FINAL MAJOR PROJECT EXHIBITION NOTES
EXHIBITION NOTES
KATIE CLAIRE
Ideas
workshops
skill barter/trade
free merchandise
social media
colouring book/tote bags
templates
facebook
we should always be in the mindset of planning and promoting
we should have jobs we want so we will want to do them
TWITTER
ralph mills
Home gallery for xmas drinks
set gemma on the interiors, meet events manager way prior to show
open up flyer design to college website, invites and chance to display
January 2016
One door shuts, and another one opens..working at the day job a few weeks ago I got talking to the Rev'd Sue Gabriel, part of the team behind sistersofjesus and gettalife choir. She saw me working on my Ipad while I was illustrating and asked me if I would be interested in helping her out with a project.
COMMUNITY GALLERY ALTRINCHAM
Part of the reason I chose a CAP foundation degree over a traditional BA Hons was that, while I don't have tons of blinding, natural talent or the inkling of genius that just needs a spotlight, I do have perseverance, enthusiasm and lots of ideas about art and aesthetics.
I passed by Art With A Heart in Altrincham, South Manchester last week and noticed the volunteers needed sign in the window.
I had an informal interview with Rebecca Wild (curator) and Steve Marsden (trustee) and was accepted a few nail biting days later.
The gallery is a not for profit hub for the people of South Manchester to express themselves culturally and freely, and in particular, lead the youth of the area towards the arts without the constraints of curriculum or expectation. It is also an expertly curated contemporary exhibition space for practising artists of all disciplines and home of Heritage of the Altrincham Area,
First days are always scary, but Rebecca was welcoming and inspiring. It's a privilege to spend time with people who are what you want to be professionally, and the trustees and staff I have met have explained how dedicated they are that their volunteers are not just stewards keeping the place ticking over, but valuable additions to the gallery, who they will invest in with sound professional training and practices.
I was shown how to manage the in house donations, greet visitors and encourage the children to make some art of their own. When the Director, Karen Wroe came in, she explained that they were looking for someone passionate about local history and research to take the already wonderful Heritage section under their wing, and I have now have been assigned the role of Heritage Assistant.
This role will teach me the fundamentals of research, funding, networking and display, and I couldn't be more thrilled. My first task is to reach out to people and societies connected with our next exhibition, which centres around the sociological impact of World War 1 in our community with an emphasis on the cultural changes and memory markers of that time.
Pinterest boards are filling up and I am sure I need a trip to the Maritime Museum very soon. I am also crashing through a spread sheet for dummies site. Archiving and documenting the precious and irreplacable objects the Heritage Area has been trusted with is also a large part of the role.
It's such a good opportunity for me to learn the ins and outs of what it takes to put on an exhibition that is informative, interesting and accessible to everyone, and I will do my best to do the community proud.
For more information, or if you would like to volunteer please visit http://www.artwithaheart.org.uk/the Art With A Heart website
#2
My mentor and boss Bex Wilde is just one of those rare people, a facilitator. She is actively interested, encouraging but practical, and I couldn't have a better role model. Today we looked at maps from the 60's of Altrincham and we were so excited to have a more modern set to complete the geological records.
My current task is to see where the Heritage Area can connect with the youth of the historic borough. I adore it just as it is, and so do many of the visitors to Art With A Heart, among my age range.
We want the youth of the area to love it, and learn from it without alienating the older people. It's an art form in itself.
Visitors to a traditional museum are already in an academic mind set. They are prepared mentally to study and ponder and mooch and while. Visitors to a gallery tend to be seeking visual stimulation or resolution. They are happy to swoop around just taking in the changes, or look for inspiration. The children often bypass the Heritage Area completely, in order to get to the excellent and free workspace. I want them to be so impressed with the Heritage Area that they are totally inspired to create art with a local reference, or be instilled with a fresh sense of civic pride.
I also of course, want their parents to create a relationship with the Heritage Area, and us. I want to provide an interesting, stimulating environment of importance to the community.
Whenever I think of the task ahead, I first remember 'It isn't about me'
Or the me I am now. It''s about putting myself into the mental landscape of an Altrincham resident, particularly children and the elderly. That is the key that shapes all our decisions. I am looking for museums of excellence for inspiration and plan to contact those and ask for appropriate guidance.
Click HERE for Art With A Heart and HERE for Bex's Twitter
#3
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| AIR DRY CLAY WORK BY A YOUNG PERSON |
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| WORK DRYING |
Working for the community can be summed up neatly in one phrase
"It's not about me"
Every action, plan and thought must begin with that and keep it at the front of your mind.
I might be longing to get stuck into research, acquisition or displays but with funding being so critical to what Art With A Heart does, I have to think in terms of placing other people in that position, and being a co-ordinator or a facilitator.
I have so much to learn, and am reading as much as I can to back up the guidance of the director Karen Wroe. I am familiar with some aspects of Heritage Assistant work. Coming up with activities and design ideas, not being afraid to introduce myself or find relevant contacts. Finding possible artefacts to borrow is like shopping on ebay. Decide what the area needs, and then find out how to get it. College has taught me to keep a well organised chain of evidence, so printing out correspondence and research and digital filing is a daily job that can't be put off. Ideas in the form of sketches can be 'instagrammed' and tweeted and that also helps with the social media side of the job. I have experience in elderly care and living with autism so I apply that when I need to. Fund Raising is a new skill I will learn, and as I have some background in sales, from Re-Made In Manchester (the diploma I did before my current course) and previous retail positions I am looking forward to it, as it is a huge part of the role.
To sum up, I know nothing, but have some skills that will make learning these many ropes a little easier.
That's what is so valuable about Art With A Heart, and why we really need a permanent space to live in. The trustees are doing what no other institution in the area can do, which is offer enthusiastic people with a limited or non existent relevant work history or access to Higher Education that would normally not be considered, a chance to work in a living, breathing gallery and museum. The outcome of that is a workforce with desirable and essential skills in the arts. I can see benefits for people wanting to work in retail management, event planning, merchandising, activity planning and research fields too.
I volunteered as I knew I had to do a placement as part of the course, and wanted to choose where I went rather than be placed. I thought I'd do a bit of tidying up and greeting and get to spend some time with like minded people and chit chat about art history (that happens too) but instead I have been made part of a team that includes teachers, childcare providers, students, international fashion buyers, designers, photographers, management consultants, artists, archivists and project managers.
I really encourage volunteering if you have the chance. Money can buy courses, and books but it can't buy this kind of hands on experience.
This weekend my Saturday shift was rainy and blustery, but it was busy inside AWAH. I was needed in the childrens play area most of the day. It is a point of law that parents must stay with their children at all times (and also gives them a chance to spend uninterrupted creative play time with each other) but we are there to assist and renew supplies, encourage and clear up. A huge amount of work was produced, by children of all ages and interests, from a 2 year old who enjoyed spreading glitter around pre-cut butterflies to some older teens who had great fun using Brusho pigments and water. One very focussed young lady did some quite fantastic sculpture with air dry clay which I had to tweet about.
Children are under so much pressure these days. School and home life can be hectic and the traditional stress relievers like sports and outside play are ever diminishing in favour of home based online time. The arts are seen as a luxury by education authorities, and even arts subjects are rationed out to only those who perform in the top bracket. We welcome every child of every ability and while we can't display everything made in the workshop, we do make sure never to judge the work. There is no good or bad when it comes to a young persons artwork. All that matters to us is that they feel free to explore techniques and expression and create work that they are happy with. All we ask, and it's more of a suggestion, is that they be inspired by the theme of the work they see in the gallery and the Heritage Areas information.
This makes for satisfied confident children, full of civic pride and responsbility, which as we all know, the world needs more of.
#4
Phew!
I do not know how she does it. A supremely busy day for Bex and Art With A Heart with a volunteer meeting and a de-install and new install to prepare. Being new you feel like a bit of a spare part so I busied myself filling in holes and making sure deinstallations were labelled.
Yesterday was great with lots of time to talk to visitors and make some connections with future volunteers and friends of the gallery.
Its a really exciting place to be at the moment with plenty of plans afoot which Im going to commit to realising.
Our Vintage Teas are going to be golden. On the theme of old wives remedies we are getting 16-19 yr old locals to talk to the elderly and create an oral history that would have been forgotten forever. As well as a good drop of cake and sandwiches kindly supplied by local businesses. If you are a local proprietor and would like to get involved, whether its donating tea supplies or equipment or an extra pair of hands, or know of a youth or older person who would like to get on board pop into Art With A Heart on George St Altrincham and let us know. We'd love to have you
I do not know how she does it. A supremely busy day for Bex and Art With A Heart with a volunteer meeting and a de-install and new install to prepare. Being new you feel like a bit of a spare part so I busied myself filling in holes and making sure deinstallations were labelled.
Yesterday was great with lots of time to talk to visitors and make some connections with future volunteers and friends of the gallery.
Its a really exciting place to be at the moment with plenty of plans afoot which Im going to commit to realising.
Our Vintage Teas are going to be golden. On the theme of old wives remedies we are getting 16-19 yr old locals to talk to the elderly and create an oral history that would have been forgotten forever. As well as a good drop of cake and sandwiches kindly supplied by local businesses. If you are a local proprietor and would like to get involved, whether its donating tea supplies or equipment or an extra pair of hands, or know of a youth or older person who would like to get on board pop into Art With A Heart on George St Altrincham and let us know. We'd love to have you
#5
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| Introducing His Grace to the crowd |
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| Enraptured..and a bit of heckling |
This week saw the completion of my Final Outcome click HERE for that post and my placement at Art With A Heart. I went out on a high note, having presented and co-hosted a talk by The Duke Of Bridgewater or AKA Tom Everett, a character history actor and absolute fountain of knowledge about the 18th century goings on that led to the Industrial Revolution. An honour to watch history come alive in a very contemporary setting, and I shall miss it very much. To all at Art With A Heart, thank you for letting me be part of your vision and the very best for the future
ST OSWALDS MURAL
Joining in the class project late but better than never, today we made some progress on a very charming mural for St Oswalds. It was quite nice painting on a large scale. I think we might even be done this week !
#2
Post Installation Evaluation
I was reluctant to get involved in the project due to worries about the groups commitment and time keeping. In fact I rejected the offer. A few emotional pleas for help at the end of the project, when it became clear those worries were in fact founded, and I had to step in and help. Me and Katie re-designed the piece to reflect the time left and materials available to us. Michaela had primed the boards with emulsion and Katie had pencilled out a rough sketch. We made it simpler and reflected the actual brief a little more. The brief was described to me as local, transport, diverse and children. The original team of 6 had wanted to make interactive panels and cut outs, but I expressed concerns about health and safety and cost, and we set to work on a design we felt was sweet, fun and looked good.
Materials became scarce in week 2 and compromises had to be made. I had 3 boards that were not sketched out to fill so came up with a lovely wintry public transport scene with a nursery and snowman. Michaela came back and worked on her designs.
I did enjoy working on a large scale, and would do it again. I would be very careful that the people I worked with stuck to their commitment though, as it was a huge set back to be left to it. I would also not take on such a large piece alone without professional paint and rollers. The work should have been done on site to protect us from the chemicals in the paint and the poor working consitions. The boards were unstable and precarious.
Ideally, if I had joined the project from the start I could have suggested each of us taking an area, scrapping the alphabet theme and sticking to a transport/ local area theme. I would have liked to reflect the actual children more with some personal but relevant to everyone touches. The style could have been a little more whimsical and pastel.
Overall, though I have pointed out the negatives here, more through frustration than dissappointment, I am pleased with how it turned out and very proud of me, Katy and Michaela for getting it finished. Feedback from the nursery has been positive and at the end of the day thats what matters
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