Arts and Social Change

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Comment by Alice Kershaw on November 3, 2010 at 10:19am

I believe the war memorial is the Mayors Charity for this year and there is a working group looking at it with Annette Joyce. I agree we need to connect the rural heritage to the city centre.

Comment by Jocelyn Cunningham on October 22, 2010 at 2:02pm

Inspiring day in Peterborough last week, seeing Our Nobby at Jack Hunt school with Yr 7 students in rapt attention and moving to hear the actor playing Nobby tell them afterwards in the Q&A how he went to the school himself and witnessing their surprise and delight.

Then on to a magical evening with Tales from the Middle of Town being part of a wide range of audience ages, all of us transported to a childlike state of wonder. Site specific production transforming the old Waterstones, going through wardrobes into forests. Sailed through Queensgate with story and music in my head on my more mundane way home to London.

Comment by Graeme Law on October 1, 2010 at 2:49pm

Not sure how wide the final brief will end up, but is there an awareness of the strong local desire for a centrally placed 'War Memorial'? The previous one was 'modern' and disliked, ending up in pieces scattered round various parts of the city, while the the one currently in use is tucked away hardly visible behind the Cathedral . It would seem to me a worthy artistic challenge, with potential to garner both senior political support and funding. An of course, a fasinating challenge to create a feelong of 'belonging' in a city where there is more than one view of historical events!
Another potential opportunity is Nursing - Peterborough was the home of Edith Cavell, is just opening a £300m hospital, and ARU will open a Nursing School in the next couple of years. A 'percent for art' could have produced some pretty impressive results!
As a final point, to understand 'belonging', I recommend attendance at the fortnightly Citizenship Ceremony in the Town Hall. Take the chance to meet people from a score of different backgrounds who want to be British and want to be in Peterborough - and then look at how we want to present 'being British' through the intentional and unintentional 'culture' of the event.

Comment by Jocelyn Cunningham on September 22, 2010 at 4:34pm

Excellent! Jamie here tells me you were in the focus group last week. Let us exchange emails. I'm at jocelyn.cunningham@rsa.org.uk
I am in Peterborough on Friday at this RCE event - you're in London - sure we can work something out though. Prefer face to face. It has been a Peterborough- heavy week and not back again until the week of the 11th.

Jocelyn

Comment by Graeme Law on September 22, 2010 at 3:35pm

What is your preference - e-mail, Skype or face to face? 1-2-1 or in the wider group? I am in Peterborough most days, or in London this week Thursday and Friday pm. (On the rural issue, I have almost bolted down a video visioning for villages over the next few months.)

Graeme

Graeme

Comment by Jocelyn Cunningham on September 22, 2010 at 3:27pm

Hi Graeme,

I think engaging with the rural past and present is a key aspect of how artists can engage with this work and imagine that this can play a part in both the commissions and residencies as well as Experiments in Place Making. It is down to those who are engaged in the work and the interests of residents to help make it happen! I agree that there is a need to explore opportunities for those communities yet to be created. Perhaps we should talk?

Comment by Graeme Law on August 9, 2010 at 11:52am

Looking at the programme with my background as a city planner, there seem to be two significant 'gaps' in what is planned. 'Place Making' seems to be viewed as taking existing communities and enhancing them. I would argue that in Peterborough the more striking opportunity is the places where there are new communities/localities being created or yet to be created, and that Arts and Social Change should be in right at the start of this - Hampton Leys, Great Haddon, Paston Reserve, South Bank, Norwood, Red Brick Farm, City Centre and more! The second 'gap' is the lack of recognition of the city's rural area - we have some fantastic rural heritage - Burleigh House, the John Clare heritage of environmental poetry to name a couple! Lets' recognise these rural opportunities - for example could one of the artists in residence work more closely with the John Clare Centre in Helpston?

Comment by Jocelyn Cunningham on August 1, 2010 at 1:33pm

At the Launch on July 21, the Arts and Social Change session asked:

What might an artist do that would make a difference in your community?

Over 40 participants explored their collective responses to this question and came up with the following ideas:

group of artists to creatively channel communication around what is happening locally in the arts world
unlock creativity within the community itself
public locations for all art that is accessible to all
help the community to feel a part of design of area - impact on built environment
telling the story of the community
artists need to empower other artists and citizens in general
more art commissions that connect to council procedures
street art with a sense of humour
map artwork on iphone application around city centre and P’b area; local media GPS enabled multi media tour of green, historic places to re-engage young people and uploading media to mobile devices
cabinets of curiosity for local areas
art in people’s front gardens
arts events that publicise and advertise events in the community
high quality performance/ theatre
blues/ jazz Festival
knowledge sharing on how to run community groups
small community projects -open air and open to all; eg. community shopping centres like Hampton Hargate, Orton Centre - creating sustainable displays in that locality ( using empty shops)
more art at the Beer Festival
poetry projected onto buildings like Town Hall
inspire communities to take pride in own community
heritage translated into different formats
artists talking to each other
sculpture in the city - a trail around the Green Wheel based on the environment
pavement art in the city centre
create an artistic form in a community in one day from the rubbish/ flora/ fauna in that area
curate a street party (imaginative, alternative activities that are environmentally focussed)
music in open spaces
documenting a place/ collections of characters locally
involving an artist in development of transport strategy
poetry on lamposts
arts within the school curriculum
poem and art on the brickwork of the Woolworths building
use empty shop shutters in neighbourhood centres as canvasses
different geographical focus for festival each year
artists going into the community and producing art that illustrates that community’s highlights and atmosphere
bring more diverse cultural arts to Peterborough, ie. African
supporting younger artists through introducing them and their work; raise awareness of young artists via single ads in music shops
open air multi cultural artistic celebration on big estates
use artists working in the community to help engage with constantly changing migrant communities
roving local theatre that goes to all spaces not just park
create a sense of civic pride in the green spaces in P’b
get local people ‘doing’ art
art in the supermarket to whet the appetite for arts
folk singing
city centre hub for art - something unique

Please add your own!!!!!!!

Comment by Jocelyn Cunningham on July 13, 2010 at 3:18pm

The first Creative Gathering of Arts and Social Change was held at the Peterborough Museum on July 12 filling the building with over 50 locally and regionally based artists and representatives of related arts organisations.

Chris Higgens and Fiona Lesley of The Map Consortium facilitated an evening that explored what we feel and think about 'belonging' through interactive exercises. Through building new relationships, we all identified questions that for us had resonance both creatively and personally. We will post the questions up here later this week. Meanwhile, thanks for coming everyone!

We 'll also put some photographs up on the site shortly so you can see

Comment by Sharliza r on March 9, 2010 at 3:44pm

Hello!