VISIT TARANAKI

What's the connection between New Plymouth, Nantes and Wakefield?  Our intrepid travelling Associate Lesley Fallais - taking a break in New Zealand but with her enthusiasm for tracking down great examples of culture-led regeneration unquelled - has been doing a bit of sleuthing and reveals all. See Lesley's guest posts from Norway, Denmark and Kerala for more on the same theme, and her own blog for more detail on her trip to Taranaki.



Len Lye Centre, New Plymouth    Photo: Lesley Fallais

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My six month journey roaming far and wide around New Zealand has been an outstanding experience. Part way through, while on North Island, I found myself with three days to fill before a planned rendezvous with friends. I started to scrutinise my map and think about where I might go. Perhaps the Taranaki Peninsula? But that would be a long drive and well off my route. If I drove all that way would it turn out to be worth it?

I consult my Rough Guide: “Taranaki’s vibrant provincial capital is New Plymouth. There is a strong arts bias to its attraction, home to the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, which is one of the finest contemporary art galleries in the country”. Decision made!

I spend one night en route at Opunake campsite - investment $20. I filled up with petrol - investment $59. Total investment $79.

In my tent I read that the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery has recently been extended to accommodate a large collection of works by Len Lye. A New Zealand born sculptor, film-maker and conceptual artist, Lye (1901-1980) was born in Christchurch and worked alongside other world renowned contemporary artists in Europe and New York. Just before his death a friend, patron and New Plymouth resident, John Mathews, helped set up the Len Lye Foundation, which brought most of Lye’s scattered work to New Plymouth.

I arrive in New Plymouth to find a shiny new contemporary building at one end of Queens Street, which is obviously in the midst of ongoing regeneration. There are cafes, hotels, design shops and the like, and the whole area feels like as if it is vibrant and thriving. I have a quick look around and notice banners pronouncing that tonight is the first night of the annual Festival of Lights, so I spontaneously decide to stay the night.

I book into a hostel - investment $68. Festival of Light donation $5. Total investment so far $152.

Suffice it to say that I loved the new contemporary extension to the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, and really enjoyed finding out about an artist who was totally new to me. I was excited, too, to see one of Lye's kinetic works sited along a new 10km long Coastal Walkway - a stunning example of contemporary landscape design incorporating site-specific artworks. ‘Wind Wand’ acts as a focal point near the entrance of the new Puke Ariki - a combined tourist office, city library, exhibition space and regional museum.

I look around the museum shop and buy postcards and stamps - investment $12.50, total to date $164.50. The hostel is a treat as I usually camp. I don’t eat out or visit a café. I look around a clothes shop and design shop but resist temptation, and wish I could stay longer, which might involve hiring a bike and cycling the coastal walkway. 

In other words, my total spend in Taranaki could have been a lot more.

I have spent many years working within urban regeneration project teams so I have some understanding of how creative/cultural regeneration works. What I saw in New Plymouth seemed to me to be a shining example of how the arts and culture can play a vital role as drivers for the economy and urban regeneration. I realised that I was a Taranaki statistic, a cultural tourist in search of ‘Destination Architecture’, which provided not only my reason to visit in the first place but also the reason for deciding to stay for a while and therefore spend money in the area.

Over the past months I have thought many times about my visit to New Plymouth. Whenever I exchange ‘New Zealand highlights’ with other travellers, I find myself saying “You must go to Taranaki, New Plymouth is amazing”. Since visiting Taranaki I've been considering the value to the economy of my own trip and the potential visits by people I've recommended the place to. Keen to know more,  I dropped an email to Terry Parkes, chair of the Council-led Art in Public Places Trust established in 2009, who suggested I talk to Antony Rhodes, Communications Manager at Venture Taranaki Trust, the region's development agency. Antony kindly replied with some interesting information which I've summarised at the end of this piece and a copy of the 2004 Economic Impact Assessment that was undertaken to support the business case for the Len Lye Centre. He explained that the Impact Assessment estimated that the gallery could attract 20,000 people and $2m in additional spending ($100 per head - I spent $164.50); and that the reality has exceeded the projections: between opening on 25 July 2015 and 4 January (2016), the Centre attracted 73,000 visitors.

From the 2004 Impact Assessment I learnt that Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage pledged $4m for capital construction, and that this enabled the Len Lye Centre project to attract impressive levels of corporate support - $2.5m from Todd Energy towards the construction of the building plus an additional $500,000 over five years for an innovative education programme. I learnt too that the whole project was driven by a strong Council-led vision about the economic and regeneration impact that creating a home for the "nationally important" Len Lye collection would have for "the wider community of New Plymouth District".

Inspired by what I'd discovered in New Plymouth, I started thinking about other cities which have successfully invested in arts and culture as part of their economic regeneration strategies.  Reflecting on other trips I've made for the same reasons that took me to Taranaki led me to set about digging up some more economic impact figures. I looked first to Nantes in France, which I visited a few years ago to see the incredible Les Machines de L'Ile, a unique theatrical project within the urban regeneration area L’Ile de Nantes. In 1987 the area's shipyards closed and the city created a vision to regenerate this industrial land and strengthen its links with the city, the river and the Loire Valley. One key element of the vision was to encourage the relocation of creative/cultural entrepreneurs who were enticed with funding and offers of workshop space within former warehouse buildings. Jean-Marc Ayrault, Mayor of Nantes 1989-2012, was a major influence: "Nantes could become one of the European capitals of cultural and creative industries. But to exist tomorrow, we need to recognise this and invest today... During this economic crisis culture is not a luxury. It is essential." In 1989 he made a persuasive offer to international theatre company Royal-de-Luxe in an attempt to bring the company to his city - generous funding, a cargo ship and the use of a disused warehouse on the banks of the River Loire.

The figures speak for themselves: last year some 200,000 visitors passed through Nantes during the high summer tourist season, with an estimated spend of 42 million Euro (internet source).

Next I investigated closer to home in West Yorkshire. The Hepworth Wakefield opened in 2011, completing a ‘Sculpture Triangle' which also includes Yorkshire Sculpture Park and The Henry Moore Institute in Leeds. A stunning example of ‘Destination Architecture’ designed by architect David Chipperfield to house the city's collection of works by Barbara Hepworth, it received 100,000 visitors in the five weeks after its opening. In 2012 it had around 500,000 visitors and claims 1.4 million visitors in total to date. Annual numbers have settled to around 250,000. 

 

A friendly source helpfully interpreted the economic value of the visitor numbers for both the Hepworth and Yorkshire Sculpture Park (also in Wakefield District): “I understand that Wakefield MBC calculates a secondary tourist spend of £16 per visitor, therefore they would estimate a visitor spend of £20 million in the area since the Hepworth opened (bearing in mind that there is a lot of estimation involved in impact claims). There is more verifiable data available for YSP (although the detailed work is out of date) because an economic impact study was undertaken in 2011. This showed that YSP's direct economic impact at that time was £5.5m, and that in addition to the jobs created at YSP the supply chain supported a further 45 jobs across Yorkshire. These figures were based on 277,000 visitors in 2010/11. In 2015/16 due to the installation of the hugely popular art installation, ‘Poppies’, the visitor numbers are likely to be closer to 600,000, so it would be reasonable to double the 2011 economic impact figures - so about an £11million impact. Estimating aside, when you look at the figures, it is arguable that each £1 of public investment in Yorkshire Sculpture Park generates a further £7 in economic benefit."

I rest my case!  My research may have been cursory but it's affirmed what I already knew - the case for placing cultural drivers at the heart of a vision for urban regeneration is a pretty compelling one.

 

Data provided by Antony Rhodes, Communications Manager, Venture Taranaki Trust 

• There has been a considerable increase in visitor numbers to the region over the summer, and more and more stories of people choosing to visit New Plymouth because of the Centre, or basing their visit around it.
• The gallery has attracted a new curator from the Serpentine London, and a new business development manager and her family direct from in Germany, so the gallery is having a positive impact in terms of population attraction and bolstering the creative sector
• There has been a huge impact on neighbourhood regeneration — over the last few years (since the Len Lye Centre was announced) there has been upwards of $15 million invested in the immediate neighbourhood. The gallery has been catalyst in attracting a second airline to New Plymouth, and there has been an explosion in boutique accommodation, public art, dining options and creative retail.
• There’s been huge global media interest in the Len Lye Centre which has also helped promote awareness of the region and its creativity. It has attracted targeted visits by the Financial Times, New York Times, and more, and even hosted HRH The Duchess of Cornwall on their recent visit. The stories often look beyond the centre itself, and have helped gain attention for our artists, cafes, producers, makers, architects and retailers, putting New Plymouth’s creative community on the map.
• There are business success stories — the fabricators of the stainless steel façade, for instance, have since leveraged it to gain other contracts internationally.

Further info:
Creative NZ - Arts Council of New Zealand http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/
Visit New Plymouth http://visitnewplymouth.nz/
Taranaki regional tourism website http://www.taranaki.info/
Arts Council England report 2015 -  http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication/contribution-arts-and-culture-industry-national-economy



EVERY CHILD AN ARTIST, EVERY CHILD A SCIENTIST

by Tracy Shaw, Loca Creatives Director

Exploring food chains, microbes and decay through printmaking  Photo: Shelley Burgoyne

Delighted and proud to once again be co-ordinating the Change Project in Batley on behalf of the two lead organisations.  It's a partnership between Mosaic (a small but long-standing community arts organisation) and Batley Girls' High School (with a strong reputation as a Visual Arts College), with 10 other local schools also involved. 

 

There's a great story of long-term partnership working and of commitment to continuous improvement behind the project, which has been going for five years in its current guise and for several more before that.  Last year the focus shifted away from visual arts learning for its own sake, with the decision to put a new emphasis on science and make the project specifically about supporting children's scientific learning through the visual arts.  This year that particular bar has been raised several notches, with 'engineering', 'technology' and 'STEM' entering the project lexicon, and the involvement of prominent international engineering company, Cummins Turbo Technologies, as funder and practical supporter.

 

A series of 50 artist-led workshops got underway this month and already there are some priceless examples of children's learning, not to mention pure enjoyment.  It's already apparent that investigating science topics through creative mediums will stimulate children's interest in science as an area of study, and inspire some to believe that it holds possibilities as a potential career (a big interest for Cummins).  It's also evident that realising that science and art are connected disciplines, and that they can be explored together as complementary subjects, will be a powerful discovery for some children. The over-arching 'Change' theme has allowed for many interpretations over the years that the project has been running.  This year 'changing perceptions' and 'change in aspirations' are definitely strong angles.

 

You can follow what artists Shelley Burgoyne, Tim Curtis and Craig Dyson and their eleven schools are up to on the project website, as they creatively explore science topics as varied as Forces, Food Chains, Electricity Circuits and Plant Lifecycles.  As an appetiser, here's one of my fave quotes so far:

 

“Science is a very interesting subject, it can blow your mind and it can boggle your feet”

www.changeproject.co.uk

FORGOTTEN STORIES

by Tracy Shaw, Loca Creatives Director


Selection of Arbroath Templates from Art for All exhibition - arbroathtemplate.tumblr.com

Anyone who keeps an eye on what's going down at Yorkshire Sculpture Park will know that Poppies: Wave has been a massive draw over the winter months - around 300,000 visitors in a four-month period, to be roughly precise. How many, I wonder, took the chance to sneak away from the hordes and catch Art for All, tucked away in the snug Garden Gallery and also ending earlier this month? Probably only a small proportion, given the very different appeal of the two shows.  Those who did got a real treat, and those who didn't had a lamentable missed opportunity (IMHO).

Art for All was commissioned to mark the 30th anniversary of the National Arts Education Archive (NAEA), housed at YSP and documenting over 100 years of art education. Bob and Roberta Smith - artist, arts education campaigner, founding member of the Art Party and Surrey Heath election candidate - was invited to nosey through the Archive and create the installation in response to some of what he found. What treasures are buried there! And what an education in itself, having the chance to dig around in them. I'd have loved that job (although having neither the skill nor the imagination to translate seemingly dry historical facts into witty, trenchant and visually tantalising exhibits in the way that Bob and Roberta Smith does, I concede that the curatorial staff probably picked the right guy).

I didn't get the job, but I do want to take a moment to express appreciation. The fact that the Archive exists as a fantastic learning resource deserves a shout-out in itself; and the gems I gleaned from a couple of wanders around the small-but-perfectly-formed installation have been precious little nuggets of inspiration and reminder. We all know (at least I hope we do) that art education in Britain is currently being brutalised at the hands of the politicians. Those of us who feel strongly that this is A VERY BAD THING find opportunities where we can to condemn and protest - no-one more eloquently and visibly than Bob and Roberta Smith himself. But how many of us do so simply because we believe that access to art education is essential for a good all-round education and for the production of fully-rounded people? Or perhaps also because we understand - to paraphrase Bob and Roberta - the importance of the arts for democracy and humanity? Do we also protest because we're acutely conscious of the history that lies behind the art education we have come to take so much for granted (until lately, at least), and because we're adamant that all that enlightened pioneering must not go to waste? Are we remembering, when we raise our protesting voices, of such visionary artists and progressive educationalists as William Morris, Franz Cizek, Marion Richardson, Herbert Read, William Coldstream, Victor Pasmore, Tom Hudson, Alec Clegg...? Are we thinking of the rights that eminent figures such as these argued so passionately on behalf of; of the radical steps they took; the enlightened new measures they advocated for; the transformational influences they had...? I certainly haven't been (shameful really, for someone who's been putting artists into schools for 20+ years), but I will be from now on.

If you're interested in art education and - like me - are a committed supporter of the principles but haven't bothered much with immersing yourself in the history, why not make some time to do so? It's eye-opening stuff, and quite salutary to realise that the values driving Bob and Roberta Smith's recent Art Makes Children Powerful campaign (for example) trace way, way back: through Clegg's seminal tenure as Chief Education Officer for the West Riding; through Richardson's child-centred art teaching methods and Cizek's Child Art Movement in the early 1900's; back to Morris's Art Education for All and Herbert Spencer's philosophical writings in the late 1800's; back further still to Joshua Reynolds...

Art for All also invited visitors to contribute their thoughts about 'what needs to be included in an Art Education to give each child a voice in the 21st Century'.  It would be fascinating to see the results.  I reckon they should be parcelled up with a big red ribbon and sent to Gove, Morgan, Gibb and co.  I reckon, too, that there's the makings of a really useful book/resource in some of the oft-forgotten stories that have made art education commonplace (albeit endangered) today, starting with the ones so cleverly illuminated by the Art for All show - a book that ought to be obligatory reading for all trainee teachers and every teacher who teaches art (no, make that every teacher in general). A project for YSP/the NAEA maybe?  Now there's a job I'd fancy.

“....no matter how daubed and glaring the colours. The question is not whether the child is producing good drawings. The question is whether it is developing its faculties”

 

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

SEASON'S GREETINGS

Warm festive greetings to all our friends, colleagues, customers and readers, and very best wishes for a happy, peaceful, successful 2016.

Bauble by Lewis Buttery

One of a series of E-Cards designed by young artists working with Soft Touch Arts

https://www.facebook.com/lewisbutterytoast 

http://www.soft-touch.org.uk/

LEARNING FROM THE LEGACY

Our last post, inspired by other people's writings on the early days of community arts, prompted some nice conversations, including one with Stephen Pritchard.  As luck would have it he was just heading off to the Black-E's Community Arts? Learning from the Legacy of Artists' Social Initiatives conference - a perfect opportunity to wangle a follow-on piece. Stephen is a second year AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council) funded doctoral research student at Northumbria University, exploring socially engaged art as a means of supporting radical social change. His research investigates how social practice might enable creative expressions of social justice and truly democratic common living. He is a socially engaged practitioner, activist, art historian, critical theorist, curator, founder of dot to dot active arts collective, and initiator of EngagedArtNet. Somehow he also finds time to write for his own blog, Colouring in Culture, where this piece on the Black-E event first appeared.  Thanks Stephen for the re-blog.

 

Photo: Dotto, courtesy of The Black-E

 

 

 

Do we need to develop institutions to work with communities? Can’t artists work directly with and within communities?

I asked the two questions as an immediate response to a panel entitled ‘What kind of organisation do we need to develop to work with communities…?’ The problem seemed obvious; becoming increasingly apparent as the Community Arts? Learning from the Legacy of Artists’ Social Initiatives conference (part of Liverpool Biennial’s programming) progressed. Those ‘learning’ from artists should be organisations – who presumably had recently learned or were still learning the importance of working with people outside of our narrow arts world. This is, for me, a deeply problematic and unsettling narrative. Questions of appropriation sprang to mind.

Reflecting back, it was clear from the offset when (co-convenor) Sally Tallant said she preferred to ‘challenge institutions from the inside’ – a now rather hackneyed phrase within the arts. Fellow co-convenor Andrea Phillips presented a much more oppositional stance. She quickly highlighted the inherent ‘contradictions’ linked to the ‘institutionalisation of participation and engagement’ which could lead to the ‘banalisation of community’. She pointed to Community Arts’ deeply ‘political investment’ which had been dampened within a ‘misrecognition of intent’ and the Blairite shift from notions of ‘exclusion to inclusion’.

The founders of The Black-E and conference hosts, Bill and Wendy Harpe, presented a brief overview of their incredible archive of almost 50 years of community arts interventions and participatory exhibitions. Their commitment and passion was infectious. ‘Participation used to have one meaning – now we have 101’, said Bill. He later revealed that The Black-E were facing Arts Council cuts of 35% – the highest level of any NPO organisation in Liverpool. He was, as always, upbeat in his determination to keep going. For me, cuts to The Black-E with its long history of working as part of communities, represents an insidious and conscious decision by Arts Council England to replace great community art by artists and smaller organisations with glass bastions such as Home and The Factory (and many others around the country).

Frances Rifkin followed a fast-paced Jason Bowman with a more pointedly political reflection upon the field of practice. ‘We saw our work as political, transformative – not as do-gooders,’ she explained. She regretted the point in time when ‘the exclusive notion of excellence began to creep in’. She talked about battles, the importance of trade unionism and marginalisation - Issues I feel are all implicated within the creeping professionalisation and institutionalisation of our field. ‘The use of volunteers is one way of not funding artists,’ she added before going on to say that it is ‘disgraceful that there are no opportunities for young artists’ today. Frances revealed she was optimistic about a shift within the arts because, and I echo her thoughts, big arts organisations and funders such as Arts Council England are vulnerable after suffering from round after round of austerity.

Later Sophie Hope declared that Community Art could be seen as a form of ‘oppositional practice’ that rejected the marketisation and professionalisation endemic within the field today. Later still, Nato Thompson whistled through several of Creative Time’s ‘commissions’. His narrative was interesting. ‘We do public art,’ he said. He was immediately followed by Anna Colin of Open School East. She described the school as collective and self-organising with ‘a structure that’s quite light – self-reflexive and self-critical’. Yet, I was left wondering about the intentions of the founders: The Barbican Centre and CREATE London…

There was a perceivable heightening of tensions when Tate’s Director of Learning, Anna Cutler, began by asking the audience ‘Who would define your practice as educational or learning?’ Not many hands went up. She seemed ruffled. ‘I would like to see things changed,’ she said rather unconvincingly. She attempted and failed to describe ‘socially engaged practice’ as a ‘sliding scale’ in which she said she ‘liked to think I’m in the middle’. Safe and sound! Except, for me, Tate do not do socially engaged art – they do outreach and education programmes and participation. Oh, and let’s not forget their dodgy sponsors!! (#BPMustGo!) ‘As long as you’re transparent with participants, its ok,’ and, ‘It’s all about changing the processes, otherwise you’re just moaning from the outside,’ and ‘We’re an institution… change takes a long time,’ she added. Tensions rose further. Then, after several more references to change from Anna, I asked my question. The room ignited.

The rest of the day was notable for Sonia Boyce’s beautifully moving work, for some sort of democratic intervention that demanded more time for open comments (which were a little disjointed but really welcome) and a great summing up by Andrea Phillips. I listened intently to the various perspectives on Granby Four Streets but still felt somehow uncomfortable with the project and its potential to become an unwitting (perhaps even knowing) agent for gentrification. I remembered Andrea Phillips conclusion to Art and Housing: The Private Connection (2012):

The artist is a self-builder. The rich man is a self-builder. The yachts at Venice, with their open invitations for cocktails to socially engaged artists, facilitate the perfect and paradoxical nexus of new “social” housing. The poor can only stand and stare.

My lasting memories of this exceptionally interesting and revealing conference revolve around the notion of oppositions. Community Arts was an oppositional movement. Socially engaged art is based on the premise of anti-institutionalism, amongst other things. Institutions seem to feel that they can, given enough time and undoubtedly lots of money, change to take on the role of community artist. This move will come at the expense of the local, independent, autonomous interventions of many individual artists, collectives and smaller artist-led organisations working within communities. Community Arts is about trust and togetherness. Are large arts organisations really best placed to replace people (artists) who are driven to work in this way? Can they?

We must indeed learn from the legacy of Community Arts and STORM THE CITADELS as Owen Kelly suggested back in 1984!

THE SUN STILL RISES IN THE EAST

by Tracy Shaw, Loca Creatives Director

Photo: NASA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm in a reflective frame of mind as I think back to a year ago this week, when we'd just completed the 'Cornerstones' project in Oldham with the installation of a series of beautifully carved boulders and a rather lovely celebration event. At the time I blogged about feeling that the ending was really just the beginning, and I certainly remember wishing not that we could have our time with the residents of St Mary's over again (arguably we wouldn't have done anything very differently) but that we could have at least as much time again, to continue the process of relationship-building and community engagement that had begun. Thankfully others have picked up the baton, and we're able to look back on the project knowing that it helped set some valuable things in motion for residents and the people who continue to work with them.

It was in this reflective mode that I happened to be browsing Francois Matarasso's new blog, A Restless Art, where I picked up on his case study about Tyneside-based Amber Film and Photography Collective - artists who have committed to keeping their creative practice firmly rooted in place and community for the long term, not just for months or years but for decades. A few more clicks took me back to one of Francois's other writing projects, Parliament of Dreams, where a glance down his Free Downloads list led me to some of the good reads he's authored himself, books and texts by others about community arts history, and to Community Arts Unwrapped. This is a new blogging venture by Alison Jeffers and Gerri Moriarty, who are researching and writing on 'community arts, past, present and future', partly with the aim of documenting its history and partly to stimulate conversations about current and future practice.

I was struck - not for the first time - by a number of things. Firstly, the remarkable longevity and staying power of people like Francois, Alison, Gerri, Amber members and many others besides (I won't attempt a roll-call but they know who they are).  These are people who were inspirational, influential and well-respected practitioners in the community arts field across the UK when I first stepped into it nearly 30 years ago as an administrator working for a regional funding body, and who are still variously doing 'community arts' (albeit continuously challenging their own practice and stretching it in new directions), teaching it, taking stock of it and writing about it with the same insight, authenticity and deeply held commitment to its underpinning values and principles.  Respect to you all.

Secondly - and this is a really simplistic way of saying something that is complex and much-debated - I was struck by remembering how the work that these people pioneered in the seventies and eighties has proliferated and diversified to the extent that 'participatory art practice' is nowadays around us everywhere, yet most of it without the edginess, aesthetic riskiness and explicit socio-political motives which made the original work radical and gave it a sense of being 'a movement'. This is not judgement or criticism, just statement of fact. As Francois says in the intro to A Restless Art: "Whether you call it community art, participatory art or something else entirely, art work with people seems to be thriving....I don’t remember a time when so much was happening, despite the public spending cuts. More importantly, perhaps, I see artists working in a huge range of ways and with an equally diverse range of ideas and motives." His journey as he ponders the question 'What is participatory art and where is it going?' will be well worth watching.

And thirdly it struck me that with the permeation of community arts/participatory arts work into so many everyday settings over the past 20-30 years and with new generations of artists, funders and commissioners making it happen, it's all too easy to lose sight of its radical roots and marginal beginnings, and to forget all the passion, care, conviction and derring-do which laid the ground for what is now a field of commonplace and utterly indispensable artistic practice. Utterly indispensable? I think so. So does the person who posted a comment on Community Arts Unwrapped in reply to a question from Alison Jeffers: "Is Community Arts practice still relevant today?…..Does the sun still rise in the East?"

So with that in mind, I thought it would do no harm to flag up Francois's blogs (and the useful community arts history resources signposted there), and Alison's and Gerri's research project - I will follow and enjoy it, and you might like to too. I thought I'd add my own pointer to Amber Collective's astounding body of work, and urge you to take a look too at the former Welfare State International's website and the Jubilee Arts 1974-1994 Archive, which also has a good stash of history resources. If you're at all interested in tracing participatory arts in the UK back to its beginnings, these are good places to start.  And in a moment of serendipity, here's a shout-out for Community Arts? Learning from the Legacy of Artists' Social Initiatives, an event being hosted in Liverpool this Sunday by The Black-E, another highly respected and long-serving stalwart. 

There is, it seems, a lot of legacy to celebrate and a lot of talking and learning still to do.

A POEM ABOUT MEN SINGING

Our good friend Phil Russell recently stepped out of his CEO role with the very marvellous Hoot Creative Arts after 15 years at the forefront in the Arts & Mental Health field - work which over the last couple of years has extended into prison settings. Alongside cycling, gardening, music-making and grand-parenting he's taken to spending time in his attic exploring new and slower ways of being creative.  The man has clearly had poetry locked away inside him which is now finding the space to spill out, inspired by topics as diverse as Jeremy Corbyn and owls.  Always on the look-out for guest blog posts which connect with themes in our own work (do feel free to get in touch), we spotted Man Sing and felt a strong urge to share it.  Thanks Phil (presumably you would like it noted that enticing offers of freelance work will be considered with interest?).

 

Man Sing

We gathered up the men and took them skywards
In the hope that they would finally find their voice
We offered them the secrets of the universe
But found them quite unready to rejoice.
A slight celestial hum would turn to rhapsody
A harmony would prickle the neck hair
A tribal chant would unleash something primitive
But they were mostly interested in a chair
With wheels so they could wander the perimeter
Or spin around and run over your shoes
It seems that we had underestimated
The power of office furniture to amuse

Unsure if we should challenge or capitulate
We let the rugged bastards have their heads
And slow the lure of furniture subsided
Then they were free to play with us instead
They offered us a comprehensive repertoire
Of how to make damn sure things turn to shit
Aided and abetted by a system
That says one thing, but means it not one bit.
Pale faced, deathly, ragged, argumentative
Sulky, clever, stupid, comatose
A spectacular assembly of behaviours
Guaranteed to get right up your nose

I guess if no one ever looked really looked at you
Or sung a lullaby and held you tight
If no one made up tales to send you off to sleep
Or frightened off the demons in the night
And if that early fracturing went on and on
And the broken parts would never seem to mend
And bad things led to bad things like an avalanche
And you wished that you could die so it would end
You might struggle too, to make an offering
To be in here, to look me in the eye
To open up your gob and let the shit pour out
And to do it without really knowing why.

But finally they gathered round some fragments
And found some kind of flickering of hope
That let them open up their strangled throats again
And send into the air a tiny note
That grew and grew and faltered and then grew again
Still they found the courage to return
‘Til the tiny note became a lion’s roar
And in their hearts a fragile ember burned
Not much, perhaps, to get a bunch of blokes to sing
To hold the same refrain and be as one
But I tell you that this took a greater courage
Than all the villainous deeds that they had done

September 2015