I am familiar with Rowans work thanks to her being the module leader on the first MA module I undertook back in September 2021.  However, I am delighted to listen to her lecture today on her upcoming work for ‘Cultures of Sound’, the School of Arts & Humanities contribution to 2023 Kirklees Year of Music. 

She begins by pointing out the integral role that graphic design has played in giving the event distinction and a clear identity (more so than any other projects that Rowan has been involved with).

I am reminded of the hard work of my Graphic Design teammates when creating the identity for ‘UnBoxt – our group project.  They have invested much time in reaching a clear, concise and polished outcome whilst retaining the values of our project (figure 2);

Rowan encourages us to consider the post-production of public realm working (or place-based making).  The importance of capturing the legacy of the work is critical and we must consider the way in which we document the project outcomes.  I believe the role of the project photographer in our group to be critical here and ponder how we might use the medium of photography and film making to not only communicate our project ambitions but to capture the project activity as visually engaging for future promotion. 

Rowans refreshing honesty around funding of such projects especially captures my attention as we have discussed revenue streams within our group meetings – how could we make our business idea viable?  Funding streams that Rowan mentions (and I go on to research further) are;

The ‘Levelling Up Fund’ – The governments ‘levelling up funding’ of £2.1 billion has been awarded to transformational projects across the United Kingdom.  Government investment will benefit millions of people across the UK and spread opportunity to historically overlooked areas – with £821 million to kick-start community regeneration (Gov.UK, 2023).  Our ‘UnBoxt’ project is focussed upon community – developing an ‘exhibition in a box’ to enable empty shops on the British high-street to be easily transformed into temporary exhibition space.

‘UK Shared Prosperity Fund’ – One of the three UKSPF investment priorities are ‘communities and place’ (‘supporting local business’ and ‘people and skills’ being the other two).  Our project concept explores the ‘place’ of creative exhibitions – reimagining them as community focussed places on every high-street in which local people can take part in the appreciation of creative outcomes whilst expanding their own skill set through taking part in artist led workshops.

‘Creative People & Places Programme’ is funded by The National Lottery and focusses upon parts of the country where involvement in creative activities is under the national average.  Our project is planned to address a global need for bringing creatives and communities together, however our pilot project will be based in Huddersfield, where 33.5% of households in Kirklees are deprived (Kaye, 2022).

Rowan goes on to present the project ‘Woven’ to us.  Woven is a bi-annual festival funded by Kirklees Council and their theme is to connect a strong textiles heritage in the region with the innovative practice being developed in industry, research and the local arts and crafts movement.  The information presented to us around the project ‘Growing Colour Together’ (2023) captures my imagination.  Participants grow plants for naturally dying fabrics – re-dyeing them season after season using the plants they have grown.  The project aims to play a part in consumers reconnecting with a garments value and skill and ultimately aims to empower people through the skills and knowledge to live more sustainably.

 I contemplate ‘UnBoxt’ and the aspect of our proposal that includes creative workshops.  I must remember to discuss with my team mates the importance of developing workshops that aim to empower people who attend them to ‘think differently’.  Reflecting upon the various disciplines of our group, potential workshop themes could include;

• Sewing workshops producing reusable sanitary products to address period poverty both UK and overseas (addressing global, environmental and social issues)
• Basic repairs of household items including furniture, rugs, ceramics and upholstery (tools to overcome economic hardship)
• Creative business start ups – photographing your products with a smart phone (empowering home designer makers with the technological skills necessary to develop social status)
• Creative business start ups – building a basic website (empowering home designer makers with technological skills to develop social status)
• Creative business start ups – building an audience on social media (empowering home designer makers with technological skills to develop social status)     

References;

Arts Council England. (2023). Creative People and Places. Arts Council. https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/creative-people-and-places-0

Gov.Uk. (2023). Landmark Levelling Up Fund to spark transformational change across the UK. Gov.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/landmark-levelling-up-fund-to-spark-transformational-change-across-the-uk

Kaye, J. (2022, November 24). Map shows Kirklees’ five most deprived areas. The Examiner Live. https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/map-shows-kirklees-most-deprived-25587999

University of Huddersfield. (2023). Cultures of Sound; Showcasing Musical Innovation. Hud.ac.uk. https://www.hud.ac.uk/news/2023/february/cultures-of-sound-2023-kirklees/#:~:text=Cultures%20of%20Sound%20is%20the,by%20our%20researchers%20and%20staff.

Woven. (2023). Growing Colour Together. Woven Kirklees. https://woveninkirklees.co.uk/projects/growing-colour-together/