WOW Participation Project
Project:
Description
All Saints/the Scotlands Participation Project
Following the success of a great first year, the project has seen an increased confidence in those Women who have taken up opportunities to enhance and progress their lives. Another great result is women who have participated in the project making decisions to become actively involved in Parents forums both in the All Saints and the Scotlands Area.
WOW were successful in receiving further funding from the Arts Council Grants Awards Programme to progress and build upon participatory activities in the Scotlands area.
The aim of the Project is to;
• involve and engage communities from the Scotlands, participating in arts
activities by working with professional artists
• encourage the building of self confidence, raise aspirations, gaining skills
and encouraging talent in the area.
• provide a model of practice utilising the arts to share with other agencies
and partners in the city, encouraging greater community cohesion.
Our objectives are:
• to attract a core group of women from the Scotlands to act as volunteers for
the project, working alongside professional artists
• to offer skills development and to engage these participants in a process of
thinking about how to communicate (through artistic mediums, particularly
photography, film, audio recordings) their thoughts and feelings and
aspirations for their locality.
Outcomes for the project will be:
• To create an event on the estate, which reveals the work in progress to a
wider audience.
• To create a small scale exhibition/display for showcasing in a city centre
venue.
• To organise a public seminar (at the conclusion of the work) this profiles
The work of the project, sharing good practice and the social engagement
Strategies used by artists, sharing this work with other agencies in the city.
As part of this WOW are working with artists from Laundry an association of artists based in the West Midlands. Based in Wolverhampton it operates in
a nomadic and fluid way, working in a variety of locations, settings and
collaborative relationships. Members utilise a wide range of artistic practices
and methodologies - photography and film, visual arts, oral history,
performance, writing and digital media - working creatively in community
contexts and with diverse cultures.
Artists Geoff Broadway, Brendan Jackson, Jo Loki and Helen Sweeting are currently collecting stories/ images from around the area, in order to highlight the positive aspects of life on the Scotlands.
To date local residents have contributed their personal stories, alongside students from Morton School, and Low Hill Youth resource centre.
The project has further been supported by Community workers in the area, as well as the Scotlands Tenants Group and The Low hill and Scotlands Neighbourhood Partnership.
Beverley Harvey- Participation Officer for WOW says,
“In every area there are issues that surface and give where we live a very bad name. But equally in every area there is a wealth of experience and talent that should be harnessed and celebrated. In The Scotlands you will find someone with a fascinating story, you will find a strong sense of family pride, and a great number of people who have strived to make a difference in their locality. This is worth celebrating and shouting about. It is time to challenge the negative perception and from the stories that I have heard so far. The Scotlands are ready for it”