Success! Hyde Park Community Orchard Artwork…
Last year myself and two other artists (Ann Gilligan and Richard Dawson) were successful in gaining a commission to create artwork (pending funding) for the Hyde Park Community Orchard in Hyde, Greater Manchester. Just before Christmas we found out the Community Spaces funding bid had been successful and we have now started the project.
The artwork will include an outdoor classroom, a wildlife trail and an entrance feature all informed by work produced in sessions with local schools and community groups. The final pieces will feature a number of different techniques and materials including wood, cast-stone and mosaics.
There are lots of other things happening in the Orchard so keep an eye on the Operation Farm blog for more details. I’ll also be posting about the ‘art’ side of things regularly!
Working with your local partners and organisations
I’ve just been to a local youth partnership meeting and it’s caused me to reflect on the benefits of getting involved in your local community – in both a personal and professional capacity. At the meeting this afternoon were: councillors, representatives of the (very active and successful) residents association, housing association regeneration and community staff, youth workers / senior managers and various other bods, including me, an artist.
I’ve found getting involved and being active in your local community is a great opportunity to meet, not only local commissioners of community arts but also to develop stronger links, discover what’s going on in the area and gain advice and insight into projects and upcoming developments. Its also a good way of highlighting your own projects and activity and sourcing help and support for your own work.
On a personal note, I learnt about a gardening group that a friend might be interested in and that the Council are currently doing a consultation on local libraries and they haven’t had much response. So I’m off to the library this afternoon to wave my flag of support (not only is it brilliant for books but it’s a lovely warm place to work in too).
So – Tip of the Day: go to some local meetings. It might take up an afternoon when you could otherwise be earning money but it’s worth it to network and meet the movers and shakers…
The Colshaw Art Project
Way back in October, I commented on a project I had recently finished on the Colshaw Farm estate in Wilmslow, Cheshire. More on this now…
The Colshaw Art Project was a pilot 8 week project initiated by Cheshire East Council and Lime, the arts and health organisation based in Manchester. Working with three artists, the young people from the estate would create some kind of public art for a long concrete wall in the park or ‘ramps’ as it’s known locally.
Myself, Kim Wiltshire and Richard Dawson started with a basic idea of creating some kind of lettering, possibly 3D, possibly using recycled materials but with the knowledge that we weren’t allowed to do ‘graffiti’. We ended up working with a group of challenging but enthusiastic young people aging from seven to 16 years, predominantly girls but some older boys too. They needed a lot of encouragement and support, which led to us really having to structure the workshops and think about behaviour management, health and safety and the logistics of working with 12-15 young people in a restricted space.
We started the workshops with a run through of The Rules (which they had written) and included obvious things such as ‘No Shouting’ and less obvious things such as one group member not being allowed to bite people…
Every week we ensured we had a diversionary activity whereby group members could stop what they were doing and move onto a different activity if they felt a bit restless. This was facilitated by students doing a community arts course.
We ended up with a fantastic bit of art that was created by young people from the estate from start to finish. They chose the word ‘Colshaw!’, they designed the letters from the shape to the decoration, they constructed the 3D forms, used drills, painted each letter and helped prepare the wall. They achieved a huge amount and should be proud of the finished artwork.
Community Waste Fund – Waste Creative
Woodend Artists have been successful in gaining funding from Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) to deliver Waste Creative, a project aimed at increasing awareness and knowledge about recycling and promoting the value of waste as a resource in our local community. Working with young people and residents from New Charter Housing in Tameside, Woodend Artists will run a programme of creative workshops and art events which will include designing an information pack, making an animated film and creating junk art and sculpture.
Richard Dawson and myself are the lead artists on the project and we were delighted to be successful in gaining funding to run Waste Creative. I think it’s a great way of getting the local community and young people involved in recycling in a way that’s interesting and creative. The project also includes a communal composting scheme and an initiative which will see local residents elected as Recycling Champions.
Waste Creative will culminate in a big launch and art exhibition at New Charter in Ashton-under-Lyne.
In the meantime, here’s some sculpture created from secondhand and waste materials which were produced in workshops run by Richard Dawson. The workshops were part of the GiveGetGo! Volunteering and Wellbeing Campaign I project managed and designed for Manchester City Council last year. I’ll post more on GiveGetGo! as this month a bus stop poster campaign designed by me is about to be run in Manchester city centre.
The application and interview process for freelance artists: part one
I’m currently working on a community art garden project in Bolton with Richard Dawson and Peter Castle. Having put in a (very long) proposal which took us about two days to complete, we got asked to attend an interview, which was then followed up by an ‘interview workshop’ when the interviewers (which included a community member) couldn’t decide between us and another group. We were paid to carry out this workshop, which I thought was a really positive approach, as I know many artists who have been expected to deliver a workshop for free as part of the interview process.
I’d be interested in hearing what other people think about the application and interview process for artists. You are often expected to submit a comprehensive proposal as an initial application, which can easily take a day or two to put together, and then attend first and second stage interviews, which might include a presentation, with perhaps a workshop thrown into the mix too.
All valid methods for finding the right person for the job or is it taking the selection process a bit too far?
The difficult second posting
Apparently, I should also include lots of pictures in this blogging malarkey so here goes…
This is a recent project I was involved with in Wilmslow, East Cheshire (just south of Manchester). For me, it was a great example of a successful community art project (in more ways than one) and I intend to do more of a write-up on it in a later post but for now – here’s a picture of the finishing touches being done to the artwork.
When I first became a ‘freelance artist’ (more on the terminology later), I had a good trawl through the internet looking for helpful info and books that would help me a). make lots of money, b). tell me how to find work and c). make a success of any work I did find. There’s lots out there about the money bit (but I think you’re in the wrong job if you’re doing it to get rich), how to network and make contacts and how to be successful at your job but there wasn’t much out there about what you actually do and are expected to do as a freelancer. Saying that, Artists Newsletter is a fantastic resource for artists so for anyone new to this game, first stop www.a-n.co.uk. Ooh, second stop really – read this first!
Thanks to Richard Dawson for the image.
Being A Freelance Artist 