Creative engagement in Pennine Lancashire
Lucy is finishing in Blackburn this week after a very succesful four weeks in Blackburn. She has had around a 100 book recommendations, numerous prints, many conversations and delivered a number of book binding workshops. She will now go away and create an archive of the information she has collected…
http://blackburnbookarchive.blogspot.com/
…and it did not go smoothly! Read all about it here http://blackburnbookarchive.blogspot.com/
We have finally confirmed the shop we will be using in Blackburn. From next Wednesday Lucy May Schofield will be in residence at 11 Fleming Square, between the hairdressers and Exchange Coffee Company.
Lucy came to do some more research at the museum yesterday and now has more inspiration than she knows what to do with! Have a look at the dates she will be in the shop http://blackburnbookarchive.blogspot.com/
Lucy with a very big book!
As NWSA Open Shop Project ends, Blackburn’s begins. Starting on the 19th of July for four weeks, Lucy May Schofield will be working with Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery to produce a book archive for Blackburn. Inspired by the Hart collection of books at the museum and the archives of the recently closed down Star Paper Mill, Lucy will use a variety of methods to produce an archive of what the community of Blackburn are reading in the summer of 2010. More details soon on the project blog http://blackburnbookarchive.blogspot.com/
Pictures from the Star Paper Mill archive that Lucy will be working with through her project with Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery.
We now have five very exciting artists in place for the projects that will take over this summer:
Burnley/Towneley: ArtYarn – May-June
Blackburn/Blackburn museum and Art Gallery: Lucy May Schofield – July-August
Ribble Valley/North West Sound Archive: Laurence Kaye – June – July
Rossendale/Rossendale Museum: Kaspar Wimberley and Susanne Kudielka - June
Hyndburn/Haworth Art Gallery: Sarah Jay - August
After a very productive planning meeting with Lucy May Schofield for the Blackburn project, that involved visiting local libraries, rummaging through the collections and trying to gain access to the closed Star Paper Mill, we are pleased to announce project dates. Lucy will be in residence in the shop from the 19th of July to the 15th of August. A full timetable of what she will be doing and when will be posted nearer to the time, as will a project blog.
These are printing blocks from Blackburn Museum’s archive that we may use in publicity for the Open Shop Project in Blackburn.
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery/ Phase 1 Artist Brief
Creativity Works background:
Creativity Works is a consortium consisting of Pennine Lancashire Arts Officers, Arts Council North West, Lancashire County Council, Creative Lancashire, Elevate and Curious Minds. The partnership provides the infrastructure for joint working, shared approaches, economies of scale working across the sub region and alignment to the Multi Area Agreement as well as districts Local Area Agreement’s.
Creativity Works was initially set up in 2000, supporting Creative Industries in Pennine Lancashire. In 2008 it extended its remit to work strategically on four priority areas: Health, Business, Regeneration and People, to raise the profile of and participation in, quality arts practice in the region.
The engagement programme of work that this project belongs to, began in September 2009. The aim of this work is to increase engagement in the arts through working with local heritage venues. This project forms part of the initial programme of activity that will happen with each partner venue.
Project background:
In 2008, Star Paper Mill in Blackburn closed down after 133 years of production on the site. When the site closed, the curatorial staff from Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery were invited to take any of the records, archives or objects they felt would preserve the sites history. Most of what they collected where records and pictures. In partnership with Lancashire County Records Service and Blackburn Library Service, they are now going through a process of identification and documentation of these objects and archives. The services are working with local volunteers, some who are ex-employees of the site, to carry out this work. There is a display cabinet being used in Livesey Library, the local library to the mill, to temporarily display some of the archive.
Alongside this project, Creativity Works are working throughout East Lancashire to utilise empty shop spaces in town centres. This commission is part of a larger scheme of work that brings together empty shop spaces and local heritage venues as a way of increase community engagement with arts and heritage. There will be an opportunity in each of the six Pennine Lancashire local authorities to work in partnership with a local heritage venue to increase engagement in the visual arts through the use of an empty shop. The commission is to work in Blackburn.
Aims:
Project brief:
We would like to recruit an artist to develop work that will engage the community with the findings of the Star Paper Mill project, stimulate conversation or reminiscences and produce new work with the community. This activity will take place in the empty shop space in Blackburn town centre, bringing the communities around the mill into the town centre. As mentioned in the aims, BMAG have a collection of books and print of national importance and this may also be a source of inspiration for the project. We want the communities of Blackburn to reconnect with the collections of BMAG, and their interest in Star Paper Mill will be a good vehicle for doing this. Proposals can be using any art form from craft techniques to new media, but they must show how working with the community will directly influence the outcome. The outcome of this project must be something that further connects the community and leaves a legacy, depending on the form, this maybe something that gets distributed to a certain neighbourhood or goes into the museum collection.
Project Structure:
This project will take place in an empty shop (venue tbc) in Blackburn. We have the use of this space for four weeks in July 2010. As part of the project you must:
Budget:
18 x 0.5 artists days @ £90 = £1,620
1 x full artist day (installation) = £180
Materials = £450
Total = £2,250
How to apply:
To apply, please send us:
1. An outline of how you would approach this project. This should include:
2. Examples of previous work/projects that you have undertaken
3. A full CV
4. A letter of application stating what interests you about this project.
Please send application, or for more information, by email to Laura Rodgers, Creativity Works Arts Engagement Officer, laura.rodgers@blackburn.gov.uk
Closing date: 26/03/2010 (12 noon)
Interview date: 12/04/2010
