Faculty of Arts, University of Winchester
Within the Faculty, the Department of Performing Arts offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes including, at undergraduate level; Street Arts, Choreography and Dance, Performing Arts, Performance Management and Drama. At postgraduate level, the Department offers MA provision in Devised Performance, Popular Performances and Theatre & Media for development. The Faculty is particularly excited about the new BA in Street Arts, which is an innovative programme of study which recognises the vibrant and growing professional field of street and outdoor arts practice as one that offers exciting career opportunities to its graduates. The Faculty has a long established relationship with the famous Winchester Hat Fair and has, over recent years, produced graduate street arts companies – such as Wet Picnic – who are already becoming firmly established within the professional field. The Faculty is currently hosting a knowledge exchange residency by the internationally renowned street arts company Periplum funded by Arts Council England.

The Point
The Point is an Eastleigh based multi disciplinarily arts venue owned and managed by Eastleigh Borough Council. It presents a vibrant programme of professional theatre, dance, comedy, music and film and runs various dance and drama classes. The venue has recently undergone further development and now boasts a unique state of the art studio space dedicated to rehearsal, research and the production of new work with attached living accommodation.
The Point manages an artist development scheme called Artists' Quarters which provides support for eight recently graduated/early career artists and companies over two years. Through the provision of resources, support and expertise the scheme aims to encourage graduate retention in the PUSH (Partnership for Urban South Hampshire) region and the establishment of new creative enterprises. Artists' Quarters is supported by:
Eastleigh Borough Council
The University of Winchester
Hampshire County Council
The Linbury Trust
Arts Council England

The Winchester Hat Fair: A Celebration of Street Arts and Outdoor performance
The Winchester Hat Fair is Britain’s longest running Festival of Street Theatre and Outdoor Arts. Along with a vibrant and exciting annual programme of world class Street Arts artists and companies often from as far afield as New Zealand, Hat Fair supports two primary education activities; Inside Out Day and Schools' Day. Each offers opportunities for local schools and youth organisations to participate in the arts and to work with professional artists to create visual art, dance, music and theatre for the festival. The dates of this year’s festival are: 2nd to the 4th July 2010. Winchester Hat Fair is supported by funding from Winchester City Council and Arts Council England South East.

Wet Picnic
University of Winchester graduates Wet Picnic are a successful young theatre company based at The Point Theatre, Eastleigh. They create high quality outdoor and indoor work with a focus on strong content and visual style.
“Devising work from varied stimuli we work collaboratively and allow our process to guide our creation. Imaginative and accessible we create shared experiences that transports our audience and gives the feeling of involvement (sometimes literally!) . Developing engaging performance that is visual, visceral, pleasurable and thoughtful and often rather cheeky!” Wet Picnic