There are many sights, sound of voices, memories of events and experiences that pass before me when I reflect on The Parks Helix Project. Of course the final year with its outcome of the arts based Walking Trail and the things associated with this, such as the Digital Films, the Songwriting Project, the Temporary Art are in the foreground.
But actually it is everything that led to this that is special for me about the Helix Project. Community Arts and its successor Community Cultural Development (CCD) has always been about both process and product and the way in which 'the community' contributes to and feels a sense of ownership over what is created.
For me these key points are not a fixed formula, but a dynamic relationship that is defined both by the context of the specific project, the community and the artists involved, and often re-defined and re-visited as the project develops.
The Parks Helix Project had examples of the wide range of creative community arts approaches that can be produced and drawn on by evovling and dynamic relationship.
From the very much process focused work on the first year photographic project of The Parenting Network to the artist developed and realised beautiful photographic seats of the final year 3 outcome...The challenges faced by the digital film project in engaging community members in not only telling their moving and important stories but in learning and using the technology to create and realise them as finished works...The powerful and engaging monologues created by a professional actor and performed to the community from stories collected from this community to the excellent mosaic stepping stones and stobie pole art that through the quidance and involvement of skilled artists enabled community members to realise their visions and ideas...and so on.
Of course as Project Coordinator for The Parks Helix Project all of this and much more is in my memories. However it is great to see this blogsite and links to the digital films site allowing others to access and understand what a fantastic project the Parks Helix Project was, especially as a fine example of creative arts in a community context.
Robert Petchell
Project Coordinator
Parks Helix Project
Monday, February 4, 2008
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Bridgette Minuzzo, mosaic stepping stones workshop artist reflects...
I have been working as a freelance artist for 10 years now, working on public art commissions and community art projects. My role on this project was to coordinate and run the workshops, order and purchase all materials and teach mosaic techniques. Karen Tenni, the facilitator and I worked as a team. I live about 10 minutes from the Parks Community Centre.
As a tutor I encouraged people to develop ideas, draft them and create their image in mosaic. At the time of this project my children were 3 and 5, so I felt an affinity with the young mothers group. I know the value of having an hour away from the children, to connect with friends and have some "adult time". I also felt an affinity with the group of senior citizens, who had consolidated their friendship through a love of mosaic (it's hard to down tools sometimes!). This group had been meeting each week for a year of their own volition. They were keen to join the project to learn new skills.
The theme of the artwork was "little treasures". The mosaic pavers would be discovered in the footpath by locals walking by. I asked participants to make an image that had meaning to them, a memory from childhood or something experienced with their children. People were encouraged to work together, which strengthened friendships and connections between individuals and the two very different groups participating. People shared stories, memories, we talked about where we all grew up (surprising how far afield our Parks locals came from!). We talked about health, children, pregnancy, birth and a new grandchild in the seniors' group. The value of the project was the friendships and support within the group as well as the common goal of making art for our local area, "The Parks".
As a tutor I encouraged people to develop ideas, draft them and create their image in mosaic. At the time of this project my children were 3 and 5, so I felt an affinity with the young mothers group. I know the value of having an hour away from the children, to connect with friends and have some "adult time". I also felt an affinity with the group of senior citizens, who had consolidated their friendship through a love of mosaic (it's hard to down tools sometimes!). This group had been meeting each week for a year of their own volition. They were keen to join the project to learn new skills.
The theme of the artwork was "little treasures". The mosaic pavers would be discovered in the footpath by locals walking by. I asked participants to make an image that had meaning to them, a memory from childhood or something experienced with their children. People were encouraged to work together, which strengthened friendships and connections between individuals and the two very different groups participating. People shared stories, memories, we talked about where we all grew up (surprising how far afield our Parks locals came from!). We talked about health, children, pregnancy, birth and a new grandchild in the seniors' group. The value of the project was the friendships and support within the group as well as the common goal of making art for our local area, "The Parks".
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Hayley Quist, Parks Children's House - reflects...
I worked as Coordinator of the Parks Children’s House from Dec January 2004-April 2007.
Parks Children’s House is a collaborative service, comprising agencies and services from the health and education sector, together providing support and programmes for early child development and parenting. Our key outcome areas include supporting community participation and increasing responsiveness to our communities.
The local Parks community has embraced opportunities to be involved with the House, beginning from the early development phase of our service when parents and carers formed a committee to help design the children’s outdoor play areas.
This group of parents paved the way to growing community participation and decision making within the House, becoming the self-titled Children’s House Creative Network. They have met weekly since mid-2005 to co-plan and develop a number of grant-funded community arts projects, and be a voice for development of the Children’s House physical spaces.
The most recent of these projects has been the mosaic stepping stones with artist Bridgette Minuzzo, as part of the collaborative local walking trail project. Leading up to and throughout this project, it has been both heart warming and satisfying to see the growth and development of the individuals participating, as well as their creative abilities. This project, and those before it, were important because they connected families in the area, which reduced isolation and increased their ability to access social support and resources, and connect with a broader range of services in their local area. With support from Karen as facilitator, parents participated in planning and development of the projects, and learnt fantastic skills such as how to participate in and lead meetings, prioritise and manage their time, team build, negotiate and make decisions. All of these skills are transferable to their everyday life, and by developing these skills, parents’ self-esteem and confidence grew.
The development of their unrestricted creativity also shone through. Although many of these people experience chaotic and challenging lives, they consistently arrived week after week, to engage in the enjoyable, relaxing experience of developing artwork. Confidence in their artistic abilities also grew over time as they became bolder with their designs, and clearer about the direction they wanted their artwork to take. They produced some striking, commendable artwork of a high standard, and we often receive comments from those who have joined the Children’s House in more recent times, who can’t believe the art was created by mums and dads just like themselves!
Even more pleasing, a number of the Creative Network parents linked in to a peer support training course offered by the Parks Children’s House during late 2006, and many have since gone on to seek employment and/or further training.
Hayley Quist
Parks Children’s House
Parks Children’s House is a collaborative service, comprising agencies and services from the health and education sector, together providing support and programmes for early child development and parenting. Our key outcome areas include supporting community participation and increasing responsiveness to our communities.
The local Parks community has embraced opportunities to be involved with the House, beginning from the early development phase of our service when parents and carers formed a committee to help design the children’s outdoor play areas.
This group of parents paved the way to growing community participation and decision making within the House, becoming the self-titled Children’s House Creative Network. They have met weekly since mid-2005 to co-plan and develop a number of grant-funded community arts projects, and be a voice for development of the Children’s House physical spaces.
The most recent of these projects has been the mosaic stepping stones with artist Bridgette Minuzzo, as part of the collaborative local walking trail project. Leading up to and throughout this project, it has been both heart warming and satisfying to see the growth and development of the individuals participating, as well as their creative abilities. This project, and those before it, were important because they connected families in the area, which reduced isolation and increased their ability to access social support and resources, and connect with a broader range of services in their local area. With support from Karen as facilitator, parents participated in planning and development of the projects, and learnt fantastic skills such as how to participate in and lead meetings, prioritise and manage their time, team build, negotiate and make decisions. All of these skills are transferable to their everyday life, and by developing these skills, parents’ self-esteem and confidence grew.
The development of their unrestricted creativity also shone through. Although many of these people experience chaotic and challenging lives, they consistently arrived week after week, to engage in the enjoyable, relaxing experience of developing artwork. Confidence in their artistic abilities also grew over time as they became bolder with their designs, and clearer about the direction they wanted their artwork to take. They produced some striking, commendable artwork of a high standard, and we often receive comments from those who have joined the Children’s House in more recent times, who can’t believe the art was created by mums and dads just like themselves!
Even more pleasing, a number of the Creative Network parents linked in to a peer support training course offered by the Parks Children’s House during late 2006, and many have since gone on to seek employment and/or further training.
Hayley Quist
Parks Children’s House
Thursday, November 15, 2007
photographic seats - image inspiration and development
Creating two significant pieces of art reflecting three years of an arts based community project and the history of a community was a challenging task. Since I had been involved with the Parks Helix Project from the beginning, I was aware of all of the wonderful outcomes and art developed over time. The final photographs needed to tell a story, yet be open enough to allow viewers to create their own story. Yet, the intention wasn't for the work to be just a collection of images, but two new exciting works of photographic art.
There was the history of the Parks area to consider - memories of locals of when there were dairy farms and every backyard had chickens. The image of knitting acts as a visual reminder of the knitting project with Port Adelaide Enfield council, and also stands as a metaphor for a tightly knit community. The drawings by children are a portrayal of being a child in the Parks, and photographs of stobie poles painted by the local children act as a reminder of Ridley Grove School's ongoing project. A toy dog acts a symbol of family pets written about in the Port Adelaide Enfield's council letter writing project between school children and senior residents of the RSL villas. New and old houses illustrate the changes in housing over time. The word 'story' was written in the Parks Health Servicebig book during the digital stories film project and stands for the personal story every resident has about the area. The final photographic images are a form of memory map of the area, symbolized by the underlying layer, a piece of my work about the transience of memory.
Various elements were combined in different configurations - some appearing then disappearing -until the final art pieces each worked singly, and together, to tell a story about the Parks Helix Project and the local community.
There was the history of the Parks area to consider - memories of locals of when there were dairy farms and every backyard had chickens. The image of knitting acts as a visual reminder of the knitting project with Port Adelaide Enfield council, and also stands as a metaphor for a tightly knit community. The drawings by children are a portrayal of being a child in the Parks, and photographs of stobie poles painted by the local children act as a reminder of Ridley Grove School's ongoing project. A toy dog acts a symbol of family pets written about in the Port Adelaide Enfield's council letter writing project between school children and senior residents of the RSL villas. New and old houses illustrate the changes in housing over time. The word 'story' was written in the Parks Health Servicebig book during the digital stories film project and stands for the personal story every resident has about the area. The final photographic images are a form of memory map of the area, symbolized by the underlying layer, a piece of my work about the transience of memory.
Various elements were combined in different configurations - some appearing then disappearing -until the final art pieces each worked singly, and together, to tell a story about the Parks Helix Project and the local community.
Monday, November 12, 2007
mosaic stepping stones outcomes
The mosaic stepping stone project had some wonderful outcomes - 23 individuals participated in workshops, with each session averaging a core group of 10 community members. The group included members of the Parks Childrens House Creative Network - young mothers supported by Parenting Network - and the Parks Mosaic Group - mature community members who became a self managed group after a previous City of Port Adelaide Enfield stage of the Parks Helix Project.
After 10 workshop sessions with talented mosaic artist Bridgette Minuzzo, 16 mosaic stepping stones were completed and installed into the footpath around the Parks Community centre, along Cowan and Trafford Sts, Angle Park, South Australia (see map). Each stepping stone measured 450mm x 450mm, with mosaic designs created from pieces of non-slip floor tiles using the theme of "little discoveries". The group used the theme as a starting point to share stories of experiences that would relate to the area and interesting for those using the walking trail.
mosaic stepping stones evaluation process
The Parks Childrens House Creative Network group includes participants who are new mothers seeking support with their first child - mostly quite young, some with physical or mental health issues, some have partners/some are single, generally low income, maybe housing trust clients, perhaps social or work skills need developing - the changes may be slow but significant. They are all justifiably proud of the art work they have created over the past three years of the Parks Helix Project (photographic pet safety posters, calendars, play area design, marine ply silhouette cut-outs for building façade, mosaic seat and now mosaic stepping stones) and now want their group to continue on a self-managed basis to gain funding and do more art projects.Part of the evaluation we were asked to do on this project was to identify how the project has fostered health and wellbeing. I used a questionnaire to gather data from the participants and also initiated conversations about the subject. Questions included: What was the best part of the project? What was the worst part of the project? How could the project be improved? How can this group keep going in the future? Would you be a part of it? What difference has this project made in your life? Has this project changed how you think and feel about your future?
I had a conversation with a peer support trainee (previously a participant who I will call N) who was working with our project about how being involved might cause changes in individuals. Over the last 3 years, while N participated in different stages of the Parks Helix Project, I have observed that N's confidence has grown significantly - learning a variety of new arts based skills, participating increasingly confidently in a group situation, has attended training in peer support, is now working in a paid support trainee role - which includes greater responsibilities, and overcoming personal barriers. N's response was that she now feels more creative and confident, and would like to do more arts based projects, which was a fairly typical response. Others expressed pleasure at being part of artmaking, and also enjoyed the walking aspects of the sessions.
I read an article about the Artful Dodgers Studio, and 'dynamic observation approach', using identified indicators to monitor individual progress during participation in the ongoing program. One interesting approach was for the worker to compile a series of 'snap-shots' or observational report every couple of months to track changes in a participant, which then provided a detailed account of each participant's developmental journey. (Artwork magazine, issue 59, Sept 2004, p28-31) This approach resonates with and articulates the approach I used as an artsworker during the Parks Helix Project initiatives.
As this stage was focussed on creating art for a community walking trail, part of every workshop involved walking for at least part of the session. We also took a picnic to the parks a few times, which were enjoyed by the participants and their children.The 'big books' were the main evaluation and documentation of the initiative…recorded in an A3 artist journal. more on this useful tool soon.
Friday, November 9, 2007
photographic seats initiative intro
There had been an installation of two seats with photographic panels installed into the redeveloped Veterans Memorial Reserve in Nelson St, Angle Park, as part of an earlier project to commemorate Australians' contribution to various conflicts.
These seats were used as a starting point for a commissioned initiative for the Parks Helix Project, overseen by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. I was engaged initially as the project coordinator, then as the artist. The first stage of my role included research and development of the seat design, sourcing manufacturers and obtaining quotes and design specifications for approval by the Parks Helix Project Management Group and the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Public Art Committee. Many ideas were explored before narrowing the options to the final choice. Some of the challenges were budget considerations, time constraints, the requirement for a photographic panel to be part of the seat, desire for a 'classy' design and perceptions about what would be acceptable to the local community.
The concept of placing photographic seats along the walking trail at two specified places on Stuart St and Parker St, provides opportunities to create an artistic reflection on the three years of the Parks Helix project. It is also a chance to share the connections created within the community, while providing a space to sit, relax and rest.
The photographic panels convey a sense of space and place, reflecting on the changes stimulated by the Parks Helix Project. The images draw on existing imagery from project initiatives and incorporate new images inspired by the walking trail, which include elements of mapping.
The seats, photographic panels and concrete slabs all incorporate complementary elements to create one piece of art.
These seats were used as a starting point for a commissioned initiative for the Parks Helix Project, overseen by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. I was engaged initially as the project coordinator, then as the artist. The first stage of my role included research and development of the seat design, sourcing manufacturers and obtaining quotes and design specifications for approval by the Parks Helix Project Management Group and the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Public Art Committee. Many ideas were explored before narrowing the options to the final choice. Some of the challenges were budget considerations, time constraints, the requirement for a photographic panel to be part of the seat, desire for a 'classy' design and perceptions about what would be acceptable to the local community.
The concept of placing photographic seats along the walking trail at two specified places on Stuart St and Parker St, provides opportunities to create an artistic reflection on the three years of the Parks Helix project. It is also a chance to share the connections created within the community, while providing a space to sit, relax and rest.
The photographic panels convey a sense of space and place, reflecting on the changes stimulated by the Parks Helix Project. The images draw on existing imagery from project initiatives and incorporate new images inspired by the walking trail, which include elements of mapping.
The seats, photographic panels and concrete slabs all incorporate complementary elements to create one piece of art.
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