So having been made Community Champions by O2 ‘It’s your community’ project, O2 organised a photo shoot for the young people organising the evolution of THE UNIT from #empty shop to youth info centre/ideas hub/music project central/ etc., Here’s some of the photo’s local young photographer Julian Farmer took of the whole shebang!
Formed in Wales
Abermaw, Cader idris, Pistyll Y Cain, Cwm Maentwrog.
Llanberis, Pont Aberglasllyn, Nant Francon, Pen y Cader, Llyn y Cau
The language of mountains, of summit, sky, air
Of lake, fall of water, river, foaming torrent
Sharp and measured, tumbling descent to Bay, Beach, Sea
Of valley, fissure, gorge, cliff, forest, wood and plain
This is the language of ancient, faint and whispered wisdom
Formed, fallen, washed, blasted, eroded
and of man, of castell, road, of pit, of quarry
iron, rock, slate, clay, coal
War and industry anchoring into the landscape
Of romance, of music springing from each strained sinew,
In each leaning branch, each breath uttered, each syllable sung
Llangollen, Pont y Pair, Capel Curig, Betws y Coed, Llyn Idwal, Ogwen, Twll Du.
©JBrain, 2009
Written after reading “An Attempt to Depict The Northern Cambrian Mountains, an artistic impression” by David S. Yerburgh.
PART 1.
So this summer, I was delighted to be asked to join the…. ermm, well, not exactly a ‘board’ more an advisory committee, a group of professionals to support/drive/encourage/advocate/beg on behalf of newly formed ‘Firestarter Arts’ a social enterprise and community interest company.
What! I hear you scoff…on earth… is a Community Interest Company!? Well I’m glad you asked because I know the answer to that one. A CIC is halfway between a company and a charity. Financial liability for directors and members is limited. CIC’s are asset-locked – any funds held by the company must be used to further the social aims of the company, and cannot be transferred unless certain conditions are fulfilled (ie the directors cannot make/take profits from the company, although people can be paid in the normal way for specific jobs / contracts). CICs can apply for many of the funds that charities are eligible for.
So that’s the science part and no sooner had I drawn breath than I found myself on a wet morning outside a corner shop next door to Gala Bingo with my daughter (in response to the request – can you find some young people and turn up here? Hmmmm not easy in the summer hols but my 17yr old daughter seemed keen enough to put her Macbook down for 5mins, so….) and a soggy group of assorted others being introduced to ‘The Unit’ an uninspiring empty shop unit seriously in need of re-decoration and some TLC. What followed was an enthusiastic response to Firestarter’s Company Director – Ruth Jones idea that ‘The Unit’ could be the future hub for young people in South Wiltshire taking the reins and making sure there’s a more positive youth scene by becoming an information point, an ideas factory, a lobbying centre…etc. Well it’s my community and I was definitely interested.
I have been working in youth Arts for some (coughs!!**) years (read as “long time”) and whilst my home town was a hotbed of creative activity in terms of gigs, theatre, and other related stuff when I was growing up, over the years actual events for young people have declined, maybe the fact that youth services has introduced a policy of all their activities leading to some sort of qualification (great but some young people just can’t deal with too much order and control in their free-time and others just want to have fun – not tick boxes) Plus the raft of health and safety measures/restrictions, insurance costs, liability, public order acts all contributing to a questionably ‘safer society’ having curbed the often spontaneous nature of many events. Even in my professional capacity as a project co-ordinator for national and regional youth arts projects – the temptation to ‘adultcise’ the event in order to do things the easy way is ever present. I digress. The point being that it wont be adults running The Unit but young people who had a passion for improving things and doing something about the lack of a ‘youth scene’ in South Wiltshire supported by a paid youth worker/manager and people like me, music promoter Colin Holton, veteran youth worker Keith Gale and Ruth Jones, who was once in a punk band and knows what its like, but that’s another story.
FACT no-one wants young people hanging round the streets causing a nuisance with their high spirits but if the shops and cafes shut at 5.30pm and the next bus home isn’t til 7pm then what’s a teenager/young person to do? Oh! Amuse themselves, of course! And what if, for instance, an up and coming band agreed to play a gig in the town on a Saturday night – FAB lots of young people can make their own way there, but the last bus went at 8pm and ‘erm mum and dad are out, so how do you get home? It’s okay, I’ll walk, it’s only three miles and there’s only a one mile stretch of main road with a teeny grass verge, it’s cool, I’m cool, don’t worry about me….. you see where I’m going with this? Yes YOU in the very trendy black gear with not a hint of glow in the dark material on you anywhere, or a coat even!! What if it rains!?? No parents, the answer is not, to lock them up in their bedrooms, or, to ruin your own social life by becoming a private taxi service its to empower them to speak up, ask for local transport to be run at weekends, talk to community groups, tell them there’s a problem, form partnerships, talk to the venue, the promoter, lobby other young people to have their say (draws breath) in short – find an empty shop and use it as a base for the start of making a difference, making a change…
So, lots to do, discuss, money to raise, Gala Estates and the staff at the Bingo have been really supportive and enthusiastic offering the lease at a reduced price and the people who set the rates have agreed to 0% rates. The youth advisory panel (for want of a better name) have been lobbying people for letters of support and filling in funding applications like there’s no tomorrow. People like, Helen Marriage - who once tried to run an open air music gig as part of Salisbury Festival and was told that it would be too difficult to police but undeterred moved on to bigger and better things and instead formed a company that saw a giant Elephant being paraded through the streets of London, have written letters of support :
“I think this is a fantastic idea and just what Salisbury needs. The city has always been somewhere where a co-ordinated approach to young people’s activity has been lacking – but what’s wonderful about your initiative is that it’s coming from young people themselves. This means that the information will be relevant and useful; it’ll be presented in a way that appeals to its target audience and the vibrancy and energy that goes into the project will spill out, generating new audiences and users of the events and facilities that are highlighted.”
So, you see, ‘shift happens’ subtle, slow, but gaining momentum – exciting times indeed.
You can befriend The Unit on facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124526919644 follow on twitter @_TheUnit or on MySpace http://www.myspace.com/theunitsalisbury/ or read their blog http://sstreetteam.livejournal.com
No, not the British Fame Game or Bendy Funnel Gadget – the BFG is an excellent adaption by children’s theatre maestro David Wood, of Roald Dahl’s story The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) directed by Phil Clarke. As children’s shows go this is a class act and considering it’s a touring production there are no visible cracks in either the production values or the casts enthusiasm and energy. With Anthony Pedley as the BFG it has everything to commend it – live music played by actor musicians, scary giants, magic, excellent puppetry and a great story, well told, lively, fun and imaginative.
My daughter loved Heather Phoenix as a playful and wise ‘Queen’, the BFG, Becky John as an endearingly shy ’Sopie’ and Iwan Tudor as ‘Fleshlumpeater’ (amongst others). She still pours over the programme making scary giant noises despite being quite frightened by them the first time they appeared (as was the boy sitting next to her) but it was a refreshingly engaging production and a far cry from ‘Lazy Town Live – The Pirate Adventure’ also produced by co-producer Fiery Angel which we had seen at the Hammersmith Apollo and was an overwhelming experience for a five year old albeit a big fan of Lazy Town – too loud, too brash and too simplistic compared to The BFG.
I saw The BFG with my five year old daughter at The Lighthouse, Poole and afterwards we were invited to join a backstage tour which was expertly delivered by the Company Stage Manager Justin Savage where we learnt that the enormous Giant puppet and the tiny Sophie puppet were the originals from the first production 18 years ago and that snozzcumbers are just as revolting close-up ! Some intreaguing theatrical know-how was revealed to us, it was a wonderful end to a wonderful afternoon.
Really if you have bored children and want to entertain them between now and October you could do worse than invest in some tickets for this show - delightful theatrical craftmanship and great to see saxphones, flutes, clarinets, a ukelele, violins and percussion being played onstage during and as part of, the action.
As we were leaving the Arts Centre I was impressed that the canny Lighthouse Marketing Dept. had left some flyers for their panto ‘Jack and the beanstalk’ in the foyer attached to a free packet of magic beans – underneath a rather beautiful beanstalk saying please take one – so we did – genius idea!
from programme, photo by Robert dayFrom Programme *scary giants* photo by Robert Day
I have been reminded recently of the importance of *dancing* figuratively, metaphorically, literally any which way you roll. I was at the funeral of ‘Roz Hope’ the inimitable mother of an old friend and never a more upbeat, positive, moving occasion have I been a part of. The over-riding theme being to live life, it will be full of obstacles, mountains to be overcome, gone around or conquered but LIVE your LIFE don’t wait for it to come to you, get out there meet people, talk to them, befriend them, find out about them and live your life. Whatever is thrown at you, hits you full on in the face, knocks you sideways – try to keep dancing.
To send off Roz we sang ‘One’ from a Chorus Line and ‘Life is a cabaret’ from Cabaret and it was neither embarrassing or trite, it was genuinely happy and comfortable, we laughed and some of us dripped tears and sobbed a little and we all hugged a lot. Hats off to you Roz and welcome to the Rosemary Hope Scholarship to give one young person the opportunity to realise their dream of becoming a professional performer – so they can blossom for a lifetime.
Who inspired you to do something? Who inspires you to do what you’re doing? Who’s your Muse and why? Give it some thought.
I’ve been reading Lloyd Davis’s ‘Tuttle Report’ social media meet-up/network/idea’s factory which is transforming how people work, create and instigate business partnerships and ventures via the framework of social media. The Tuttle Report is an open and frank revisit of how Tuttle began from meetings in a church hall to a room above a pub to Friday meet-ups at the ICA and a venture that is growing and travelling overseas and across the country. Which started me thinking about people who motivate others, who give them that push to move ideas off the paper and into being. Artists often speak of their ‘muse’ and it’s often not a person but an intangible spirit of creativity, although it might have been a teacher, a loved one, a friend who got them going? It may have been a stranger, someone met in passing, an author of a book? In mythology there were three then eventually nine Muses. There is often more than one person who inspires us although we tend to simplify it down to one.
I get inspired by all kinds of people that I come across both virtually and in reality. Recently I came across Eyton J. Shalom’s site on Tumblr www.tumblr.com his site is ‘Mangos by Telepathy’ which is a feast of beautiful poetry that is so descriptive that when he mentions rain you can almost hear it falling on some imaginary tin roof above you. He also features gorgeous photos and images. I’ve had some brief conversations with Eyton via facebook and discover he lives in America on the edge of a desert, was a monk and has a sister living in the Lake District. We talked about the act of writing poetry and baring your innermost soul to strangers by posting your work on the internet. A new Muse?
I ‘follow’ artist and maker Dan Thompson on Twitter. Dan is based in Worthing and buzzes around organising events and workshops and keeping Worthing on the creative ‘front foot’. He has been experimenting with the ‘empty shops movement’. I have no doubt Dan motivates and inspires others you can check out some of his activity here at Artists and Makers, you could even join the movement.
Do you have a Muse? I’d like to hear about it. No really I would. I’m interested in what makes us such a rich and diverse world, what drives our culture our art our ability to achieve such amazing feats in all things, not just art. Why not give them a virtual handshake and shout them out on twitter using the hashtag #MyMuse or leave a comment here. Who’s your Muse…?
So March is almost over, Easter looms and there are murmurings in the ‘Arts ether’ of more changes to the Arts Council which, should they prove to be true remove any ‘legs’ ACE has left with which to run. Will they really merge the East region with the South East, will ACE development officers be replaced by more ‘generic’ advice assistants? It’s anyone guess, as the likelihood of any open consultation is nil if past broadsweeping and arguably devastating changes to the Councils infrastructure are to go by. Or is it just a mad march scare story? Should we re-devolve the care of arts development to Local Authorities? Re-instate County Drama Advisers? Would we miss ACE if it shrank beyond all recognition? So much uncertainty on the horizon, so many questions.
Meanwhile, I’m enjoying new found friendships via twitter:
Adam Clavering aka @ourschoolrocks is a music industry officionado who is keen to put something back after his many years in the business.
Our School Rocks is launching in June 2009 and is a pioneering, vocational training Academy, that harnesses the enthusiasm and entrepreneurial skills demonstrated by participants and creates talented music industry executives, well versed and ready to undertake future challenges.
Interns will garner real time vocational skills, working with a diverse, well profiled selection of artists that are affiliated with the project, all of whom are making a successful career in music themselves. No theoretical exercises. No artificial scenarios. We deliver genuine, commercial music industry business experience!
‘Our School Rocks’ stimulates career signposts in the potent Music, Creative and Media industries, a passion which so many young people develop for music right through in to their working life.
During their time at OSR our young people work towards a Gold Arts Award, which is delivered in conjunction with a professionally designed, well rounded, music industry structured programme. You can check out more details here http://www.myspace.com/ourschoolrocks .
I’m also enjoying conversations with emerging South Wales based illustrator/artist Dwayne Wyatt aka @theboywyatt whose work is direct and funny. In particular his Haiku’s, for example my current favourite:
.Paintshop.
Valleys spray tan booth.
Only two tones on offer,
Golden and extreme.
©theboywyatt
I am particularly indebted to him for a special edition of his proto-type design for ‘Celebrity Obsession Tees’. I am the proud owner of a virtual ‘I heart Daniel Craig’ one [see photo]. Once he’s got round the problem of putting masking tape through the washing machine I just know everyone is going to want a real one! You can find him here on Tumblr for more of his work, thoughts and observations http://theboywyatt.tumblr.com/
Further to my blog post ‘Bucking trends at Buckmore Park’ The Independent recently featured two articles along a similar theme; “hoodies, louts, scum. How the media demonises teenagers.” And a feature by author and father Anthony Horowitz “Why do we treat children as the enemy?” Two very interesting reads.
Social media is a wonderful thing. The lovely G.L. Hoffman from What Would Dad Say dot com invited me to ’share the podium’ on his blog. I took some convincing and all credit to his charm and tenacity that eventually I summoned up the courage to dip my toe in the water, producing Sunscreen and DNA, the fruits of which you can view here. In fact please do and do leave a comment I sometimes get fed up talking to myself but if for no other reason than to view the you tube link for ‘Everybody’s Free [to wear sunscreen]‘ – fan-tas-tic!
As an Arts freelancer, I was particularly taken by Dave Sniadaks vlog on ‘Complacency Disorder’ on WWDS. How fabulously transatlantic the experience has been, quite inspirational and I now have lots of US connections, filling my head with new perspectives, new vistas and new interests to ponder. There is something very pleasant about broadening your horizons, it’s one of the joys of social media and it’s not shallow and it’s not entirely virtual because some very real debate and conversation spring out from it.
