the big rug and dream machine - full report

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THE BIG RUG AND DREAM MACHINE Part of the See it! Say it! Do it! Project Delivered and inspired by Birds of Paradise Arts PROJECT REPORT

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Compiled and written by Naomi Whitman, Lets Go Global and Jo Egerton Birds of Paradise

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Page 1: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

THE BIG RUG AND DREAM MACHINE

Part of the See it! Say it! Do it! Project Delivered and inspired by Birds of Paradise Arts

PROJECT REPORT

Page 2: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

INTRODUCTION The Big Rug and Dream Machine project was produced by Birds of Paradise (Jo Egerton) and Lets Go Global, with the shared idea to develop a high profile programme of activity which enabled people in Sale West to celebrate themselves and explore their hopes and dreams through accessible and engaging visual and digital artwork. LGG were commissioned by Trafford Council to support and inspire arts projects in a number of areas in the authority, including Sale West. Funded by the Arts Council and AGMA, delivered under the project name See it! Say it! Do it! The project was supported by a steering group: Diana Forrest, SWAP, Jayne Hargraves, Family Matters, Dan Shalston, Sale West community centre and Naomi Whitman from Lets Go Global who gave project management oversight. Chris Roberts from Lets Go Global also provided technical and digital support. It also secured additional funding from The Seedbed Trust and the Sale Community Panel budget, to support additional and follow on activity, to ensure sustainability of impact.

OBJECTIVES The objectives for the project were collective to Birds Of Paradise and Lets Go Globals’ values and the Greater Manchester Arts Vision’s four key priority outcome areas of: Prosperity, People, Place and Partnerships.

• To raise the profile of creative arts and cultural practise in the area

• To increase the capacity of local artists and build on their ideas of creating dynamic and inclusive artwork in the area

• A project that values and celebrates local people, unlocking their dreams and aspirations and reflected those back to each other

• To provide opportunities for local people to volunteer and develop their skill

Page 3: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

THE PROJECT See it! Say it! Do it! began in October 2012, at the same time an arts strategy group was being formed in Sale West. They were keen to develop a coherent and connected arts presence in the area, as well as develop projects which engaged with residents not currently involved in provision. One member of the group was local resident and artist Jo Egerton, who runs an art therapy company Birds of Paradise and has lived and worked in Sale West as an artist for 2 years. Lets Go Global saw a perfect opportunity to partner with Jo in the development of her ideas for her Cherished project and to create an opportunity to celebrate people living in the area.

“The See it! Say it! Do it! project has given me a

platform to fulfil my vision of using art for fun, education and health and has given the arts a presence in Sale

West and a stronger platform to build from.”

After consultation with the community about the kind of arts and cultural activity people want to see more of, The Big Rug and Dream Machine was born, a project which would give residents the opportunity to engage in visual and digital artwork, in their pre-existing groups and independently. The project wanted to gather resident’s hopes, dreams and aspirations in the form of a paper weave, which came together as The Big Rug and through the Dream Machine, capturing peoples’ voice-recordings. The project was promoted through SWAN, on websites, flyers, with press releases and through social media. Jo also went to groups directly and held training sessions for people who could deliver it in their own groups. Sessions took place at the family fun days, Dainwell Park, Ashton High School, Manor Court, Sale West Pre-school Nursery, Thursday club and Sale West library. Jo also held drop in sessions at the children’s centre and longer project activity at Family Matters sessions. The paper weaves, recordings, photographs and artwork created was brought together in an interactive exhibition and celebration event “Time to Celebrate” at Sale West Youth Centre at the end of October 2013. We are now seeking to find alternative exhibition opportunities to promote the artwork further afield. All dream machine recordings, photos and films have been stored and shared on it’s website: www.bigrug.seeitsayitdoit.co.uk

38 Sessions &

workshops delivered

Page 4: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

WHAT WE DID & WHO GOT INVOLVED The Big Rug and Dream machine, sought to engage with the full range of people living in Sale West. During the inception of the project the Big Local funding was also announced. This created a timely opportunity to gather rich information and “intelligence” about the people of Sale West, their personal hopes and dreams of the future, which could be fed into the Big Local’s developments and plans.

“I felt that it (Big Local Funding and this project) would be a good opportunity to take a step back; ask people how they spend their time, what they enjoy, what is special to them and what dreams and aspirations they have. In order to celebrate local people reinforcing that sense of identity and belonging, to capture ideas for

moving forward.”

BIG RUG WORKSHOPS & SESSIONS Family Fun Days 63 sections made It was great to see families working together; children, parents, aunties, grandmas, friends, brothers and sisters. Some added tassels for extra decor to their sections of the rug. The play scheme also joined us at the summer Family Fun Days.

Melissa came along to the family fun days, the creation of her weave, it brought out the writer in her, as she decorated hers with a wonderful story

170 Sections of the Big Rug were contributed

Page 5: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

Another lady used photos of children to symbolize the different stages her children and grandchild have and will go through growing up. She captured her enjoyment of holidays and camping, happy times at parties with friends and family. A clock image was used to illustrate a sense of changing times, of old and new memories. The pink strips of paper “represents the girl, I normally wear black”. Jackie described the activity as relaxing, therapeutic and like a mood board.

Children return to the dream machine as they have become familiar to its presence and approached it more confidently.

It was a great way to capture local peoples response to questionnaires for the SWAP area.

Friends of Dainewell Park

6 sections made

Friends of Dainewell Park welcomed the Big Rug project to their summer family fun day. We enjoyed spreading out and hosting some weavers at our tables.

Lilly shared her aspiration “the Olympics are my dream for the future”.

Emily described her weave “I mainly tried to make it represent me and my sense of humor - things I like”

Belinda “I am passionate about building the community and seeing people grow work together to achieve success loving this area we’re in.”

Page 6: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

Big Rug Drop In

The Big Rug Drop In was open to the community to pop in and make their section of the rug.

We started out at the sunshine cafe at Sale West Community Centre and then moved onto the Sale West Children Centre.

We hosted a Manchester Metropolitan University student who was being observed by her tutor for her community work degree.

We also had someone drop in from the Job Club who was

new to Trafford and had a creative background. He was very interested in the project:

“I immensely enjoyed following the instructions on your website and making my rug. This is a delightful idea. I really enjoyed working on my rug and learning about the concept.

As an artist whose main discipline has been painting this has been an enjoyable thing to try … all in all an empowering

idea.”

Trafford’s Coppice Road Library Sale 6 sections made

After a very quiet time at the Big Rug Drop In at the children’s centre, Coppice Road Library kindly hosted a workshop so we had more public presence and footfall of passers by.

We had an all age response; our youngest weaver being 3 and the oldest 61. The paper weaving process prompted our eldest weaver in the workshop to reminisce about a weaving job he had done in the past. He said it was a more rewarding and creative job than other jobs he went onto do.

Around 90 minutes of recordings were captured

in the Dream Machine

Page 7: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

Ashton on Mersey School 40 sections made Ashton High School set pupils a challenge week at the end of the summer term, so Miss Livsey from the Art Department decided to take the Big Rug challenge to two of her year 8 art groups.

Each pupil prepared for the challenge by creating a spider chart to capture his or her interests and aspirations. They brought these into the weave workshop to produce their woven sections of the rug and wrote a description about their weave, talking about how challenging the task was.

It was lovely to see the variety of interest’s pupils have and to have a visual record of their aspirations for the future. Maybe over time they will look back and some of those aspirations will have come true.

It was also nice to see shared interests, the areas of pupil’s lives that cross over and bring people together. The most referenced piece of information recorded on the weaves or spider charts was the importance of family.

Manor Court (Managed by Trafford Housing Trust) 2 sections contributed Jo visited Manor Court’s weekly coffee morning and introduced them to the project, with the option of hosting a big rug workshop or joining in independently.

One of the residents took part with her friend. They were happy to meet with Jo to see how they got on and to have help with any final elements of the weave.

One of the residents, who contributed to the rug, shared that her weave captures three important aspects of her life, friends, family and health.

Page 8: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

Family Matters Sale West Community Urban Trust Jo from Birds of Paradise Arts has been working in partnership with Jayne Hargraves from Sale West Community Urban Trust since September 2012, to provide a creative element to the weekly Family Matters sessions. Through continued family consultation the group had expressed their interest in having arts as part of its focus. In a previous project they had been exploring the theme of Spring and the concept of moving into new opportunities as individuals and as a family. Adults created dream and aspiration boards using words and pictures from magazines to help capture their interests. These became the springboard for what became the individual sections of the Big Rug that the community made. The children created painted footprints and planting bulbs in shoes with dreams written in the bottom.

The aim of The Big Rug was to celebrate, value and unlock the identity and release the dreams

aspirations and destiny of Sale West and Ashton Residents.

Page 9: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

CASE STUDY – Creatively Engaging Families

One of the families who attended the Family Matters group was a mum and her four children aged 2, 6, 7 and 8. Through her dream board Mum captured her love for cooking. Her aspiration was to spend more time doing art and

so she combined her interest in developing her art skills with her interest in cooking.

She created three sculptures that show you three dishes that she likes to cook for her family. To achieve her artwork she attended family matters group weekly with the children. She also attended a one to one session with Jo at the community centre and later the newly formed Big Rug Art club held in the Sunshine Cafe to complete her family’s artwork for the exhibition.

She learnt new art skills, which open up a new way for her to express and communicate to other people, as well as developing her computer skills when she designed a recipe for each sculpture for display at the exhibition.

Another aspect of the Big Rug Project was The Dream Machine, here local people could record their voices answering some simple questions, from what makes them laugh to what they hope for their future.

Family Matters members were asked what the dream machine might look like? The eldest of our mums children painted a picture and described it:

“This is two doors the pink door is one window, the orange door is two windows and there’s lots of rooms inside and you can play around in there and record your dreams in there as well. There’s colour all around it”

His design was then taken by Jo and made into reality, used and enjoyed at the Family Fun days.

Mums reaction: “He’s overwhelmed with it, he loves it to bits. … That’s what made him a lot more proud as well, seeing people go into it…. something that he had created”

Page 10: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

The youngest two children loved painting within close proximity of each other over the weeks at Family Matters. The 6 year old painted her dream to go to Lego Land. The youngest sibling used similar colours and was happy painting week by week, developing creative confidence.

The second eldest (aged 7) independently created a football sculpture to celebrate his enjoyment of the game. Which was exhibited at Time to Celebrate.

The whole family embraced the project and found many ways to celebrate and affirm their identity and dreams. They developed their creativity, communication and interests. It was something positive to do together as a family and share with the wider community.

A CONVERSATION WITH MUM (transcribed from recording)

What have you created or hope to create?

Sausage and bean casserole, which is basically sausage, beans, potatoes, onions. Recipes from home and just a model of what it is.

How are you doing that?!

Papier-mâché and cardboard!

How has this project al lowed you to work with your own passions and interests?

It’s something to do basically, spare time. Art is something I have always wanted to do anyway so its something I have managed to carry out.

Do you think you have learnt new skil ls from it?

Yeah definitely!

And is it easier because you’re doing it about something you know about, with your interest in food?

Yeah it’s good to share stuff. It’s good to show people what you can do!

Has it been nice to do as a family?

Yeah because it gets the kids involved and they’re enjoying what there doing.

Have you been involved in an art project before?

No never this is the first one I have ever been involved in. I think it should be done again because it affects a lot of people together.

Page 11: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

Sale West Pre-School Nursery 29 sections contributed Sale West pre-school nursery took up the Big Rug Challenge independently after Jo went in to introduce the project to staff. Aisha, who led on the challenge, explained all the benefits the children, who ranged from 2 - 4 years old, got out of taking part in this community art project.

They learnt how to cut and stick, using equipment like scissors for the first time. The weaving developed hand eye co-ordination and more vocabulary as they learnt practically what up and down, under and over was, as they wove. It involved counting.

They cut out images of jobs e.g. fireman, policeman etc, which introduced the concept of jobs and what people can do when they’re older.

Cutting out pictures created conversation of what the children like and don't like, building on new vocabulary and communication and social skills. Certain images addressed behavior, for example anger.

The activity promoted choice and self worth as each child chose how to personalise their weaves; some choosing to finger paint first then stick, others just sticking pictures.

The challenge gave the children the experience that they can create art out of different materials. It was a rich and rewarding challenge for these children.

Thursday Club Manchester Ltd 9 sections contributed The Big Rug Project encouraged connections with the many clubs, groups and organisations that represent all the residents in Sale West.

The Thursday Club Manchester Ltd is an autistic support and inclusion group based at Sale West Community Centre. They have a strong arts presence within their sessions and even have an art director.

The Big Rug Project was a technical challenge for their young people and they did a fantastically well to submit 9 sections.

Page 12: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

Time to Celebrate The project culminated in an exhibition and display Time to Celebrate in October half term. Photographs, films, artwork, quotes and The Big Rug were all beautifully displayed for visitors to pick out their contributions. There were also creative activities for people to participate in on the day, to encourage families to spend the afternoon there. There was a weaving loom, bulb planting in shoes, photo booths and a drawing challenge.

40 people attended Time to Celebrate

Page 13: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

VOLUNTEERING The project provided opportunities for local people to volunteer and develop their skills. In May, Jo held a volunteer training session for people who would either deliver sessions alongside her or who wanted to run Big Rug sessions with their own groups. Here they were given training in drawing out ideas, listening to stories and developing participants individual weaves.

4 volunteers from Sale West Community Church attended the training and then supported the SWAP family fun day workshops.

Other volunteers supported the delivery of sessions throughout the project and the Time to Celebrate event, with their own creative input and help.

Chloe Hamill a textile artist, who had just completed an MA Embroidery Degree at Manchester Metropolitan University, volunteered and journeyed with the Big Rug Project from the start. Chloe brought advice and inspiration throughout the project and was hands on in some of the Big Rug workshops and final Time to Celebrate Exhibition www.chloehamill.co.uk.

At the Time to Celebrate event, Hannah Pritchett a woven textile artist threaded up a tabletop loom and taught people on the day how to weave.

Rebbeca Wellock, a local painter and photographer, photographed the SWAP Family Fun Day workshops and supported the Time to Celebrate event by organising some fun photo shoots for people to take part in.

Two other local people volunteered at the celebration event, one helped to set up, clear away and oversee health and safety and the other organised the Big Munch, a healthy eating initiative that provided healthy refreshments on the day.

9 Volunteers worked with us on The Big Rug Project

Offering over 200 volunteer hours Providing around £2,500 wage

replacement value

Page 14: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

CASE STUDY – Widening Volunteer Opportunities and Skills Progression

Our lead volunteer for the Big Rug Project was Lucy. She had volunteered at past Sale West SWAP Family Fun days and progressed onto volunteering at the Family Matters (SWCUT) Thursday group when it first started in September 2012.

With the context of the Big Rug Project and through some additional funding from Seedbed Trust to covers Jo’s time, this became the perfect opportunity for Lucy to get more involved, who wasn't in employment or education (NEET).

Through working alongside Jo on the project, Lucy was able to do a Silver Arts Award. This is a Level 2 qualification, with two units – Unit 1: arts practice and Unit 2: arts leadership. Employers, universities and colleges know Arts Award and shows young people’s level of commitment and progress in the arts and in developing new skills. Young people need to plan their work with an adviser and keep a record in an Arts Award portfolio. Jo was able to advise Lucy for 11, 1-hour sessions at the Sale west Community Centre.

“For my arts challenge, I would l ike to be able to make and present my own fancy dress costume, including any

makeup. I chose to do this because I 've been interested in

costume for years, and I also enjoy wearing costume and attending events. I have already made several

costumes/outfits before, which were based on characters from series I enjoy, which is where I get most o f my

inspiration. After I 've completed this project, I 'd l ike to be more ski l l ful with sewing and making my own patterns for

my costumes. I would also l ike to gain some experience with sewing machines, because I 've never used one

before, and I would l ike my costumes to be completed to a better standard than my previous ones. I 'd also l ike to

get some more practice using makeup, especial ly special effects makeup”.

Jayne Hargraves from Family Matters assisted Lucy in developing her special effects make up skills by supplying special make up that Lucy and the families could experiment with. Lucy’s role as lead volunteer fulfilled her unit 2 arts leadership role. She was able to take the lead on making sure all the materials were updated, organised and ready for all the Big Rug workshops. She influenced and took the lead on setting up at different venues that the workshops went to.

Page 15: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

Within Lucy’s leadership role she also helped individuals at workshops understand the elements of making their section of the rug. At the Family Matters group she assisted many of the children make there own Big Rug art pieces. She also encouraged the children to make a start on achieving their Discover Arts Awards. She collected feedback on her contribution of the project and created posters to advertise workshops.

One of the aims of the Arts Awards is to widen your knowledge of the arts and cultural sector, this can be achieved by attending arts events and meeting local arts organisations.

Lucy broadened her knowledge of arts organisations when interviewing Karen Shannon from Lets Go Global and Helen Mark from The Audience Agency who came to the Family Matters group to do some market research.

Lucy attended the Do It exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery, which was part of Manchester International Festival. She went with Jo and some friends, it was part of a See it! Say it! Do it! event.

“At the gallery we were introduced to different community groups who were al l taking part in different art projects

around our local areas.

This was a brand new experience for me, because I had never been to or taken part in any kind of exhibit ion

before so I was pretty excited!

I feel that the exhibit ion helped me become more creative with lots of different activit ies and it also helped inform

me about lots of different local arts projects that I can get involved with.”

Alongside the Arts Award, Lucy had 11 sessions of Art Therapy by Jo (a Registered Art Therapist) to assist her personal development.

Lucy has continued to volunteer at the newly established Big Family Art Club (funded through Sale Community Panel) once a week for 3 hours. Lucy has shown 100% commitment in her Arts Award and we cant wait for her to receive her Award for all the hard work she put in. She has shown dedication and creative talent.

The Big Rug Project was about valuing and celebrating local people and unlocking their dreams and aspirations.

It ’s been a privi lege to work with Lucy on her own journey in this.

Page 16: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

Female  48%  

Male  21%  

No  Response  31%  

Gender  

FINDINGS

0  -­‐15  56%  

16  -­‐  25  5%  

26  -­‐  40  5%  

41  -­‐  55  4%  

55  +  5%  

Not  Stated  25%  

Age  

Ethnic  Origin  

White  British   White  Irish  

White  European   Mixed  -­‐  White  &  Black  Caribbean  

Mixed  -­‐  White  &  Black  African   No  Response  

The Big Rug and Dream Machine was a creative and engaging way to connect with local people, using artistic activity for all abilities. Some simply created a paper weave, some recording their hopes and dreams in the dream machine and others developed larger more substantial pieces of artwork created at regular sessions and the final event. The project harnessed local people with new creative skills, encouraging wellbeing and self-expression. It also supported volunteer opportunities. Working with Lets Go Global, the project used their evaluation tool kit to capture and examine some quantative data from participants. Around 146 people responded and complete all or some part of an initial questionnaire. Qualatative data was collected through the dream machine recordings and conversation with Jo and her volunteers directly. Of those who responded:

Page 17: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

Yes  2%  

No  31%  

Prefer  Not  to  say  2%  

No  response  65%  

Do  you  consider    yourself  disabled  

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Taking time to reflect on life, and being curious and aeare of the world around me is… A sense of community and people feeling connected to they live is… Giving, helping the community, joining local groups and/or volunteering are… I know how to access arts exerpiences/activities when I want to… The area/neighbourhood I live in is full of creative and culutral opportunities…

Strongly  Disagree  /  Not  Imporatant                                                                              Strongly  Agree/Very  Important  

The information below demonstrates that:

• Taking time to reflect on life and being curious to some people is very important and for others fairly important. No one felt it was not important.

• A sense of community and people feeling connected to where they live is also very and fairly important to people.

• Giving and belonging to a community is fairly important to everyone and very important to a few.

• Some people know how to access arts experiences and activities, other find it harder.

• A low number of people find the area to have creative and cultural opportunities.

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How did people hear about the project?

How do people enjoy expressing themselves creatively?

What kinds of groups, clubs or organisations are people

involved in during their free time?

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Page 20: The Big Rug and Dream Machine  - Full Report

IMPACTS The findings have been drawn from immediate observations and outcomes. Some work to measure the deferred value and impact, may be useful and possible through other projects by Birds of Paradise, See it! Say it! Do it! or other Sale West partners. The project sought to support the Health and Wellbeing, Children and Young People and Employment and Skills agendas: Health and Well-Being

“Public health is everyone’s business. We will reduce health inequalities through working with communities and residents to improve opportunities for adults and children to enjoy a healthy,

safe and fulfilling life.”

The Big Rug Project was about celebrating local people, providing safe and enjoyable experiences for this to happen; an embodiment of this vision.

Activities gave a space for children and adults to voice their hopes and aspiration, reflecting on the positive aspects of their life and looking to the future.

As an art therapist, Jo was able to use her skills when working with participants to support positive mental health, such as self esteem, emotional resilience, positive thinking, problem-solving and social skills, stress management skills and feelings of mastery. Although it’s hard to measure the extent to which this project will impact on an individual, it sought to provide an environment for this to happen.

Increased capacity of Sale West artists;

Volunteering opportunities generated

Skills developed

Awareness of arts projects raised

Local voices shared and celebrated,

through creative consultation methods

Provision of regular activity enabled and

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Children and Young People Localities - Engaging families and the community The most effective sessions took place where parent and child were able to take part alongside each other. The project provided a non-threatening environment for families to enjoy activity together. Provision of a regular art club was expressed, which was taken on board, and has now been established. Prepare for Adulthood - More activities for children and young people in the area 56% of those engaged in the project were 0 – 15 year olds, demonstrating the appeal for children and young people in the project. Prepare for Adulthood - Encourage Independence This project was designed to encourage personal expression and reflection. The pre-school observed that it provided an opportunity to personalise what they did and work independently, at this young age.

Employment and Skills Support and access to local services The Big Rug project provided residents with a supportive space and environment for people to learn about what other services were available in the area. Skills development The project gave volunteering opportunities to residents. One of who has developed a number of skills in leadership and creativity. In turn supporting her to have increased access to employment opportunities. She now has an additional qualification, clearer direction for career developments and a positive reference. Neighbourhood work It is hoped that the findings from the project can be used to inform the design of programmes and strategies adopted for Our Sale West (Big Local programme)

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WHAT WAS SPENT? Total Project Budget £9,443.00

See it! Say it! Do it! - ACE & AGMA £4,200.00

Technical support from LGG: website & editing

Birds of Paradise artists time

Volunteer expenses

Materials and resources

Sale Community Panel Budget - THT £3,213.00

Birds of Paradise artists time

Room hire and refreshments

Materials and resources

Seedbed Trust £830.00

Art Therapy Sessions & Arts Award Costs

This doesn’t include in kind support from SWAP, Sale West Community Urban Trust staff and Lets Go Global in project management.

2 Artist employed

Around 45 days of employment

4 steering group members, offering around 15 days in kind support

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CONCLUSION Successes

• The most effective use of the project and sessions was when groups could use the project as a starting point for further explorations. Like Ashton on Mersey High School integrated it into their year 8 challenge and the Family Matters sessions used the concept of hopes and dreams to created some additional pieces of artwork. One example of this was with one child’s dream of going to Paris. The group subsequently set to create a large pink Eiffel Tower all together! This also reinforced the message that we need people around us to support us to reach our dreams. The pre-school nursery was also able to work with children at their own pace, to develop social, emotional and motor skills.

• The dream machine and paper weaving became a featured activity within the Family Fun days, harnessing the audiences at the events and providing another creative outlet for families attending these popular days. It has proven a successful way of building relationships with families, to refer them into the new

Big Family Art Club. (Our first referral child is well on her way to achieving her Discover Arts Award)

• Using digital approach’s to capture and document the project as it unfolded worked well. It has meant that the life of the project remains accessible via the website. Here all recordings and photographs can be explored and revisited. This support has developed Jo’s own creative and technical skills, and shown the possibility of using technology in this kind of project.

Improvements

• The “drop-in” sessions were unfortunately poorly attended, however were instead used for volunteer mentoring and planning. When these sessions were moved to a more populated environment it had greater impact and engagement of people.

• One of the aims of the project was for individuals to take

the ideas of the Big Rug home with them, and develop the

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project independently, encouraging creativity in the home, as well as at events. Although this may have happened, there isn’t evidence of this, as paper weaves were not submitted.

• The Time to Celebrate event captured the energy,

essence and creativity of the project in a really inclusive way. Unfortunately the level of people who attended was much lower than was hoped for. The anticipation was that those who were involved in producing the artwork would have wanted to see it displayed. Although there were a large number of flyers distributed, perhaps a clearer description and understanding could have helped. It could also have been branded under the family fun day banner, as this is a trusted event.

The Big Rug Project was born out of the ideas and developments of Sale West residents and partners, to use arts and culture to engage people who might not connect with community life in other ways. Art is a non-threatening, culturally friendly, successful way of doing this. The project demonstrated that local people need to be able to access art for different purposes fun, education and health and it provides useful tools in supporting and fulfilling key Trafford wide strategies

This project has been a building block; on successful previous partnerships and projects, as well as setting new ground for other creative works to happen. Including more on-going arts provision for families in the area, as well as recognising local peoples’ enjoyment of events and celebrations. The See it! Say it! Do it! project will continue until 2015, exploring and nurturing creativity, building the capacity and vision of local artists and residents and providing quality arts experiences for people in Sale West. Using art as a vehicle for community engagement and change.

This report has been compiled and written by:

Naomi Whitman, See it! Say it! Do it! Project Manager

Lets Go Global [email protected]

Jo Egerton Birds Of Paradise [email protected]

Seedbed Community Trust