Abbey Community Art Project

update of progress

2009-11-17T11:16:00.002Z

how did this work as a community art project?

it did bring people together, i now know more people in my neighbourhood than before doing the project. as a project it was worked out in real time. the flaw with it was that it began from a professional body. the community were unable to own it.

there was a fun day in march. i was completing a degree and struggling with language, my dsylexia becoming more burdening to me. indeed it was difficult for me to be part of a group attempting to help others make their lives better when inside i was crying for help myself. my articulation of thought being a hinderence to me as i am perceived as being sorted and ok.

as the project was set up by a management structure from the council, it was always going to be at the mercy of that management structure. the steering group refusing to take on becoming a constituted group as the only driver for this was raising of funding.

as an act of cohesion, the steering group worked really well.

all the events put on were good in terms of acttracting the public in to take part. i did wonder if the last one in march did just affirm people's positions in life. if one is in a good place this is ok. if one is in an unhappy place, just how well did it allow one to come forward for some help.

i am currently working on helping myself to achieve some happiness. being around others who have that already, makes it difficult to talk about the states of unhappiness that i suffer from.

being involved in this real time project has been informative for me. my own problems do need to take precidence of those of others, as i seem unable to attract help and support as on the face of it i'm articulate and able to cope. if only the truth was known...

another fun day announced

2008-12-19T12:08:00.003Z

at the steering group meeting last night we were told that another fun was planned on 21st March 2009.

a venue has been booked, possible activities have been planned, health iniative funding is available, youth iniative funding is available.

overall budget available is less than for the first, so documental provision has been cut.

a website is being planned for the group, a member of the community is a web designer and is on board to help design and launch the site.

images of Jackson Street

2008-08-20T15:00:00.001+01:00

images of Drewry Lane

2008-08-20T14:59:00.001+01:00

other work happening in the community-Jackson Street

2008-08-20T14:50:00.004+01:00

the planters in Jackson Street were included in the replanting project. The work was carried out by volunteers from Wimbledon, supervised by Verica. Pam and Anne were involved who attracted members of the YMCA to get involved, it was all very lovely.

Maybe communal gardening is a cohesive measure within the community.

other work happening in the community-Drewry Lane

2008-08-20T14:39:00.005+01:00

recently there has been some work carried out on a couple of planters within the community. I feel particularly pleased about this as I suggested to the Residents Action Group that something might happen to the planters as they had been neglected.
At a very personal level for me, the idea came to me while sitting on the bench in Drewary Lane, eating a bag of chips, prior to going to a wake. As I sat there eating, I realised it would be some much more pleasing to the eye if the planters had plants in.
Quite simple I suppose really.

Foot Prints Music Project

2008-08-20T14:36:00.002+01:00

The music project does have a name - "Foot Prints Music Project"

The DVD's are complete and delivered.

I'm interested to see how the project continues to develop. Hopefully there might be another opportunity to return to a future performance to document the progress made.

music project - update

2008-07-23T15:36:00.002+01:00

the edits are nearly complete, the podcast is uploaded for a taster, the frame grabs are done.

Waiting for additional information for titles/credits before progressing to DVD authoring.

Looking forward to finishing and delivery of the discs.

music project pod cast

2008-07-23T13:34:00.003+01:00

here is the music project podcast(after quite a lot of faffing)

community website builder

2008-07-23T12:59:00.001+01:00

there is a free method for building a website for a group running commuinty based projects

music project - the podcast

2008-07-23T12:32:00.007+01:00

There is now a podcast version of the concert.

The performance was on a Saturday afternoon, a date put in the diary at the beginning of the project, so that there was a date to work towards.

This could be viewed as a taster for the full edit.

the attempts to load were unsuccesful. Another attempt will be made later...

music project-documentation progress

2008-07-16T12:22:00.002+01:00

the editing progress is going well, additional information has been requested for the titles and credits.

A taster of the project will be posted on this blog soon.

we documented the performance...

2008-07-07T15:46:00.002+01:00

The weather was hot and "muggy" the reception in the church was warm and welcoming. Thanks to Chris and Graham who helped me to record the events associated with the performance of the music project.
As Cedric said:
"we started this music project eight weeks ago, we put this date in our diary to give us a target."

The process of editting the recorded material has begun.

the music project

2008-07-04T16:19:00.003+01:00

a music project has been happening in the area for a couple of months. Tomorrow, the performance will be documented.

I'm excited to see and hear what it all sounds and looks like.

informed RAG

2008-05-21T12:36:00.002+01:00

At the Residents Action Group forum last night, I showed a slide show of some of the images created on the day of "Abbey Doing It".

The images were well received.

Councilor Asaf is no longer with us in this ward. Some changes are about to happen. The full council meeting is today. Potentially the new people in place will be a backward step for the commuinty as they all get their personal priorities on the table.

Oh well, time will tell.

lots of people attended : )

2008-03-27T13:35:00.001Z

drumming

2008-03-27T13:33:00.000Z

storeytelling

2008-03-27T13:31:00.001Z

painting with spices

2008-03-27T13:29:00.003Z

Other stuff

2008-03-26T12:05:00.002Z

We also had a workshop that involved using spices and PVA. images to follow... and of the storytelling and drumming...

So here are some face painted children...

Minnie & Callam.

Images from the Printing Workshop.

2008-03-26T12:03:00.002Z

Fabric Collage Workshop

2008-03-26T12:00:00.002Z

Some fantastic images were made by all ages!

just an hour to get ready...

2008-03-24T13:18:00.002Z

an hour was enough, would people attend, was the question...

a 9am start to set up...

2008-03-24T13:14:00.003Z

22nd March 2008

2008-03-24T13:10:00.002Z

after two months of actual planning for the event :

a sneak preview of the 'dislikes' image

2008-03-20T12:55:00.003Z

again, work in progress, for Ryan and the guys in the office to see.

a sneak preview of the 'likes' image

2008-03-20T12:53:00.002Z

this is a work in progress version. Hi Ryan, I hope you are all in good health in the office. Andrew.

another image from the digital workshop

2008-03-19T19:15:00.002Z

the forum has been looking at 'likes' and 'dislikes' from around the area. the previous example is made from 'dislikes' this is from 'likes'

a sample image from the Youth Forum digital workshop

2008-03-19T15:59:00.002Z

a record of the websites we looked at during the Youth Forum digital workshop

2008-03-19T15:55:00.000Z

http://www.shoefiti.com/ info about hanging shoes

http://www.flickr.com/ a site to share photos and views, the Blog can link to this site.

http://www.saferderby.org.uk/pages/stockbrook.asp?pg=1 lots of text on this, quite boring, the adults are trying to improve stuff for us.

You Tube :
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=S7GGkKpBR-g a beat box guy in the kitchen.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-8w2nFOu8wM a bloke what does funny stories, he’s called Eddie Izzard, this clip is about star wars.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=h8YoLwsg-nc clip of a band at a German festival, I like the tune and the setting of the festival.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lSYV4-S89d0 this was popular at the beginning of the 1990’s. I don’t find it that funny. What do you think?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJWT3p7uM6Y this short film won an Oscar in 1990. I really like it. No speaking, just visual stuff.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eOzz-D82VjA&feature=dir there’s a world record for smashing eggs with toes, this record is held by a woman from Spain.
Enough You Tube…

http://www.gimp.org/windows/ gimp is free downloadable software for manipulating image files. It’s a bit like Photoshop, everyone uses that coz it’s what everyone uses. It’s expensive to buy, so Gimp is a good place to start.

http://images.google.com/ if you want to find an image. part of Google.

http://www.youthforum.org/ again loads of words by adults what are in a position to help us all do what we want. These are in Europe somewhere. Thing is, is it just more words with good meaning, or can they do stuff to make things more enjoyable for more people.

http://www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk/9-democracy/forums/youth/yforum-menu.html another Youth Forum.. This is in Essex. It’s part of the local government process. Government is a good thing if you get genuine people within it, trying to make things better for everyone.

http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/education/youth_service/youth_forum/default.asp this is like the barking and Dagenham Youth Forum, it’s happening in Derbyshire.

http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/play/YouthForum.cfm another Youth Forum that is involved with the local government.

http://www. stockbrookcommunityhub.org.uk/ this is a website for the Stockbrook area. I wonder if the Youth Forum can get a link to their Blog listed on this site. The Youth Activities section is still a little short of information.

wednesday before the event

2008-03-19T11:12:00.003Z

It's only a few days until the event now. The posters are out, the brochures are being delivered. Last meeting about the project in a few hours.

on going work with the Youth Forum

2008-03-02T14:37:00.002Z

the forum has set up a blog:

the words to go with the image...

2008-03-02T14:30:00.001Z

The Box of Rejection

“ The Box of Rejection is a scaling up of the ‘Book of Rejection’. The Book was a small piece of work that became cathartic for me. In the book were words to describe things and notions that I rejected. It seemed appropriate to scale the idea up for a community event and make it a box into which residents can place their written words about what they reject. The words are between the resident and the box. The destiny of the box is still undecided. Current thinking is to never open the box, maybe the box will be burnt at a future community event. As a community, we can decide the outcome of the box.” Andrew(resident).

an image for the brochure

2008-03-02T14:24:00.002Z

I'm going to send this image in for inclusion with words about the box of rejection.

the poster-what did I learn ?

2008-03-02T13:16:00.003Z

I learnt that this event is owned more by the funders than the residents. It's the way it is.

What was painful about that experience was the realisation of just how much the funders require control of what happens.

Before the money had become involved, it did feel like the residents were being empowered to do stuff for their community, that they wanted to do and thought would be beneficial. Once the money became involved, the emphasis swung to the funders. This swing was gradual and gentle. The poster brought the swing into focus.

The outcome of the poster incident was the placing on the back burner the cake shop, bread shop project.

for the record, the rejected poster looked like this.

2008-03-02T13:11:00.003Z

for the record, the first version made by Chris and I looked like this :

the poster has been decided upon and distributed has begun.

2008-03-02T13:08:00.002Z

the final version of the poster has been drawn up. Here it is:

Youth Forum

2008-02-26T11:01:00.002Z

On another track. The digital workshop with the Youth Forum set up a blog and discussions about using images from the park walking thingy that the Youth Forum do, to make a multi sheet image, for placing on the wall at the event in March.

The next Youth Forum meeting will be at the Library.

dis-engagement

2008-02-26T10:56:00.002Z

following the attempted poster making, I find myself removed emotionally from this project. There is another meeting soon, where I will need to talk about this.

The poster was rejected as it failed to meet "funder communication standards". having been allowed to make the poster and putting a lot of thought and effort into the design, to find out it was unsuitable because of the rules set by the funder, my feeling has been, why was I allowed to get that involved in the design, when it was always going to be rejected if it was not what the funder wanted. I don't do what people want, I do what I want. I put forward at the last meeting what i wanted to do, it was approved.

As a result of the rejection, the brochure information has also grounded to a halt.

I don't like being empowered and then disempowered by the very thing that empowered me. Calls into question trust.

Time will tell, I guess.

New Name?

2008-02-11T20:14:00.000Z

Now that the steering group in charge of what does happen with events in the Abbey Ward have given themselves a name and a logo, do we reveal it on here or wait for the banners to go up?

Love the pictures, especially the passageway to the back garden one.

until it was time to walk again...

2008-02-11T17:20:00.000Z

and played for quite a while...

2008-02-11T17:18:00.001Z

the dogs amused...

2008-02-11T17:15:00.000Z

a nearby park...

2008-02-11T17:12:00.000Z

into a park..

2008-02-11T17:10:00.001Z

we went for a walk...

2008-02-11T17:06:00.000Z

thoughts, just before going to an organisational meeting

2008-02-07T17:30:00.000Z

Memory of last week is very much in the forefront of my thoughts. It doesn't help that I'm feeling tired and worn out by the day already.

Getting the project off the ground has been a long slow process. Not sure why that is.

There is a certain beginning of certain feelings about certain things. I'm not really that certain about what it is about.

Maybe it's a kind of no mans land, between wanting to do and actually the doing of it. Maybe after this evenings meeting, the certain feeling will be more certain and a certain amount of direction re-established.

I've chatted with another friend in the area tonight about the intergenerational project, as it's being known. My friend was up for talking. I am aware that I need to put some dates into diaries soon.

The photography and videoing for the cornershop project, that too will start soon, and the box of rejection making and the youth forum is next week. I still don't know if that will happen. I wonder if that is the core uneasy feeling that I have.

yesterday something happened for the first time

2008-02-05T11:11:00.000Z

For the first time yesterday, I spoke to both of my neighbours.

One delivered a left parcel, the other was a result of their landlord not repairing the down pipe of the drainage system from the roof. I'm becoming very annoyed at getting wet when leaving the house while it rains.

Not shatteringly academic a piece of writing I know. However, within community cohesive planning, the talking to neighbours forms a central part of cohesion working.

It's dam hard work, I can tell you.

Belonging

2008-02-02T18:44:00.000Z

Have you considered where you belong ?

Possibly an awkward question and I immediately apologise for placing you in that position.

In attempting to put together a project to promote cohesion in a community(within an area of housing defined by governmental policy), is the notion of "you don't belong here" applicable ? I don't think so. Who has the right to question whether anybody belongs somewhere. It becomes racist and uncomfortable. It might be different if an individual considers the notion of "do I belong here" or "where do I belong". I would suggest that any community project should encourage the notion of " you belong here, you are amougst people that feel good to have you here."

A project will only exist by those engaged with it to make it happen. Again, no one can join in and then immediately question the role or validity of someone else within the group.

I'm not laying any rules down here, merely suggesting that attitude toward "belonging" could be at the heart of a project that is attempting to promote cohesion amougst an area defined by governmental boundary. Where that area defined would really liked to be known as a community.

Some Trees.

2008-01-29T21:25:00.000Z

Some trees on Rykneld Rec.

Another steering group meeting tomorrow night, so we'll definately have a date for our art activities day. Lots of artists have been booked for March, just waiting for final confirmation.

It's all got very exciting....

popping out for food

2008-01-24T19:01:00.000Z

This evening has been one of those evenings where I fancy something to eat that is not within the house.

My response is then to ride my motorcycle to the supermarket, that is about 10 minutes away by bike. I've walked it in the past, I think it was about 30 minutes each way.

On arrival, I realise that I've popped out to the shop to get something to eat. Why this shop, I wondered.

It has a large selection of food.
Fresh granary bread and breakfast cereal I like.
oh, and I can get to it on the bike.

digital image workshop-development

2008-01-24T15:17:00.000Z

The thoughts about the workshopare going well. Bonus...bumped into the chap from the youth forum at RAG. Sorry, can't remember the name. He was at a similar stage to me about going in and doing stuff. As well as the multi sheet stuff, there are other digital elements that we can cover.

Looking forward to meeting up with the youth forum again and doing some stuff together.

Resident Action Group meeting 22.1.08

2008-01-23T10:55:00.000Z

Last evening was a very pleasent weatherly evening...

There was a RAG meeting too.

New venue, in the Voice Box in Foreman Street. Could well be using that in March for an event, more soon(hopefully) about that one.

Interesting RAG meeting, heard from the marketing guy from Quad. His overview was very broad brush strokes, ie he kept it in marketing speak about how fantastic it'll be, which is nice. Things of note are the BFI pod for archive access and the Quad's overall "we want to be accessible" claim, again which is nice. I asked him about a group coming into show their work, he was a little unsure as I had nothing concrete to tell him about at the point he said "give me an example".

If the Abbey project had three events, there is a good case to attempt to show work made within Quad, it's simply about connecting with people and talking. Look at what Cornelia Parker has achieved, just by talking to people.

The couple that ran the Abbey Street Post Office where there. I spoke briefly with them. There has been political shananagans behind the scenes. They are going to attempt to keep the shop open.

Apparently, the Post Office closing strategy is down to proximity to major Post Offices. I sat talking with another resident last night, we mused how there will be the same number of people needing to use Post Offices and there being less Post Offices to use.

Hey ho.

There was also a chap from CAST TRUST there. There is a new Stockbrook Community Hub website. It's new and still in development. With Stockbrook serviced by that, the potential for a wider viewing Abbey website feels good. Hopefully more on that soon.

A bold claim

2008-01-21T17:25:00.000Z

this publication has arrived at home. It's a thing from the local liberal democrats. It's on about a post office being closed. It's on about pointing the finger at the labour party, claiming the fault of the other "lot".

Any body that has regularly attended the resident action group meetings will be aware of the unhappiness of the citizens that ran that post office, and the inability to resolve their problems. This claim in the publication is somewhat misleading, as maybe just maybe there were other factors behind it.

I'm disappointed at the childishness with which the political parties throw mud at each other in order to make themselves look cleaner and brighter.

Would it not be better for the local community to have all sides working together to improve quality of life for all. That includes any trusts or teams working within the community.

A Few Pictures from Saturday Afternoon

2008-01-20T20:12:00.001Z

More to follow....

Having explored the area , and chatted to a few people, I'd like to include some images of the people who live here. These pictures have been about me exploring the area, and the environment before I talked to people, to get a feel for the space. I really like Rykneld Rec. where I can let my dog run around and talk to fellow walkers.

digital image workshop

2008-01-17T22:10:00.000Z

the multiple sheet image (below) is an example of the type of image that can be made, within the digital image workshop.

And a few thoughts from me.

2008-01-17T21:03:00.000Z

A link to a really interesting arts organisation, not that far away in Loughborough. I really like some of their ideas, especially the project where they talked to business/shop owners. I'd really like it if someone took on some of our ideas. Click on projects and just explore the site.

http://www.charnwoodarts.com/

When I float off into my head, Andrew and I would do our thing, then more residents would continue the things we started. I like the idea of the youth forum taking on some of the ideas, altering them to suit themselves and then there doesn't need to be a question of ownership, because it would naturally and organically belong to that group.

Today a very nice lady we got talking to, told us not to worry, she wouldn't pinch our ideas. Our response was the same, that would actually be fantastic, because wouldn't that show that the idea was good and if it worked, that would be even better. The highest form of flattery being copied.

multiple sheet image-example there of

2008-01-17T20:39:00.000Z

distractive sky

2008-01-17T19:54:00.000Z

community cohesion - a fledgling artist ponders...

2008-01-17T19:28:00.001Z

Yes I see myself as a fledgling artist, I'm still a student after all.

The being a resident, at the RAG meetings has fed into my research of community. Listening to conversations, reacting and talking has got me to a point of realising some fundamentals. The most fundamental is communication. Getting dialogue, conversations, discourse, whatever you would like to call it going.

Within the community development of Abbey(formerly Stockbrook) an art project was seen as a vehicle for promoting community cohesion. The challenging part is translating the 4 points into a cohesive plan for the community. As a fledgling artist, part of "my thing" is to make work that will promote reaction in viewers of the work. That seems to fit within something that is defined in my mind so putting all that on the web might take some time. So for now I'll keep it simple.

AND

a very important part(I think) is that community members are allowed to feel empowered and want to be involved because they feel they want to be involved. That implies time and in turn patience. I have seen for myself that building up confidence to do something new takes time. Be patient and supportive.

The notion of "ownership" is an important consideration.

governmental community cohesion-a resident of the community reacts

2008-01-17T19:24:00.000Z

The ideals set out on the website are wonderful. The group that sat around the table and thought it up have done a wonderful job. Is this a theoretical set of ideals, or have they been arrived at by doing. That's kind of not important right now, what is important, is how do those ideals manifest themselves in the real world, how does the community respond to make it all happen.

what is community cohesion-governmental idea

2008-01-17T19:20:00.000Z

Understanding a defintion of something is very important for me, without clearly defining what the "thing" is, how can any body appreciate the "thing"

So, at the website is some text, that I'll copy and paste below....

"

Community Cohesion & Community Conflict Resolution

Overview

The development of community cohesion is the attempt to build communities with four key characteristics:

a common vision and a sense of belonging for all communities;
the valuing of diversity;
similar life opportunities for all and;
strong and positive relationships are being developed between people from different backgrounds and circumstances in the workplace, in the school and within neighbourhoods."

learning about posting

2008-01-17T19:14:00.000Z

I am learning from doing about the titling and content of the blog entries. Keeping the posts short and to the point of the title will make finding stuff in the future easier.

I'm pleased, I like this learning from doing approach.

the next RAG meeting

2008-01-17T19:06:00.001Z

The next RAG is soon. The invitation to attend has come through the post. The area of coverage of the Neighboourhood forum has increased. The interesting part of the letter is the notion that it's the Abbey (formerly Stockbrook) Resident Action Group.

I like the notion of the Abbey project being known as the Abbey (formerly Stockbrrok) project. A point to throw about for discussion.

I see from the agenda that there will be an update on the Quad development and some sort of news about the Stockbrook area website.

The next RAG meeting is scheduled for the 18th March. It comes back to starting and keeping going. Once we have the first art project event day confirmed, it is then so much easier to set the next and the next.

I feel that we should plan for three events. Why three? Because the first sets it going, the second allows for those who missed the first to have a go and by the third we will be able to see how far we have gone from the first to the third. Take the "meet the team" meetings last September, we all learnt from doing those events.

on the RAG

2008-01-17T18:59:00.000Z

I'm not yet on the Residents Action Group committee, I still attend as a member of the community. It was about a year ago that I went to my first meeting. It was useful research for the "what is a pub" question that I was researching at the time.

I am part of the art project steering group. There's been three maybe four meetings of that group of people. At the last meeting we decided that we would stage an art event in March. On hearing that the Neighbourhood team possibly had some monies available to help with cohesive activites in the community, the excitement of doing has ramped up.

just one more corner shop for now

2008-01-17T18:49:00.001Z

and obviously I'm playing with the layout facilities of the blog, seeing what happens when I type loads of text next to the picture. OK, got it, the picture gets moved down.

I now need to turn my thinking to the proposal document that needs to be in for a meeting tomorrow. What I need to do is write some stuff about the intentions of the pieces of work we want to make/do with members of the community.

For me the important part of the project is communication between people. Just get people talking. We have some participatory activities, we have some interactive activities, they all might get people talking. Talking being a fundamental activity.

some other pictures from the corner

2008-01-17T18:44:00.001Z

The flat area has only been like like for a month or so. The building that was there was a pub, owned by a pub chain. The building was demolished, there are only rumours as to what will be built there in it's place.

a picture from around the corner

2008-01-17T17:01:00.000Z

I'm playing with a demo application at the moment, hence the text on the image. I do like to play with software and stuff.

getting started

2008-01-17T16:58:00.000Z

Getting started, turning that thought into doing, I find is a step. Sometimes big, sometimes small, always a step.

In response to the frustration earlier, I went and took some photos,obviously.

hello...starting to use this blog.

2008-01-17T15:41:00.001Z

Hello, my first post here, very excited at the prospect of this project, excited at notion of where/how/when actions happen, things get done.

We have ideas, intentions,hopes and pubs to visit.

There is also a funding meeting very very soon, so responding is immediately possible.

There are pictures I would like to post, it's so frustrating I can't do absolutely everything at once.

So a bit at a time and all is good.

More Images

2008-01-16T18:58:00.000Z

A compilation of photos put into a little film, probably best to turn the music down though, it's not my choice and I'm working out how to get rid of it!

Past, Present and Future

2008-01-13T12:30:00.000Z

After our walk into Derby Town Centre yesterday, I find myself pondering the question, what is community?

We don't have the same values and aspirations of 50 years ago, our close family is now divided across the world, so do our neighbours and friends now form those relationships with each other that our parents and grandparents would have provided?

Does anyone have any information about the photos below? I believe the first photo used to be a fishing shop. As I walked around yesterday, I found myself wondering whether anybody applied for the jobs advertised on the sign outside of the factory, and who drank in the pub that is now a house with a Kimberley Ales sign?

These glimpses into the past also send me off on a futuristic glimpses and I imagine my great grandchildren walking the streets that I am walking today and having similar thoughts about the time I'm living in. which brings in a whole time/space thing and I have to go and have a cup of tea to bring my head back to the present.

2008-01-13T12:23:00.001Z

Not the best day for taking photos on a dark Saturday afternoon in January, so here are a few altered photos from Drewry Lane, on a walk into Derby to enjoy coffee at the Turkish Cafe in the Market Hall.