One day in Burnley - two inspiring events

A big day in Burnley tomorrow for creative work in the public realm. Not one, but two inspiring events!

First, at 1pm four creative teams present their ideas at Burnley College for the Council’s ambitious Princess Way gateway scheme. MPA are supporting Tonkin Liu, creators of the Singing Ringing Tree, but this is a strong shortlist, and any of the teams will have the scope to create something very exciting for the campus/town gateway area.
Info here on the shortlisted artist/teams:
http://www.burnley.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1053&categoryID=200128&pageNumber=12
Anyone wishing to attend please RSVP to ryan@burnley.co.uk

Then from 2pm at the Mechanics, the second in the Creativity Works for regeneration seminar series. Guest speaker is public realm artist Nayan Kulkarni. Several years back, Nayan devised not one, but two brilliant designs for the Panopticons programme. Sadly, each in turn fell victim to local opposition in the Ribble Valley. Their loss, and ours. We are delighted to see Nayan back in town. His talk will be supported by a strong line-up of local case studies, including one by MPA Creative Director Nick Hunt.
Admission to the seminar is free.  You can read more here:
http://www.creativityworks.info/what-we-do/creativity-works/cw-regen-seminar-series
See you there!

Mid Pennine Arts Relocates to Burnley’s Weavers’ Triangle

1 Neptune Street is the white building

MID PENNINE Arts, the regional arts charity has this week completed a move to new offices in the heart of Burnley’s historic Weavers’ Triangle. The organisation’s arrival coincides with fresh moves to kickstart the long-awaited rebirth of the unique heritage area.


Mid Pennine Arts has built a reputation for innovative art projects that have attracted international attention to Pennine Lancashire – most notably the Panopticons including Burnley’s Singing Ringing Tree, Pendle’s Atom, Rossendale’s Halo and Blackburn’s Colourfields. The organisation is especially committed to celebrating the unique heritage of the area, and sees the canalside Weaver’s Triangle as a prime location for doing this.

Mid Pennine Arts aims to break out of the traditional gallery setting, and to take creative projects directly to a wider audience. The new office base is shared with green energy providers the Low Carbon Energy Company in a new partnership for both parties. The base will also provide a platform for creative work with partner organisations, schools and community groups, to start to breathe life back into a townscape that has long lain dormant.

Nick Hunt, Creative Director for Mid Pennine Arts, said: “The Weavers’ Triangle is hugely important for the future of Burnley and Pennine Lancashire. It celebrates our industrial past, and points to a brighter future. This move reinforces our commitment to highlighting our heritage with bold, contemporary art. Already this autumn we have launched the Contemporary Heritage programme in partnership with Towneley Hall, and this new series of big, cutting edge art commissions will soon provide a fresh view of other key heritage venues across Pennine Lancashire. Alongside those projects, moving into the Weavers’ Triangle makes perfect sense for Mid Pennine Arts and we are very excited about the future, as we reach out to new audiences and aim to put art at the heart of Burnley’s renaissance.”

“Mid Pennine Arts has been based at Burnley Mechanics since the opening of the building. This has been a long and happy association and we are very grateful to our partners at Burnley Borough Council for all their support. Now we want to work with the Council in breathing new life into the Weavers’ Triangle. We also look forward to a ground-breaking new partnership with the Low Carbon Energy Company.”

Mike Cook, Burnley Council’s Director of Regeneration and Housing, said: ‘This is good news for Mid Pennine Arts, for the Weavers’ Triangle, and for Burnley. It’s an important statement of confidence in the area’s future and in the aspirations we and our partners have for genuine transformation of the town’s historic industrial heart. On behalf of the Council, I’d like to wish them the very best in their new home.’

The arrival of Mid Pennine Arts coincides with moves by Burnley Borough Council to attract private sector developers to take on key sites clustered around the Sandygate development area. The canalside open space opposite Slater Terrace has been agreed as a future new public space, with an exciting new design selected through the recent Pennine Lancashire Squared design competition. This month the Council is ‘greening’ the area that will become Sandygate Square with an attractive temporary treatment to provide a glimpse of this brighter future.

In spite of economic gloom, these initiatives show the future starting to take shape for the Weavers’ Triangle. Mid Pennine Arts, working alongside partners like the Borough Council and the Prince’s Charities, is aiming to lead the way.

Arts Council Funding Announcements: Our View

By Nick Hunt, Creative Director: Mid Pennine Arts

There have been reports in the local press about the arts funding decisions. The reports are factually accurate, but give a quite distorted view of the mood of the moment amongst arts organisations. All our colleagues in Pennine Lancashire arts companies have been expecting cuts, and planning for them. We know that we will have to take our share of the coming austerity. The Arts Council had advised us to plan for 10% less funding. This is what we were expecting for next year. So it may sound strange to say so, but this week’s news is good news!

The Arts Council is taking a deep cut, but has managed to insulate most of the organisations it regularly supports from the full effect of that. They have also given us comfort by confirming funding for 2011/12 very quickly, at an early stage, so we have a secure year and a half, in which to make plans for a tougher time ahead. On both these counts they have done well by their client companies, and we are grateful to them.

The reports also make it sound like Mid Pennine Arts is the big loser here. Again that gives a false impression. The cut is a standard 6.9% across all client companies. So MPA takes the biggest hit simply because we are the biggest client in Pennine Lancashire. We will continue to receive the largest investment, and in the current climate we are very grateful for that. It represents £175k of inward investment into the economy of Pennine Lancashire, and we will work harder than ever to multiply its value to our local communities.

There are plenty of aspects of the government cuts to be very gloomy about, including today’s news about the Housing Market Renewal programme being stopped dead in its tracks. MPA has had the chance to do some terrific work with Elevate/ Regenerate in HMR areas, and we know what a blow this is for those neighbourhoods.

But the arts funding news means that some brilliant local companies can stop the sleepless nights for a while, and can plan ahead to continue making a big contribution to the lives of our local communities. The glass is at least half full!

Mid Pennine Arts launches “As it Comes: Talking Shop Lancaster”

Sketch by artist Alice Angus
MID Pennine Arts and the Lancaster District Chamber of Commerce have announced the launch of As It Comes, a new commission by artist Alice Angus working with local independent traders, shopkeepers and marketstall owners to celebrate and highlight the overlooked skills, unseen knowledge and rich history of traders in the community.

As it Comes is part of the Lancaster Talking Shop project, which celebrates independent shops and shopkeepers, through artists, designers, photographers and musicians working with local businesses to document, celebrate and highlight their role in the community. The project will highlight some of the unique aspects of Lancaster’s traders and residents, allowing shoppers and visitors to see the area in a new light. Organisers have undertaken the project as part of broader initiatives to raise the profile of traders and increase visitors to areas of Lancaster that have been adversely affected by the economic climate.

As It Comes continues Alice’s work on markets and shops exploring the communities and community bonds they support. Alice was inspired by the skills, crafts and care of traders she got to know in Lancaster, the history of cotton production and the combination of old and new technologies in the area. The resulting work combines traditional embroidery with drawing and cutting edge digital printing on fabric to produce a new series of large scale works to be shown in New Street in November and December.

Lucy Green, Talking Shop Project Coordinator from Mid Pennine Arts, said: “Working closely with our partners, we’ve developed a project with local roots that brings a fresh perspective to what makes Lancaster such a unique place. Having worked closely with retailers, Alice’s work will fill the shop windows of what is now the last empty retail unit on New Street, encouraging shoppers to look at Lancaster in a new light.”

Alice Angus, said: “At first I was amazed to find that within a five minute walk I could have a wedding dress made by a local designer, pick up some home cured ham, local cheese and vegetables, have a suit made and then go to have my chainsaw sharpened. The range of independent traders and their skills is impressive. I've been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of all the people and traders I’ve met in Lancaster. They’ve shared memories and allowed me to see 'behind the scenes' – and draw and photograph them at work! I’ve found a rich heritage of independent trade that people are rightly proud of, something vitally important to support, preserve and build on in the future.”

Mid Pennine Arts is delivering the project in partnership with Lancaster District Chamber of Commerce, Storey Gallery and the History Department of Lancaster University.

Contemporary Heritage Curator's Blog: Not Forgotten Exhibition Guide

September 2010

We have so many fantastic images of Not Forgotten and Memory Garden; we must have over a 1000 already.

After deliberating over which images to use with Claire from Burnley Graphics we made a final decision and signed off the Not Forgotten Exhibition Guide.

The FREE colour guide, with beautiful photos in! is available to all visitors to Towneley Hall from TODAY or you can download it from our website right now, just click: NOT FORGOTTEN EXHIBITION GUIDE

Contemporary Heritage Curator's Blog: Gawthorpe Hall

September 2010
What a beautiful day! Glorious sunshine and I had forgotten my camera so I have borrowed a couple of photos taken by my colleague on a walk he did last year.

We had a Contemporary Heritage meeting at Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham this morning (17th) with Rachel Pollitt, the Keeper and Susan Liddell, Lancashire Museums Manager for the South, to progress ideas for the commission/s there.

This site intrigues me. Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth was a fascinating woman. A lot of thoughts are going round in my head. Rachel Pollitt has sent me off with a weighty guidebook so I can begin to unravel the history.

Contemporary Heritage Curator's Blog: I am envious

Not Forgottten has been up for 1 week. Steve, the Head Gardener and I are in regular contact and his apprentice, Nathan, walks round every morning and checks on all the artworks. I am envious. It is a beautiful walk and very moving. Early on Monday morning (13^th), I set off with my camera and bags to collect all the blackboard signs from each of the cots. Walking round the grounds and the woodland and seeing all names still clearly visible on all the blackboard signs was so moving.

We thought the rain would have washed away the names but it hadn’t. I decided to leave the blackboard markers in the cots, they looked so right and with the name still present, it would have been like removing a memorial to that person. There was something comforting about seeing so many together and so beautiful set in a cot of lavender or rosemary against the woodland or by the pond.

Contemporary Heritage Curator's Blog: Memory Garden

The idea for Memory Garden, a specially commissioned one day event for the launch, grew out of Geraldine’s visits to Towneley, experiencing how visitors use the park and hall, and through our conversations as ideas for Not Forgotten developed.  Memory Garden was a natural progression. Simplicity was key, we wanted to emphasise the connection between John and Mary Towneley’s family, who inspired Not Forgotten, and the visitor. Geraldine spoke beautifully of this connection and I hope this will have been captured on the documentary film which will be screened in the Hall from October.

Visitors were invited to create a Memory Garden, to take a blackboard plant marker and write the name of someone who they will never see again, it may be someone who had passed away or someone who had touched their life in someway but their paths no longer cross.

They could then walk through the woodland or round the hall and choose a cot, lavender for female and rosemary for male, and plant their marker for the day in memory of that person.

Each cot represents one of John & Mary’s children and the growing herbs are a living memorial to each child, and too many more people now. A colleague of mine, who worked at the event, said she hadn’t prepared herself for how emotional Memory Garden was going to be because as people took a blackboard marker they started to share stories with her about the person they were remembering. 

Trees feature in Geraldine’s work and the symbolism is very important to her and never more so than in Not Forgotten. The tree represents their family tree and the cycle of life. The family portrait which Geraldine drew inspiration from was painted in 1601 and in 2010 the cycle of life continues. Not Forgotten is doing what we hoped, it is causing people to pause and consider this handsome building and its grounds for the family home it once was, a home, like any other, that experienced life, loss, love, sadness and joy.

 

“…we saw the painting inside that sparked it off. It was very good. Loved it (the bed)..it’s nice symbolism. I like the fact that you can go right up to it and touch it. We haven’t had time to see as much as we want to so maybe another visit, perhaps tomorrow.” Visitor comment

Contemporary Heritage Curator's Blog: Installation



August

A blog then, this is my first and new to me. Let’s see how it goes.

I’m Rebecca Alexander, formally Keating. I’m the Visual Arts and Project Officer at Mid Pennine Arts and the curator of Contemporary Heritage.

Only a handful of days until installation week. Can it really be nearly here? People from around the country will all be descending on Towneley Hall on Monday 6 September to start installing The Work. A veil of mystery shall remain as to what the artworks are but if you just cannot wait for the launch on Saturday 11 September then I would come to Towneley on Mon 6 or Tue 7 to catch a sneak preview of ‘the work’ being craned into place. I can’t wait to see the artwork at long last in the home for which it has been created.

September
I am being gently encouraged to write my blog.

As we all arrived on site on the morning of Monday 6th September there was an air of excitement, the day had finally arrived! This wasn't another site visit or meeting, this was it!

The installation team was made up of 12 people including Steve Wood and Rob Richards who are Towneley Hall Gardeners. Throughout the week they went above and beyond what was asked of or expected of them and they were absolutely fantastic to work with and great fun. They had a fantastic knack of turning up exactly when we needed them & every request, and there were many, was met with a smile. They made our lives easy and Geraldine was singing their praises all the way back to London!

It couldn’t have been a windier day and as sections of the tree were craned into place the wind whipped around us. Installation is a buzz. Seeing all our combined efforts and hard work over the many months come together and seeing the artwork created in situ is quite something.

The artworks are sited in the grounds as well as inside Towneley Hall and visitors got a great preview of the work as it came together over the week. This is the part I get nervous about. I have absolute confidence in Geraldine, the concept, and the quality and craftsmanship of the artwork but the artworks are ultimately made for visitors to Towneley so fingers were crossed as Geraldine, Mike (Towneley’s Senior Curator), and I chatted to visitors. The response from the start has been so touching, warming, very encouraging and positive.



 I have got to know Towneley Hall and Park and some of the staff quite well over the past year and I have come to recognise that the park has a real ‘at home’ feel to it; it feels ‘comfortable’, like an extension of peoples’ gardens. For these visitors, it is so important that they adopt the artwork, and many have said to me that it looks at home here and that is a wonderful starting point.

I wonder if it looks too at home and this is something I will keep considering but the work is so connected to the heart of this former family home that it is important that it does not appear incongruous.

Spaceshaping in Nelson continues

Local people in Bradley continued working with the CABE Spaceshaper toolkit to help them shape their ideas about the new Youth Centre plans. Steph ran the Spaceshaper workshop over two evenings in August. The group, who are working with local artist William Titley, visited Liverpool to think about public art and urban design and how this could be incorporated into their Youth Centre ideas.

Steph from MPA visited again on Thursday 2 September and helped the group consider creative ways of consulting with the wider community. The group had some imaginative ideas such as conducting an opinion poll by text-message, developing their own Facebook page, developing a portable 'wish-tree', drawing a huge portable map and asking people to annotate it ... the list went on! Next week the group will make a short presentation to the Bradley Residents Association and ask them to record their hopes for the project using star-shaped post-it notes on a 'wish wall'.

Thanks to William Titley for use of the photographs in this blog post. See the Bradley Regen Blogspot for more info http://art,%20participation%20&%20regeneration/

Contemporary Heritage: a new way of seeing Towneley Hall and Park

Mid Pennine Arts and Towneley Hall partner on the first Contemporary Heritage commission

BURNLEY’s Towneley Hall and Park is gearing up for the imminent launch of Contemporary Heritage featuring the work of nationally acclaimed artist Geraldine Pilgrim.

Not Forgotten, which opens on Saturday 11th September, forms part of Contemporary Heritage, a Mid Pennine Arts partnership programme inspired by the historic venues that Pennine Lancashire is home to. Rebecca Alexander Mid Pennine Arts’ Visual Arts and Projects Officer, said: “Pennine Lancashire has a wealth of sites, from Castles to Towers, all rich with stories and history. We are working with our partner venues to commission artists to create new work in response to these stunning locations.”

“We are passionate about the cultural heritage we have in Pennine Lancashire and the opportunity Contemporary Heritage offers visitors to experience major works of art outside a city environment by artists of national and international standing.”

Not Forgotten is the latest work of artist Geraldine Pilgrim, whose installations reveal memories and atmospheres, as well as the history of the space. It is something of a coup for Pennine Lancashire that the first commission of this flagship project has been awarded to Geraldine Pilgrim, a highly acclaimed artist whose previous work has been commissioned by organisations as varied as Girl Guides UK, English Heritage, The National Review of Live Art Festival, The National Trust and Liverpool’s Bluecoat Gallery.

The Not Forgotten installation, commissioned for Towneley Hall and Park, has been inspired by a distinctive portrait of John and Mary Towneley and their seven sons and seven daughters. The work will enable people to experience Towneley in new ways and will cast light on elements of the history of the location that present a compelling meditation on memory and loss.

Mid Pennine Arts have been working with Mike Townend, Towneley’s Senior Curator to develop the programme. Mike said: “We’re looking at new ways of using our collections – so to have provided the inspiration for a nationally recognised contemporary artist is fantastic. We really hope this will engage people and take contemporary art to a new audience.”

“People will begin to see Towneley in new ways - with installations in both the grounds and the Hall. You can stand in a window at Towneley and look out at the installation in the landscape and it gives the place a different perspective. We call it ‘Looking in: looking out’. “

Mid Pennine Arts Creative Director Nick Hunt, said: “Towneley are great partners and we are really excited that Contemporary Heritage is set to launch at Towneley. It’s a really fitting location for Geraldine Pilgrim’s installations and I’m sure Not Forgotten will prove to be extremely engaging and memorable.”

He added: “This marks the latest step for Mid Pennine Arts’ ambitions to see Pennine Lancashire become an arts, culture and heritage destination. Mid Pennine Arts bring art, people and places together to transform perceptions and change lives.”

If you require further information, images or would like to interview Geraldine Pilgrim, Artist, Nick Hunt, Creative Director and Rebecca Alexander, Visual Arts and Projects Officer from Mid Pennine Arts and - please call Rob Carder from Mid Pennine Arts on 01282 421 986 or email Rob@midpenninearts.org.uk

Further Contemporary Heritage installations are being developed with our Lancashire County Council and our partner venues, Clitheroe Castle Museum, Gawthorpe Hall, Helmshore Mills Textile Museum and Turton Tower.

About Mid Pennine Arts

Mid Pennine Arts is a driving force for the arts, recognised nationally for devising and delivering exemplary integrated creative programmes. We bring art, people and places together to transform perceptions and change lives. The vast experience of our team ensures excellence across a range of arts disciplines and responds to identified needs. Our work with private, public or community sector clients inspires participants, unlocks aspiration and reignites civic pride.

We are an independent charity. We’re based in Pennine Lancashire but our work and influence extends way beyond into county –wide projects and into West Yorkshire. Our work has achieved national and international recognition. Our most successful work is developed through partnerships, networks and creative collaborations. Our work is people-centred and people-friendly - it celebrates diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. We embody a spirit of discovery, and integrate creative learning into all our projects. We strive for the best possible creative results, and the most ambitious impacts. We’re always aiming to break new ground in the content, the context and the outcomes of our work.

Mid Pennine Arts Facilitates First Spaceshaper Workshop

Mid Pennine Arts is helping Pendle Borough Council consult groups of young people on Youth Centre site plans. We are facilitating our first ever ‘Spaceshaper’ workshops in partnership with Pendle Council’s Nelson Neighbourhood Management team and Housing Regeneration Services, and Lancashire County Council’s Young People’s Service. ‘Spaceshaper’ is a toolkit designed by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). Our education coordinator Steph Hawke is leading the facilitation over two evenings in August.

The workshops are focusing on an area of land at the front of the Bradley Youth hub; a development which consists of a new Youth and Community Centre alongside some supported accommodation for young people. The land will be subject to significant improvement in the coming months and will be designed with the input of young people from Nelson.


The Spaceshaper sessions examine young people’s opinions about the place under categories of ‘access’, ‘environment’, ‘maintenance’, ‘design and appearance’, ‘you’, ‘use’, ‘other people’ and ‘community’. Using CABE’s online software, opinions are illustrated as innovative ‘ramblegrams’ whereby the participants are represented as avatars or fun cartoon characters which illustrate the group’s opinions by moving around the screen.

Talking Shop in Lancaster

By Lucy Green

Talking Shop engages creative practitioners to work with independent businesses to document, celebrate and highlight their importance as hubs of the local community.


Artist Alice Angus (http://www.proboscis.org.uk/) has been commissioned by Mid Pennine Arts to deliver the next project in the Talking Shop series celebrating independent shops and shopkeepers, this time in Lancaster city centre. The project is being delivered in partnership with Lancaster District Chamber of Commerce, Storey Gallery and the History Department, Lancaster University.


Talking Shop in Lancaster will highlight what makes the area unique in terms of its independent retail offer. It will also encourage shopkeepers, shoppers and city visitors to see the area in a new light, and bring footfall in areas of Lancaster that have been adversely affected by the recent economic problems.


Alice is planning various activities to involve shopkeepers, stallholders and individuals and will spend time in some of the shops and market stalls, talking with traders, observing and recording life in those places. She will also be working with local people, in groups and individually to understand their experience of shopping in the city.

The final artwork will be a series of large scale drawings and illustrations on show in empty shops in the city centre during the autumn, a website with audio recordings and images, and a publication. We’ll be launching the exhibition of artworks in Lancaster with a celebratory community event, so keep an eye out for further details as the project develops.

The Big Society

The Conservative - Liberal Democrat Government have an ambition: to put more power and opportunity into people’s hands. They want to give citizens, communities and local government the power and information they need to come together, solve the problems they face and build the Britain they want. They want society – the families, networks, neighbourhoods and communities that form the fabric of so much of our everyday lives – to be bigger and stronger than ever before. They want to:

1. Give communities more powers
2. Encourage people to take an active role in their communities
3. Transfer power from central to local government
4. Support co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises
5. Publish government data

Localism is the principle, decentralisation the process and then Big Society will be the outcome.  Mid Pennine Arts, like many other arts organisations, is an independent social enterprise with charitable status. We have a volunteer, community-based Trustee Board. Much of our work uses art to bring people into an active role in their communities. We've been around a while and we know that what tends to happen in response to all major new policy is an amount of wheel reinvention. Big Society is in place to differing extents in different communities.We believe that there is a danger that this will be ignored in the rush to drive policy change in the context of public funding cuts. Wheel reinvention will happen rather than building on what works already.