Quarterly
Welcome to our Community
1st Edition
FUTURE EVENTS
Young
SEE OUR PAST EVENTS & WORKSHOPS
S.Varney The hard &
fast
Tokyo
Richard Reynolds Talks to us about his latest venture
story
writers
share their experiences & talents Current Events & Workshop News
S. John Annett shares his story of success
Contents Our community 3 Contributers 4 Welcome to our Community Our Chair - John Levvett, Our Staff - Caroline Lister, Teanne Andrews 5 A note from our editor S.Varney 6/7 Volunteer profiles how many volunteers, how many staff, volunteer led charity. skilss gained and outcomes of being a volunteer what you can do as a volnteer or workshop runner recruiment for volunteers we are creating a fundraising initiative recruiting for Youth arts panel recruiting for anything else 9 workshop leaders section - include any links to websites/ emails Heather- screen printing Coleen- pottery 10/13 Samuel John Annett’s Profile Past Events/ workshops 14 Science Museum project 15 oscar film award for young people 16 dragon hall 17 animation with kids animation with the millman project 18 Scouts , -St albans-scouts, charigl 20/21 The Book Club Boutique Silence is not golden Nickesh 22/24 Guerrilla Gardening Founder Richard Reynolds Talks about his new venture Pimp Your Pavement Plus International Tulip Day Current events & workshops section 25 Programme 26 Knitting & sewing 27 Screenprinting- Cheoreography of the Brain 28/29 Bloomsbury Festival/wellcome trust 30/31 Holborn Street Party 32/35 S. VARNEY. shares her snaps of Tokyo & observations of Japanese culture Future events 40 Family day at the dickens museum 41 filming project/with dickens museum 42 AGM
Contributers Sam Varney Producer, editor & designer samantha.varney1@gmail.com www.lilifi.tumblr.com Teanne Andrews (Arts Co-ordinator) Administration & Photos teanne.andrews@1a-arts-ets.co.uk Caroline Lister 1A ARTS etc Project Director Author Tosan Egharevba Share’s his work with us. t_egharevba@yahoo.com egharevbarts.com
Heather Martin Tells us about her creative work with 1A & other London based charities. heatherfmartin@hotmail.com
Colleen Rodgers Our pottery workshop leader
Samuel John Annett annett.samuel@gmail.com An Inspirational look at John’s jourThe Book Club Boutique ney through university and success in Salena Goddon starting a career in Berlin. http://wn.com/book_club_boutique Inspirational look at spoken & written word
Nickesh Shulka Writer Fish Gives us an insight into Scouts in London.
Richard Reynolds
Our Community John Levitt John Levitt is one of the organisation’s founding trustees and has been Chair of the Board of Trustees since 2007. John has been a local resident for many years and is well-placed to represent local people.
Letter from the Chair I am very pleased to present the first edition of I (heart) 1A ARTS etc. It has been a year of development and some particular achievements including the Limelight Film Award for our recent young people’s film project ‘Generation Change’. None of this would have been possible without the vital support of our many funders, volunteers, Trustees and of course the hard work of Caroline & Teanne. We have continued to work in partnership with numerous organisations and look forward to further collaborations in the year ahead. This year we have further developed our work with museums, notably the Science Museum and the Wellcome Collection, and look forward to our partnership with the Dickens Museum from January 2011. In 2011 we will enter the tenth year since our foundation as Holborn Community Development Project and it will be three years since we moved into our permanent home here at the 1A Centre. However, voluntary sector organisations, such as ours, are facing challenging times and we will need to concentrate our efforts on fundraising more than ever. My special thanks are due to our volunteers who are particularly important to 1A ARTS etc and this magazine will describe the work they are doing. The input of our Youth Arts Advisory Panel has been exceptional and our young volunteers are brilliantly organised by Teanne Andrews. We have increased our work with young people aged 13 to 25 who along with younger children are a most precious human resource for the future and especially deserving of our attention and support. Finally, I would like to thank Caroline Lister, our Project Director, for her inspirational work and Teanne Andrews in her dual role as Arts Co-ordinator and Volunteer Co-ordinator as well as Colleen Rogers our resident pottery tutor and technician. We look forward to working further with the local community in 2011. John Levitt - Chair and Director Caroline Lister & Teanne Andrews Caroline is 1A ARTS etc’s project director and has been with the organisation for nearly seven years leading it from an organisation with only a tiny rented office through becoming registered as a charity and setting up at the 1A Centre. Teanne is the Youth & Volunteer Co-ordinator at 1A Arts etc and has held the position for nearly 2 years.
Volunteers • Aisha Abdulrahman - Cupcake Girls’ Club leader • Anima Abdulrahman - Cupcake Girls’ Club leader • Brandon Hoilett - Peer Educator (animation) • Daniel Davies - children’s after-school pottery class • Deborah Shahar - playscheme • Deishaun Fraser - Peer Educator (animation) • Elizabeth Nicol - general • Emma Bernard - children’s after-school pottery class • Ethel Kojman - after-school pottery class & administrative support • Fariza Ibrahim - administrative support • Fiona Elachkar - children’s after-school pottery class • Joy Hampton - children’s after school arts & textiles • Juliette Bailey - adults sewing drop-in • Laura O’Neil - Peer Educator (animation) • Louise Jefferson - general / children’s after-school pottery class • Mariko Primarolo - inter-generational animation workshops • Mick Malloy - over 55s computing • Pam Williams - children’s & inter-generational animation workshops • Polly Cook - children’s arts workshops • Rachel Cave - youth screen-print workshops • Samantha Rodan - children’s after-school pottery class • Samantha Varney - Youth Arts Forum & I <3 1A ARTS editor • Sian Beeton - children’s after-school pottery class • Susanna Ford - youth screen-print workshops • Tomas Pavelka - GarageBand music workshops • Tosan Egharevba - youth screen-print workshops & playscheme • Vanisha Minstry - children’s after-school pottery class / schools
A note from the editor. editor, producer and designer of the magazine
TRUSTEES John Levitt - Chair Louise Gates Elizabeth Nicol Shirley Jacobs Sue Shickle Donna Edwards Louise Jefferson Zuzana Roskova Chloe Vernon Catherine Castle
Youth Arts Forum invites male volunteers to join
Are you 15 to 21? • Live in Holborn or Kings Cross? • Passionate about the Arts?
We meet fortnightly on a Tuesday evening, 6.30 -8.30pm to plan and organise: • Creative projects and events for children & young people • Festivals, exhibitions and community events • Our monthly youth newsletter Refreshments are provided For more info or to join call Teanne on 020 7837 3332 or email (see above)
Being a Volunteer Barabra Owusu What inspired you to volunteer at 1A ARTs etc? I wanted to gain experience in activity and event planning and when I discovered that 1A Arts focused on arts I was very interested as it is something a really enjoy. What do you enjoy about volunteering at 1A ARTS etc? I’ve enjoyed every single session, especially planning events and contributing activity ideas for the children and young people.
Joy Hampton What inspired you to volunteer at 1A ARTS etc? I want to become a primary a school teacher and failed to get on to a PGCE course this year due to my lack of experience with children. I couldn’t think of nicer or more fun way to get the experience then to help volunteer at a local arts club.
Has your attitude to changed and if so how?
Yes. After volunteering I have realised that it can be a very rewarding experience that has helped me build on my knowledge of different art activities and what needs to be done when planning events. I wouldn’t be able to gain this knowledge or get these experiences in my current job and I know the experiences I get in volunteering will help in my career in event management.
What do you enjoy about volunteering at 1A ARTS etc? Its in title of the organisation. I loved that all the activities are all very much arts based. Has your attitude to volunteering changed and if so how? Yes, I would definitely volunteer again. A little help goes along way. It provides children/ young people/adults with access to activities, new opportunity’s that they may not have otherwise been able to get involved in and in return it make you feel good. Has it helped you improve your job prospects and if so, how? Yes it has allowed me to build up my experience working with children as well as giving me access to training course that have helped me to understand children’s needs and how to work safely with them. Has it helped you to move into training or further education opportunities and if so, how? I already knew that I wanted to go into teaching before I started volunteering but it has helped confirm my decision. How has volunteering with 1A ARTS etc help you develop personally and in what ways might that help you at work? I think it has helped build up my confidence when interacting with others and has taught me not be afraid to get involved in new things. What inspired you to volunteer at 1A ARTS etc? I have acted as a volunteer, supporting the set-up and smooth running of arts and textiles class and a screen printing class.
volunteering
Has it helped you improve your job prospects and if so, how?
What do you enjoy about volunteering at 1A ARTS etc? No, I was really impressed with the kinds of activities that were offered. It provides children with the opportunity to get involved in a broad range of activities such as film making and pottery, allowing them not only to have fun but teaching them some very useful skills. I wish 1A Arts had been around when I was a child!!
Yes. I am hoping to enter into the event management industry and the experience I am getting, and will hopefully get more of in the future, will give me great knowledge needed to get other voluntary roles and internships in the career area.
Will you continue to be involved in this project/area that the project is involved in? Why? Yes, I enjoy working with children and it gives me a huge amount of satisfaction to know that by volunteering my time I can help in the provision of fun/creative activities for children that can help them to develop new skills. Too many children watch too much television these days, they need clubs like these to help them develop new interests and get them mixing and interacting with other children!! What impact do you think this project has had on your local community? It has given people (children) the opportunity to meet new people, learn new skills and given people (children) something to look forward to in their day.
Volunteers at Queens Fair
Workshop Leaders Screen Printing with Heather Martin Hi my name’s Heather Martin. I’ve run a couple of screen printing projects with teenagers at 1A Arts since February this year. The first was with a group designing and printing t-shirts. One of my favourites was this “Caution tape” print created by Sam (See right below). I’m now working with another group and we’re in the middle of making designs to be worn by dancers at the Bloomsbury Festival later this month. Some fantastic group prints have been made inspired by images from the Wellcome Collection of brain activity when dancing. I’ve been working in community settings for some eight years. I mostly use screen printing and felt making but really enjoy the opportunity to respond to briefs using different materials. This flexibility has led me to work in animation making and exhibiting huge (1m diameter) zoetropes with year 7s from Academy at Peckham as well as a giant Angels and Doves mobile using recycled materials, cds, sweet wrappers and paper cups with Haymerle primary SEN school, Peckham. In the last year I’ve been fortunate to be commissioned to work with 3 communities to design and paint murals for walls in their neighbourhoods and this is an area of work I’d like to develop. A real achievement last year was getting a coveted runner’s up award from the Campaign for Drawing for a Big Draw project I led at Ivydale Primary School. Long after Saatchi’s YBAs left Goldsmiths College I arrived to study! Before this I’d done bespoke tailoring at London College of Fashion but my love of art took me away from Saville Row. However, the discipline of the training does inform my art work which is process driven using a combination of drawing, hand stitch, weave, felt making and print. I make detailed drawings of object’s surfaces and am currently working on a series of “paintings” combining stitch with print and felt. By comparison to the community work I do, which tends to be very rich and colourful, my own is often quite monochrome. To assist the funding of my practice but also because I love working with children, I run a small art and craft party business called “I made it myself!”. In the future I’m looking forward to being involved in some youth enterprise work, making more murals plus there’s an intergenerational stitch and sound project I’d like to get off the ground. Fingers crossed!
Pottery with Colleen I started working in clay at the 1A Centre with Patrick Adamson back in 1992. I started with drop in sessions and ended up as Patricks apprentice learning how to be a pottery technician. This was an amazing opportunity Patrick was not only a fantastic teacher but had been a potter for thirty years and a former apprentice of reknown potter Michael Cardew. I then went on to do a two year Fine and Applied Art course at the City lit. I have been working in clay since then and have participated in various shows and open studios. I have supplemented my work by doing classes regularly in everything from life drawing and life sculpting to Chinese watercolours and printmaking workshops. I have been involved with 1A Arts etc. since before its re-opening in 2008. I was consulted by Caroline Lister about the best lay out for the studio before it was finalised. I set up the studio from scratch ordering all of the material needed to get up and running. Our first classes took place in spring of 2008 with a series of family workshops, heavily oversubscribed, an encouraging sign of local need. The majority of classes have been with children. I run two after school clubs per week, workshops with local schools, under five workshops and summer schemes. We have also run adult courses, over 60’s classes, ‘bonding’ classes for businesses and workshops in conjunction with the British Museum teaching cuniform writing on clay tablets. We always have displays of the students work in the studio and in the reception area of the building and turn the studio into a gallery space for student exhibitions that are always very well attended. All of the students are encouraged to express their own artistic ideas. I am a sculptor taking my influences from ancient cultures which ties in with my interest in archaeology and I try to bring this sensibility into my teaching. I believe that all artistic expression has worth and I try to relay this to my students so that they are proud of their achievements. It is very satisfying, as a teacher, to see the quality of work that is produced,
City of Dreams John Annett is a recent graduate of the Central Saint Martins' BA Product Design program in London. His designs include speculative objects, ecological probes and forays into multi-disciplinarian territories. This time he talks about the relocation to Berlin post London and the importance of reconnecting with onesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; desires.
I see my modus operandi as the task of shining light where the post-humanist condition aligns with the medium of industrial design. In his spare time he courts with wet film, the digital arts and practical philosophy. Though borne and bred on small but not remote farm located in the heart of Northern Ireland I had from an early age day dreams of something beyond the veil of daily toil with livestock and soil, school where most of these mind drifts occurred was and still is more than an education. The progression from one institute to another wasn't always straight forward but from the way things turn out I can see that those moments, the difficult ones, are the without doubt the most influential in life. When it comes to demanding and pivotal points, London and the process of moving there has been without question the most trialling. I think the philosopher Carl Jungâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 'metanoia' is the best way to describe it, the desire to do something that will change your life perspective without understanding the actual effects
and sometimes the process needed to do this. The commencement of university was a bumpy landing but I got the feeling this was where I was supposed to be. Now, when I return to Ireland, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not home anymore, as if a bridge had burnt down and as a consequent result has made me want to do something big again. That was the risk then and four years later there was the need to undergo another. This time the move would not be underlined by an academic necessity but rather a need to reacquaint with parts of myself that had been (not conscientiously) ignored, namely the desires that drive us to achieve. They might be for instance as in the past a person I had a strong emotional, creative and influential bond with or perhaps something less defined on the surface.
Berlin had raised its head as an option a number of times for different reasons, there was much talk of the established art community, affordable accommodation something welcomed after London's extortionate prices and the general quality of life. Upon arrival in Berlin no less than three weeks ago, I have since through connections with the small yet well rounded design community made trips to various design festivals further afield, the most memorable of which being the Istanbul Design Week, with more to come it might not be to forward to suggest that I have indeed made the 'right' choice. Like many big decisions we confront there is not always one clear option, for me the choice is made on an almost emotional level, gut feeling you could say.
Images & words by: Samuel John Annett annett.samuel@gmail.com
Past Events
Science Museum Science Museum’s newest Curators are Young People from Camden. On Saturday 26 June 2010 the Science Museum is launching the revamped Who am I? gallery which includes a joint youth engagement project with 1A ARTS etc in south Camden. During the first 3 months of this year the group of 13 to 16 year olds from Holbornbased charity 1A ARTS etc gave up every Saturday to work with curators and other staff from the Science Museum to create their own display case for the Museum’s new cutting-edge Who am I? gallery which opens to the public in June. The gallery looks at how modern biomedical science, in particular brain science and genetics, is challenging our concept of identity. The fourteen young people researched and developed the display through a series of 12 interactive workshop sessions. The project offered significant opportunities for all the young people involved to develop their practical, personal and creative skills whilst experiencing firsthand the support and leadership of a diverse range of professionals. Throughout the project participants received training in science communication, presentation and interview skills as well as learning how to make animations with Teanne Brown of 1A ARTS etc. Micol Molinari, a member of the Learning Team at the Science Museum, said:” Working with these fantastic young people has been so much fun and a real eyeopening experience- they are an inspiration. Every week they went from strength to strength. When they started, many didn’t know each other, but they really came together as a team and as friends. Over 3 months they created a wonderful, unique display about sleep and dreaming in the new Who am I? gallery, and the Science Museum is a better place already because of their involvement. We can’t wait for people to be inspired by them, and look forward to more input from young people all over!”
Youth Film Project Five young filmmakers from Camden have won a national award for best film by under 17s at Limelight’s Oscarstyle awards ceremony July 2010. The children, all aged between 10 and 13, created a 10-minute film, ‘Generation Change’, about the experiences of child evacuees during the Second World War with Camden charity 1A ARTS etc. They researched the story, wrote the script, acted, directed and edited the film over three months last year, spending their October half-term holiday shooting the action in the London Transport Museum depot. The plot follows a boy who gets left behind by his friends on a school trip to the museum and has an unforgettable adventure.
It was like winning an Oscar!
A drama coach and film mentor helped the children act and learn technical skills, and the final film was completed in December 2009. Holborn-based charity 1A ARTS etc entered it into the Limelight Film & Arts Awards and ‘Generation Change’ was nominated from more than 171 applicants. It was up against three other short films in the Schools category.
13-year-old Milo Blake.Ciaran said: "A lot of things about the project have been really special. There's so much dedication and time put into making everything perfect, 'cos that's what you want a movie to be - perfect!" Badruddin added: "I've learnt to make parts of the script into my own words, the best part was doing the filming and I'd like to do more editing."
Ten-year-olds Sienna Blake and Badruddin Pouget took their parents to the glitzy awards ceremony at The Troxy, asdid brothers Kai, 11, and Ciaran Mahindru, 12, and
The Limelight Film & Arts Awards is an annual short film competition for London-based filmmakers, and MTV Base and Choice FM presenter Kat hosted the 2010 ceremony. Visit http://limelightonline.org for more details.
1A ARTS etc is a charity that caters for the needs of the Holborn community through arts-based courses, workshops and events. It draws children and young people to work on projects through a database of family contacts.
Animation Projects
In December 2009 we received from Santander a grant to purchase six Mac laptops, animation software, animation training and funding to run animation projects throughout 2010. Animation (of the type made famous by the clay characters (Wallace and Gromit) is a new area of work for the organisation. Both staff members and six young peer educators received two days training before starting to run workshops for local people aged 8 to 99 years. Our six peer educators aged 14 to 24 have helped us to run workshops for greater numbers than we could have done without their input. Also the peer educators build up their selfconfidence, skills and experience giving them a good start to their CVs. This model of working with peer educators has been of great benefit both to the young people and to the organisation. We have run animation workshops during school holidays throughout 2010 at the 1A Centre and as part of the after-school provision at Dragon Hall WC1. Most of the animation workshops have been for 8s to 16s, but we also ran an inter-generational animation project at Millman Street Resource Centre with volunteers aged 14 to 24 working with centre users aged 55 to 99 years. The participants enjoyed this project so much that we have been invited back to do more animation work making good use of the older peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stories rom their younger days. Three of our animations by 14s to 16s are on permanent display at the Science Museum.
Hello people of different worlds and genius minds. I am Piscis or otherwise known as Lupus.
I will be writing about 8th Holborn Scouts otherwise known from all around the world and especially in Poland ‘Master of the Rivers!’ I am also a member of this group. As some of you may think scouts is all about getting dirty and trying to find certain types of rocks and leaves. Well, this is the part where I say YOU ARE MISTAKEN! Scouts is where I made friends and actually now I have a social life as now I can approach anyone except strangers that look dodgy and be acquainted with them. There are leaders who organise activities and this involves getting wet to concentrating riddles. I guess it is really about getting along with each other. But I am not going to lie. Some I have met and not got along with and others I see outside of scouts and do get along with. But I think it is safe to say that scouts is a world of our own and yet reflects the future obstacles and reality that we experience in this large and worldwide scouting. You get to meet other scouts from all over the world. For instance just a few months ago, in July there was a trip to Scotland and ten scouts from 8th Holborn went to represent England in over 40 years have not attended the Jamborette that took
place in Blair Atholl. And I was one of them. Can you imagine? The pressure, and yet both our leaders who accompanied us always supported us. I now have so many contacts from all over the world, especially America. And it does not only stop there. TRIPS!!! They are the best. I mean I am speaking as I am a nature addict. Whenever there is a trip let us say three months away I would always be the first to say IM GOING!! I mean I have been in scouts for about two years or a bit more and I have been to camps more than probably 15 times. And I do not regret any of them. Even if there was a disagreement between some members. This is actually human nature. I cannot imagine a group more suited to me and my friends. 8th Holborn are mainly canoeists and Kayakers. As we attend to these trips most of them our canoes that the group owns are also brought along. That is why we are called ‘Masters of the Rivers’. And it is not only just scouts children from the age of 6 and over are able to join. I must say they are a hand full. And soon we will teach them our canoeing skills and they will teach the younger ones and on and on. Eventu-
ally this becomes a cycle. I think that is really what makes us good scouts. In some way we are patient with each other. So if you think you’re up to the challenges of 8th Holborn bring it on and join our group. We are based in Coram’s Fields in the music room. It takes place every Thursdays at 7pm. If you would like to take part then the following will be according to age groups. I know a saying and it goes ‘Do not judge a book by its cover’. Give it a few sessions and I guarantee that you will enjoy the people and the activities. It is also £2.00 every session. Take my word for it. Explorer Scouts From ages 14 to 18 Times- 7pm till 9pm. Scouts From ages 10 to 14 years old. Times- 7pm till 9pm. Cubs From ages 8 to 10 years old. Times- 7pm till Beavers From ages 6 to 8 years old. Times – 6pm till 7pm UnTiL NeXt TiMe PeOpLe FrOm DifFeReNt WoRlDs aNd GeNiUs MiNdS.
Book Club Boutique
Salena Goddan Latest news... The Book Club Boutique is back! With a monthly residency and our special brand of Books, Booze and Boogie-Woogie at The House Of St Barnabas, QSoho, 1 Greek Street, right in the pumping heart of Soho. The live performances will take place in the chapel, offering wonderful acoustics, cushioned alcoves and stained glass windows. And there is a leafy courtyard, a secret garden to smoke and sip cocktails and meet up with your fellow Boutiquers.
Overlooking this, we have the garden room, where we will have the bar serving delightful drinkys, where you can peruse the book table and merchandise whilst the BCB DJ’s play a wicked soundtracks and classic party tunes. Recently The House of St Barnabas underwent an intense period of renovation and redecoration, in order to restore the building to its original Georgian glory. Since then, The House of St Barnabas has hosted Quintessentially Soho - a not-for-profit charitable members’ lounge and events space, aimed at raising funds for The House of St Barnabas Charity. The charity looks to alleviate the problems associated with homelessness in London, and to help improve the health and education of disadvantaged people and communities worldwide. SO when you buy a ticket to come to the BCB you are also giving to the the HOSB charity and giving to the homeless charity too.
NIKESH SHUKLA Coconut Unlimited’, Shukla’s debut novel, will be out on Quartet Books in October 2010. You can pre-order it here or here if you prefer large conglomerates like Amazon ‘A unique, bittersweet, tragi-geek celebration of beats, rhymes, and growing up. Nikesh Shukla captures the excitement, delusions, and creative confusion of adolescence with disarming honesty and laughout-loud insight.’ Riz Ahmed AKA Riz MC, star of Four Lions Coconut Unlimited follows the adventures of three hapless, hip-hop obsessed Asian boys in an all-white private school. It’s Harrow in the 1990s, and Amit, Anand and Nishant are stuck. Their peers think they’re a bunch of try-hard darkies, acting street and pretending to be cool, while their community thinks they’re rich toffs, a long way from the ‘real’ Asians in Southall.
So, to keep it real, they form legendary hip-hop band ‘Coconut Unlimited’. Pity they can’t rap… From struggling to find records in the suburbs and rehearsing on rubbish equipment, to evading the clutches of disapproving parents and real life drug-dealing gangsters, Coconut Unlimited documents every teenage boy’s dream and the motivations behind it: being in a band to look pretty cool – oh, and get girls…
On 9 October guerrilla gardeners will bury tulip bulbs all over the place. A colourful little surprise, easy to plant, unnecessary to tend, just ticking away during winter ready to burst into spring time colour next year, and year after year (if it’s not too soggy). Share your photos of the day here: http://www. facebook.com/group.php?gid=2341197575 Tulips? Well they’re great aren’t they, they’re easy to grow and there’s even... a dark purple one called “Queen of the Night” (yes, very guerrilla). Let’s hope we can generate a bit of ‘tulipomania’ again (last time this happened it was the 17th century). That was considered the result of ‘the madness of crowds’, so let’s hope we can channel some mass craziness into a bit of positivity (rather than the economic bubble the love of tulips generated 370 years ago)... Step beyond your boundaries, splurge the promise of colour out there on a far from remarkable patch of land, a solo mission or a regimented march through your neighbourhood. You get the idea. A sorry looking verge, an empty tree pit, something that won’t be mowed or strimmed over winter, and get digging. I’ve uploaded some photos of guerrilla grown tulips from previous plantings in the GuerrillaGardening.org Facebook album to give you some idea of the kind of locations that have worked well for me and other guerrilla gardeners I’ve met: http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=2341197575&view=all It’s a bit like what we guerrilla gardeners do on May 1, when we sow sunflowers on International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day. That’s happened now for four years, we had over 6,000 sign up in May to do it... this event is new so let’s see if we can get vaguely close to that this autumn! If you want company you could even create your own specific local event, a meeting place, day or night, adapt the logo if you like as many of you spontaneously did on Sunflower GG Day and share photos of your planting here which in due course can be profiled on http://www.GuerrillaGardening.org/
Richard Reynolds talks about Pimping Your Pavement! The Pimp Your Pavement is a project from GuerrillaGardening.org. For six years I’ve been cultivating neglected patches of land in my neighbourhood of the Elephant & Castle. Driven by a life long love of gardening, a lack of a garden, and the fun of doing it in public I found easy opportunities in the abandoned flower beds, neglected traffic islands and tree pits near me. Since then I’ve gardened alongside hundreds of others and met a lot of inspiring people who are doing the same thing as me in corners of their community all around the world. It’s my hobby, my passion and I’m keen to get more people gardening like this. The local overlooked landscape – in both meanings of the word – forgotten about but also in great view is a space in which we can make a very tangible and welcoming contribution to improving our local environment, both ecologically and socially. As a guerrilla gardener, blogger, author and talker on the subject, I’ve got plenty of people involved too, but guerrilla gardening is just a strategy, and the result can be all sorts of landscapes of varying scales and purpose, sometimes overtly provocative. I’ve noticed that enthusiastic newcomers can feel a bit daunted by expectations of enormous transformation and the risk of prosecution for criminal damage (even though both are quite unlikely)! This campaign will be a way of giving people, particularly newcomers, a very tangible objective – transforming a patch of pavement and taking back responsibility from the local authorities who have plenty of other things to be concerned with on our behalf. Pimp Your Pavement will be a more palatable way of inviting the authorities who are in charge of most of our pavements to participate in this grass roots enthusiasm. In cities around Europe (Zurich, Berlin, Amsterdam and to a much lesser extent London) I’ve seen how guerrilla gardening can change the authorities view of their responsibilities, and I’m keen that these examples are inspiration to encourage change in more places. Explore our website @ http://www.guerrillagardening.org/pimpyourpavement.html join the Facebook Page, and if you’re already pimping pavements or helping people pimp pavements get in touch, share what you’re doing and let’s work together. Richard Reynolds, 2010 Here are some people already involved with Pimp Your Pavement: London Sustainable Development Commission London Sustainable Development Commission London Festival of Architecture 2010 The Conservation Foundation
Current Workshops Knitting unravelled . . .
learn (or re-learn) the basics. With just two needles and a ball of yarn, discover the traditional skill of knitting. We will cover the basics of casting on, knit and purl stitches, rib and moss stitches and casting off. Combining different yarns, colours and stitches, you will create your own scarf - and maybe more - in time for the snow! Free to local women, yarns and needles included. Classes at the 1A Centre. To book call Caroline on 020 7837 3332
Mon-
Sewing drop-in. Come and learn how to use sewing machines as well as learn hand sewing techniques. Find out how to alter clothes, re-cycle old garments, run up curtains and more! Only ÂŁ1 per session.
Thursdays
10.30am to 1pm starts 7th Oct 2010 for 10 weeks at the 1A Centre EC1
Textiles-based Workshops 1A ARTS etc has continued to run various textiles-based workshops throughout 2010 with a grant from the Emmanuel Vincent Harris Trust. These have included classes using macrame, weaving, embroidery, collage, rag hooking and other techniques. An exhibition of work in April was attended by over 70 people with lots of offers to purchase the beautiful pieces of work which students had loaned for the exhibition. With access to tutors skilled in a wide range of textiles-based crafts our project participants have been amazed at what they have been able to achieve. Following 12 months of successful textiles-based projects, in autumn 2010 we started running a weekly Macrame bag: part-made [below left] and finished [below right] sewing drop-in staffed by volunteers. This gives local people access to our workshop to use our sewing machines and other equipment for altering and making clothes, running up curtains, etc. People also have access to our donated recycled fabrics to create new things. This is particularly valuable to local people living on increasingly tight budgets. â&#x20AC;&#x153;
Screen printing CHOREOGRAPHY OF THE BRAIN
Wellcome Collection Youth Engagement Project During September and October 2010 1A ARTS etc brought together a group of young people to work on an exciting screen-print and design project. Taking inspiration from images of the brain in the Wellcome Collection’s picture library, they created designs to print onto hoodies which were worn by two street dance crews - Sporadix and N’krypt’d from Coram’s Fields Youth Resource Centre. The dancers, who wore their customised hoodies for performances during October’s Bloomsbury Festival, were also involved in the designs which showed the essential link between the brain and dance. To further bring the designs to life the group worked with local
“I would like to let you know how grateful and impressed I am with your project. You and your team have done a great job and, as a parent, I think projects like this are of invaluable help for
Thank you so much for a wonderful evening which we all enjoyed immensely. We all sensed your inspiration and enthusiasm!! May you go from strength to strength. Jan Agostini
“My son has really enjoyed this project. I hope he does more with you! Keeps them off the streets and getting bored!” Berni Yates
SAM VARNEY TOKYO
More to come on Japan next issue Jan 2011!!! sign-up for the next edition, and updates on the content for edition 2 @ ?????
-LOCAL MUSEUMS-CORAM - HOSPITALS - GT ORMAND - UNIVERSITIES- UCL, UAL
8-Future events section Recruitment
MFamily FIELDS day at the dickens museum ND STREET AL Coming soon on Sunday afternoons in October
Family arts and crafts workshops at
The Charles Dickens Museum Organised by our Youth Arts Forum For further information please contact Teanne on 020 7837 3332
filming project/with dickens museum
8-Future events section AGM
-AGM, invites-people up for re-election and election of new trustees, call for electives?
Annual General Meeting Tuesday 9th November 2010 6pm for a 6.30pm start
The business of the AGM will be followed by: • • • • •
screening of new animations by students aged 8 yrs to 99 yrs exhibition of work from a series of textiles projects exhibition of pottery and other work meet staff, trustees, volunteers and service users buffet and drinks
All welcome but please RSVP to Caroline Lister on 020 7837 3332 or rsvp@1a-arts-etc.co.uk
Recruitment POP UP SHOP
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR FUTURE EVENTS COME TO AGM & CHAT TO US ? OR CONTACT US . . . . PLEASE BE AWARE THAT WE HAVE LITTLE FUNDING THUS IF U HAVE A PROPOSAL HOW WILL IT BE FUDED? WHO WILL FUND IT? AND HOW DOES IT RELATE TO OUR CURRENT ACTIVITIES?
IT’S ALL RIDEABLE A GOLDEN AGE OF CYCLING
LISTINGS ROB BRODERICK AND A’BAND’O’MAN
BACK COVER