A week of improvisation , collaboration and creating installations here are some thoughts from the experience;

9am we gather unsure of what to do , after initial introductions we are taken to a room with white paper on all the walls and only pencils,rubbers and 1 Stanley knife.

The question Why do we do art? we have 3 hours to respond to this….. go go go!!
My response is to make through paper cutting :

Why do we do art ?

to create,to talk, to interact, to explore the environment

NEXT :

A walk outside the studio with Tim from Green City Action (link)
Another question to respond to from Tim:
What am I looking for?

What I found:
New routes around the area,excitement , new residents – the red months, interesting gardens.
Key moments from the School :
Working spontaneously cutting ,making, creating an experience for people
Finding new routes out of the studio
Working together in a space creates ideas for everyone – collaboratively and through cross pollination of ideas and making.

poly-technic

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A week of immersive making and creating in deep rural Devon. The Earth Arts course run by Jackie Abbey and Jill Smallcombe took me on a journey discovering all about clay and cob. I created a installation in the landscape looking at texture and shape and how to absorb art work into the landscape with inspiration from the rolling hills.

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Creative Engagement for Ourselves and Our Communities

The Art of Invitation,  a week-long course facilitated by Ruth Ben Tovin, Anne Marie Culhane and Lucy Neal.

During the course  we investigated creative ways to bring people together for the current social and ecological challenges . Learning new creative approaches to engaging with people and discussing how to make work that can positively change communities.

We looked at themes of belonging, celebration and sustainability and creating safe spaces for people to engage and share ideas. The inspiring week encouraged collaborations with new artists, community workers and other creative people and skills sharing all of are still informing  my practice a year later.

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A joint project between Yorkshire Artspace and Millennium Galleries to create Laser etched designs inspired by the Paul Morrison Exhibition at the Millennium Galleries. Working both in the Gallery and at Leaf Community Allotments .

Together we worked with 12 students from local high schools,  encouraging them to work directly from nature  investigating  patterns and shapes of  plants in the allotment to create their own print design.They used a variety of materials experimenting with inks and  pens and paper which were later transformed in to prints and displayed at the Millennium Galleries.

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A community engagement project funded by Yorskhire Artspace.

Trailing highlighted local people’s gardens and previewed places I found of interest whilst exploring Parson Cross. It intended to raise awareness to green spaces and gardens around Parson Cross offering opportunities to see the surroundings differently and connect with the natural environment and local people.

The project engaged local people through a dialogue and linked local spaces together to form a trail. It  provided time to explore and experiment with socially engaged art practices and build on intervention and installation techniques, which developed into Parson Cross Interventions.

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A community project working for Ignite Imaginations set in and around Highfields, Sheffield. Sacred Spaces worked with local congregations from Highfields church looking at special places around the area and discussing sacred spaces from the past. We shared the findings at a community celebration event about the project where I created an interactive den for people to explore and share their thoughts about Highfields. The event brought together people of all ages and from different parts of the community.

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Working in partnership with Ignite imaginations and Sheffield University, the Reconnect project explored connections between Art and Science.

As part of the project I was commissioned to create a piece of work in collaboration with researcher Dr. Laura Di Bona, responding to her pilot project ‘Adopt a care home’ .Her project focussed on ‘Dementia-intergenerational awareness amongst school children’ and ways to ‘improve the well-being and community involvement of people with dementia’.

I created an interactive installation describing the three strands of the project –

Care and Wellbeing

Community and Awareness

Physical aspects of dementia

The idea of  using household objects as the basis for the installation came from researching  how familiar furniture and personal objects in the home can help people with Dementia remember parts of their life and support them doing daily household tasks. I wanted to create a space where people could recognise these household objects and feel part of the installation and be intrigued enough to interact.

The nests idea came from wanting to create small spaces that people can look inside of, discovering the key aspects of the project for themselves. The haphazard nature and roughness of the nests relate to physical aspects of dementia – the confusion and the unravelling of the mind as the Dementia progresses.

I also designed postcards and badges that visitors were able to write on and leave with the display or take away badges to raise to raise awareness on Dementia in the community and make the work more interactive.

The exhibition included 8 artists all responding to different pieces of research and toured around three Sheffield communities finally arriving at Sheffield University Medical School for display

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In between projects in Parson Cross I continued my creative practice experimenting with interventions in the local environment. I created work in parks, libraries, bus stops and walkways. Fascinated by the temporary nature of these works, I observed the effect of the weather or people interacting with them and documented the experience.

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Garden spotting evolved over two years whilst based in Parson Cross, Sheffield.  Searching for ways to engage with local people and highlight the hidden talent of gardeners in the area I went walking the streets with my revamped trolley (see PX interventions) and noticed gardens that were brightly coloured, wild or interesting in some way.

Talking to the owners, taking photographs and finding out more about them and their gardens lead to a monthly display of photographs in the local library. The second year of Garden Spotting was funded by Yorkshire Artspaces‘ Microgrant and extended into Nature Spotting, highlighting local wildlife and where to find it. The project engaged with people from 2- 88yrs from all over the Parson Cross estate.

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A Community First funded project in partnership with Parson Cross Initiative, SOAR Learning Zone and LEAF community allotments.

This 2 month project explored ways people connect to nature in Parson Cross. It included family bug hunts, community chutney and jam making sessions with LEAF allotments, creative writing workshops and willow weaving. Exploring nature culminated in a community celebration showcasing work, creative activities and chutney and jam tasting made during the project. We engaged with a range of local groups, families and individuals aged 12-80yrs.

Comments about the project:

Participant: ‘Really good to have free events especially if you learn something and are outdoors’

Shelia : ‘Enjoyed the skill of making chutney, great people- made me very welcome’.

Ays: ‘It is good to get people involved in something in the local community and meet new people. Great to use home-grown fruit and veg and learn to use up what you grow’.

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A series of community workshops and skill shares highlighting the importance of  Commonground as a key community building in Nether Edge. The sessions included a joint venture with artist Emilie Taylor to make a cob oven for the community garden.  I also delivered workshops on den building, apple carving and weaving ;working with local families and individuals of all ages.

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I have an unhealthy obsession with all things circular; this is reflected through my creative documentation. Making a circle a week over nearly 3 years I documented key moments, thoughts, questions about my practice, themes, and current projects. Made with the materials I was working with at the time, I created a 3d diary of my practice. The ‘Going Round in Circles’ collection has been installed twice at Soar works, Parson Cross enabling me to share the way I work with the public and offering an opportunity for people to create their own circles.

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