Community Projects
Between 1994 and 1996 I worked as a visual artist on a diverse range of community arts projects. Some examples:
Beancross Primary School Mural Project
As part of the MacRobert Arts Centre’s ‘Schools Week’ program, I was employed to run a mural project in Beancross Primary School, Grangemouth. Pupils from various year groups created a mural for the infants corridor within their school. The pupils designed and painted the mural, which they based on letters of the alphabet.
I developed the project to involve as many pupils in the school as possible, including the infants. The infants made ceramic tiles to run along the base of the wall. The space at the top of the wall was used for hanging detachable wooden letters, painted by the pupils, which could be used in the infant classes as teaching aids.
Bellsdyke Psychiatric Hospital
In 1994 Artlink Central set up a project at Bellsdyke Psychiatric Hospital. Due to restructuring within the hospital, some of the long-term residents had recently moved into a complex of new, purpose-built bungalows. The project enabled a small group of residents to create a piece of work for their communal living area.
From initial photographs and drawings, made in response to their new environment, the residents developed a large collaborative piece. This took the form of a collage, a mixture 2-D and 3-D elements representing their new home. Funding was secured for a further five projects in the bungalows as a result of their work.
The Crofting Project
This was a multi-media event organized by the MacRobert Arts Centre that took place in the Smith Art Gallery and Museum in Stirling. The event provided an opportunity for diverse special-needs groups to put together a live public performance that centred on an aspect of Scottish history. The performance told the story of the Highland Clearances using song, dance and drama. All the artists involved in the project, including a dancer, a musician, and a local street theatre group, facilitated the rehearsals and live events. As the visual artist for the project, I also guided a series of workshops that provided participants with the space and materials to create scenery and props for their performance in the gallery.
