often limited by geography, this kind of sustained presence matters enormously. It builds relationships, bridges generations and makes clear to communities that extraordinary art belongs to them too, not just to cities.

Photos: Young people at Doorstep Arts / White Rock Primary workshop / Rehearsals

Supporting,  developing and building long-term relationships with artists is at the heart of what we do at Villages in Action. 

Our aim is to support artists who want to make work and have a sustainable career where they live in rural Devon. Many south west artists want to build their practice here, and we want to address the talent drain out of our region towards larger cultural centres.

Our artist development strand includes From Devon With Love which each year commissions regional artists to make and platform exciting work. We promote From Devon With Love with our wider network of venues and rural touring schemes to broker opportunities for artists’ work to be commissioned. Rural residencies support artists to research and develop new work with and for rural communities with producer support. Scaffold bursaries support early career creatives to gain experience with mentors specific to their artform or practice. We broker further development and networking opportunities for artists at all career stages, through mentorships, workshops, shadowing opportunities for professional and emerging artists. Regionally, our reputation for supporting artists generates interest from cultural partners keen to collaborate with us to strengthen network support for artists, with more connected pathways and signposting to opportunities. Amplifying the rural perspective is a key part of this advocacy and development work for artists and audiences alike.

Living Room Theatre shared their show,  The Washing Machine of Destiny,  as part of From Devon With Love in 2022. This 'scratch' experience was the catalyst for the continued development of the show, which subsequently received money from Recovery Devon and a project grant from Arts Council England. The company went on to participate in the Northcott Futures Programme, with the show being performed numerous times across various venues including arts centres, libraries, studio theatres, schools and youth clubs. The company also ran workshops and talks, as well as working with media students at Exeter College to produce a video for the show. 

Exploring neurodiversity, The Washing Machine of Destiny  toured round the South West, attracting audiences ranging in age from 8 to 98, neurodivergent and neurotypical. 

“The play breaks myths about autism and gives rise to laughs at the same time with its honesty and rawness. The actors bare themselves with courage and grace. A triumph that uplifts the soul.”

This work from writers Luca Saunders and Philip Robinson, who are both themselves autistic, challenged norms and opened up conversations around inclusivity in theatre — values that are central to our mission and are proud to have played a significant part in their journey so far. Collaborating with The Washing Machine of Destiny team has helped us grow and to provide an upskilling opportunity for our network. We are proud to continue supporting their journey. We also created these short videos to help our network understand the value of working with a diverse range of artists.

This work from writers Luca Saunders and Philip Robinson, who are themselves both autistic, challenged norms and opened up conversations around inclusivity in theatre — values that are central to our mission and are proud to have played a significant part in their journey so far. Collaborating with The Washing Machine of Destiny team has helped us grow and to provide an upskilling opportunity for our network. We are proud to continue supporting their journey. We also created these short videos to help our network understand the value of working with a diverse range of artists.

We believe in long-term, genuine relationships with artists. There are lots of ways to collaborate, depending on your interests and the needs of our communities. These include:

• Artist residencies
• Programming opportunities across our network of community venues
• Talent development and producer support
• Partnership projects
• Support with shaping or testing new ideas