public art
Summary Update 7
Our piece on Alcohol Statistics is finally on display – currently it is in the main foyer of the Artschool (Duckinfield St. Liverpool L3 5RD)and will hopefully spend some time on display at Gateacre school itself in the new term – if you get the chance please pop in to see it!
Summary Update 3
One of the longer running projects has been the work by Gate Acre Comp.
We have now selected 15 artworks by the pupils which have been engraved onto alcohol bottles – these 15 represent the 15 minute interval between each alcohol related death in the UK. The pieces depict a range of collages showing varied notions about drink, being drunk and the harsh results that alcohol misuse can lead to. The bottles are to be filled with coloured liquids much like the old pharmacy window displays (we think this was an indicator that the Pharmacist was able to mix medicines from scratch) – they will also be accompanied by 15 coloured LED lights which will highlight the 15 minute timescale.
The piece hopes to go on display at TBC.
Gateacre Update…
The pupils of Gateacre Comp have made good progress with their Alcohol statistic pieces and have culminated their idea for the final piece.
The work will comprise of 90 bottles – each one representing an alcohol related fatality – some of these will be decorated with collaged ideas about the use, misuse and effects of alcohol – all of them will be lit with a coloured LED light and every 15 minutes one light will go out, representing a death. All 90 lights will extinguish in the path of a day and will be re-lit for the next day.
The piece plans to be shown in Childwall Health Centre in April.
Bus Banners Arrive.
We’ve just taken delivery of the first batch of Bus banners and they look great! They’ll be passed on to Arriva and will be public next week. We hope you enjoy them!
Previously we forgot to name check the people from Cycle Speke who have contributed their photographs – thanks again to John Stafford Huxley, Vincent Milhench, John Hall, Karl Keegan, Jenny James and Callum Gregson.
Planters Painted & Planted!
The sun came out on friday morning just in time for our 23 pupil helpers from Garston CoE Primary to get their hands dirty.
We had devised an arrangement for the 8 planters with 2 being Olympic themed, 1 being about the Queens Diamond Jubilee and the remaining 5 showcasing the 5 Ways to Wellbeing colours.
Previously in the week the planters were painted by Speke based gardener (and part time Rotter) Dean Barton who has worked hard on all the outdoor aspects of the project.
The Rotters Community Composting group (Teresa and Steve) oversaw the planting and Dobbies kindly supplied the plants as part of their ‘Here We Grow’ Campaign – thank you Angela and Tom.
As the kids and some of their families got stuck into the planting – we were very kindly supported by Long Lane Church (providing Tea & Coffee and will also long term maintain the beds) and Monty’s Cafe (who spontaneously provided drinks and snacks for the kids). We also had help from Councillor Paula Keaveney, Neighbourhood Officer Rose Rowan, Ward Support Officer Jackie Evans and the Teaching staff of Garston Primary.
After about 2 hours the planters were done – just the final touches to add which are the kids artworks which will be added early next week. The 3 designs reflect the 3 themes and have been engraved in wood before being fixed to 3 of the planters.
We’ve already had some good comments from local residents and passers-by, we hope you get a chance to enjoy the plants first hand.
Valley Theatre progress…
What a week! The young people at Valley were on top form last night as we started to develop pieces for inclusion in the performance at Belle Vale shopping centre on Saturday 7th April. Our them, broadly, is things that can improve a persons wellbeing, which we take to mean how a person feels both physically and mentally. So we decided to play around with some ideas around the kinds of people we encounter in everyday life, such as police and doctors – but with a twist.
The group were divided into pairs or groups of three and each group was given a key phrase or idea to develop a character or interactive performance from. All performances needed to be interactive and family friendly. Examples of the ideas given to start off characters include Mrs ItCouldBeWorse, The Happiness Doctors and The Happy Police. The groups were given time to work on their piece then had to perform it for the rest of the group! The ideas that people came up with were fantastic. The group who started with ‘Mrs ItCouldBeWorse’ developed a game show called The Glad Game – players come up, talk about something that is wrong with them (feeling sad or a sore arm) and the panellists point out all the reasons they have to be glad about their life to make them feel better! The intention of all the performances is to make people smile, encourage them to see the sunny side of life and to connect with people around them.
After the break, the whole group worked together to learn The Bus Stop, a disco dance step that travels – that is, you can move around a space with it. People were quick to pick up the basic steps and, with encouragement, were soon adding their own style to the moves! With Michael Jackson’s ‘Blame it on the Boogie’ playing, we all did a full version of The Bus Stop and ended on a real high! Looking forward to next week and more impro madness and diva-ish dancing!
Laura
Garston Celebrate 2012!
Garston C of E Primary School have been helping us with designs for the Long Lane Planters in Garston. Over the past two weeks they have been creating images based around the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, The Olympics and the 5 ways to Wellbeing. These are being turned into wooden plaques which will be fixed onto the planters once they are painted and planted (with the help of the children this Friday – if it doesn’t rain!). Rotters will be coming along to assist with the planting and designs.
Below is a mock up preview of one of the plaques…
Many thanks to the Staff and Lilly B, Rachael W, Alex De, Becky, Kaitlan, Rebecca, Charlie, Stevie, Rebekka H, Lida, Chantelle, Emily Bl, Erin, Charlotte, Viki, Emily Bu, Chloe and Adam!
Airport Art is Up!
We’ve just finished hanging the Parklands Airport Posters in the main arrivals lounge (opposite Subway) – they add a great amount of colour and detail to the space and we’re so happy to have them start our project’s live activity!
The works will hang indefinitely – until the area is redeveloped – so go and see them as soon as you can! They will soon be supported by the free stickers – obtainable from the main information counter!
Many thanks to Andrew Dutton and all at the Airport for their support.
90 Green Bottles…
Pupils at Gateacre comp continued their exploration of Alcohol statistics and started to experiment with representing the 90 people a day that die from alcohol related incidents. These ‘people’ are to be contained in bottles and a best approach was explored from drawing to collage to model making.
Belle Vale Primary Painters
A great afternoon was held on Tuesday with the most productive primary school artists i have ever come across.
The dozen pupils from all years of Belle Vale Primary explored fruit and vegetables as subject matter for large paintings – the 40 + paintings are intended to create ‘Head through the Hole’ type stickers for (bustop) windows so people can pretend to be their favourite fruit and veg.
