Tanio is an organisation committed to providing access to a range of creative activities and interventions to different communities – both locally and internationally.
Focusing on three core values – igniting community, igniting creativity, and igniting change – Tanio believes that equipping individuals with the courage and self-assurance that creative self-expression can nurture, individuals and communities can be strengthened and enriched, using Community Arts as a vehicle for exploration and empowerment.
Igniting communities through creativity is a great way to come together. We form new connections with like-minded people while providing some escapism from everyday life. Our door is always open, and everybody is always welcome.
Igniting creativity focuses on giving everyone an outlet to connect with the arts in a safe, empowering space where everybody’s contribution to the creative process is valued. Even if you feel like you need to dig a little deeper to find out what it is you love, everyone is creative in their own way, and we want to help you find ways to enable your creativity to flourish.
By igniting change, we mean using the arts to have meaningful conversations and instigate meaningful change working alongside you, for you, and for your community.
Engaging in new art forms is one of the best ways to stay connected to our mental and physical health. There’s always an opportunity to express yourself through the arts which we want to help you explore, on your terms, and through the art forms that you love. We can’t promise everything, but we can promise to always try.
Established during the miners’ strike in South Wales in the early 1980’s under the name Valley & Vale, the organisation has worked with countless people and communities using Community Arts as a vehicle for exploration and empowerment. After decades of work, we’ve naturally evolved over the years to align with what communities need from us, and in 2020, we rebranded as Tanio to align with our refreshed direction and purpose. Tanio means ‘to spark’ or ‘ignite’ in Welsh.