Unpicked Meadow Public Art Project Stockbridge Meadows Nature Reserve, Melbourn The Story so far… You may have noticed some exciting new additions to Riverside Park, Stockbridge Meadows Nature Reserve. Artist Jo Chapman was chosen at a public Artist Selection Evening back in March and since then has started on a year long public art project for the nature reserve. So far the May bank holiday weekend saw the launch of the project with visitors creating wooden plaques, painting or writing haiku poems. These plaques were joined by ones created by Orchard Manor and Melbourn Primary School and have been mounted to form a welcome wall for anyone entering the Meadows to see. Over the summer the ARTIVAN was launched, a project space to meet, make and exhibit work. Jo took a two berth stripped out caravan and Melbourn Village College students redesigned the inside and outside. Workshops took place over the summer with guest artists including Liz McGowan who created a giant lizard out of wood found in the Meadows.
Renga Poetry Another strand running through the project is renga poetry, a form of Japanese poetry with a series of short verses linked into one long seasonal poem. Renga is a social form of poetry writing, led and hosted by a poet, anyone can come and join a renga party to write poetry. Local poet Clare Crossman has been leading the project. She has woven together individual haiku created in May for the spring renga, hosted a summer renga party in the Meadows and will be hosting Autumn and Winter renga parties. Bring a picnic and join us for the whole day (booking is advisable) or drop in if you are passing to get a taster. All are welcome, suitable for age 9 upwards. Paper, pencils, drinks and an explanation of how to write Renga will be provided. Autumn Renga Party – Sunday 17 Oct 2010, 10am-4.00pm Winter Renga Party – Sunday 23 Jan 2011, 10am-4.00pm Contact Kirstin for more details or see http://melbourn.org. uk/publicart
Calling All Musicians! We hope to bring as many musical people from the local community together as possible for a few evening sessions in October. A new music project will be taking place to create and record a sound installation for the November fire party. Musicians and Singers at any level are invited to take part. Please contact Kirstin if you are interested or want to find out more.
Creating Art Take Part in Creating Art for Melbourn with the Stockbridge Tapestry. Imagine a tapestry created by Melbourn residents stretching around the Meadow. Jo Chapman is inviting you to create a section for the Stockbridge Tapestry, a communal artwork that will wrap around the Meadows and provide a seedbed for the final artwork inspired by the Meadows and the natural world. • • • •
What inspires you in nature? Why is nature important to our lives? How can we look more closely? How do we make connections?
Launched at the afternoon workshops over the summer, we would like as many people as possible to write, stitch or draw and contribute a section to the Stockbridge Tapestry. Your section for the tapestry can be made at home or you can come along to one of our events. It does not have to be a ‘tapestry’ this is just a word used to describe a way of linking images together and a long horizontal banner type artwork. If you would like to make it at home then here are some guidelines. • You can either use your own piece of fabric or collect a piece from Melbourn Village College or the Parish Council Office. • The section should be no larger than 30cm in height and can be any length. It should be 2 dimensional. It can be on any type of fabric and made in any style you like
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www.melbourncambridge.co.uk
