SAJE project
Saturday 25 May 2013
Update from Peckham
I thought I would check in with a post and let you guys know what we have been up to at Peckham Sapce. There is this Review of TRIBE by Sarah Cole whcih opened a few weeks ago. I am also starting proceedings to establish Peckham Space as a charity independent from University of the Arts. I have to do this by the end of July and find funds to cover salaries x 2 that have been cut by UAL. It is really exciting but also a daunting amount of work... I have been thinking a lot about our retreat to Derbyshire and draw a lot of strenght from it, especially around the topic of developing trust in the commissioning process. I have the transcription that I have been meaning to work on since then but just not had the incentive with all this other stuff going on. More soon. . .
Tuesday 12 March 2013
Monday 11 March 2013
drawing ends together
Still confused after all this time...
I realise I have been putting off drawing together the research project, our group project, the things that have happened at AirSpace as a result and the Leadership programme as a whole.
I like things to make sense, and this is not easily or neatly wrapped up. Reading Susan's drawing together process is really helpful, as it doesn't attempt to make it all fit neatly together. There have been a number of correlatory things going on at once, and so I think I need to treat them like that to understand them.
I think then, my output for this project will be
3 X transcripts with 2 project participants and one lead organiser.
A piece of writing about the questions raised by the group project, and how this lead to an organisational development session with AirSpace and the rewriting of our Mission Statement.
Some collages which relate to evidence of decision making that I will draw out from the transcripts and the writing about the development. Still to do...
Through conversation I realise that in some ways we have come back to the original thoughts: I realised that at the beginning I wanted to talk about survival. The research undertaken made me look at personal survival in relation to organisational survival, and put those things together.
I realise I have been putting off drawing together the research project, our group project, the things that have happened at AirSpace as a result and the Leadership programme as a whole.
I like things to make sense, and this is not easily or neatly wrapped up. Reading Susan's drawing together process is really helpful, as it doesn't attempt to make it all fit neatly together. There have been a number of correlatory things going on at once, and so I think I need to treat them like that to understand them.
I think then, my output for this project will be
3 X transcripts with 2 project participants and one lead organiser.
A piece of writing about the questions raised by the group project, and how this lead to an organisational development session with AirSpace and the rewriting of our Mission Statement.
Some collages which relate to evidence of decision making that I will draw out from the transcripts and the writing about the development. Still to do...
Through conversation I realise that in some ways we have come back to the original thoughts: I realised that at the beginning I wanted to talk about survival. The research undertaken made me look at personal survival in relation to organisational survival, and put those things together.
Thursday 7 March 2013
ruminating
A bit of text to accompany the photographs and quotes that I hope gives context to the work. This is the first of two pieces, the next will attempt to answer my question.
When you ruminate, it means you think deeply about
something. It can also mean to chew the
cud, to chat. Either way, it’s a process
not to be rushed. Through conversations
with peers and time to return to previous projects, the Extend leadership
programme has been an opportunity to ruminate, in both senses. Through a group project we discussed our work
and asked questions of each other. The
group members encompassed many roles, areas of interest and skill. We didn’t form a homogenous project; instead
we supported each other to pursue our interests.
The questioning process has been particularly useful in
reflecting on our participatory work and reflects my overall learning from the
course. Recurring phrases in my
notebooks read “ask questions”, “be curious”.
The enquiring, not the answering has been hugely beneficial as a way to
open discussion, consider different perspectives and return to overlooked
details - often with the outcome of further questions.
The question I was posed by the group was “how to put art at
the centre of access?” Much of my work
is collaborative, bringing artists and participants together around a common
point of interest. It’s a process that
values and benefits from the diverse experiences and ideas of everyone
involved. In thinking about my question,
I returned to previous conversations I have had with participants and
artists. I found many points of wisdom
and insight about the way projects are set up, how people are involved, the
attitudes of the artists and what taking part means for people.
There is not one answer to the question how to put art at
the centre of access, but among the wealth of information, there were several
points that I find useful to keep in mind.
These are presented here with extracts from the conversations and
photographs representing that time shared, ruminating.
Wednesday 27 February 2013
The Old Man
Spent the weekend at the Edinburgh Printmakers, making the first of my
six screenprints resulting from the research. Great clockwork, physical, logical process, similiar to the darkroom, and very happy with the
results... The image was drawn from my research trip to Orkney/Shetland. Will be spending a couple of days over the next fortnight producing the remaining five, including the lifecycle...Our proposal can be found by following the same link...
Monday 11 February 2013
The AirSpace development session
I have written up what happened with my three questions: and how that led me to plan an activity with the other 2 AirSpace directors.
The three questions that I was given were:
Which direction do you want to face?
How do you make the gallery relevant to the community in which its in?
What are the connections between everything that you are doing and how do they work for you?
Originally this was meant to help move on our group project, but has a much greater reach than we thought - something which was quickly realised.
I realised that attempting to answer these questions could help greatly in planning for the coming two years at AirSpace Gallery, and if the questions could be explored with Andy and Glen (co-directors at AirSpace Gallery) we could figure out what each of us wants to do, and build this in.
What I realised was that though I am a named Director at AirSpace, I am not able to invest as much time as other Directors (as I work 4 days a week - and need time for my own practice as well.) For this reason, I need to make any involvement really work for me.
I feel that with a small artist led organisation like ours, it is important to keep in mind the individual career aspirations of those involved, and ensure that time give (often voluntarily) has some kind of alternative benefit. For this reason I planned a facilitated activity to work with Andy and Glen, in order to try to understand our individual career aspirations for the next two years, and to look at those alongside our plans for the direction of the gallery for two years, and to see how these relate to each other.
Keeping the original 3 questions very much in mind, the activity was structured like this:
Activity:
1. Each participant has 5 minutes to write down all the things they do for the gallery.
- then sort into: things you still want to do, things you would like support to do and things you no longer want to do.
Each participant then shares these, and a discussion around identifying gaps, and possible solutions for shifting roles/responsibilities takes place.
3. Each participant has 3 minutes to note down all the things they would like to see the gallery doing over the next two years.
Then participants present their goals and ambitions, and then what they would like to see the gallery doing - and links between own goals and gallery goals are explored as well as links between participants.
(This helps us to understand what informs each of our approaches.) Very helpful!
4. Participants note down 5 points in relation to what they feel AirSpace is and should be, with a view to write a new/relevant mission statement. These are looked at and discussed, and links/crossovers explored.
5. We discuss the original 3 questions set out at the beginning to see if we have answers yet.
A new mission statement is written in the subsequent weeks, plus a timeplan set out, and an arts council bid completed (almost).
The process was really helpful, and actually showed each of us what our individual approach is to the gallery, what we need at this point in time, and what we can offer.
We have a board meeting next week (for our newly structured board) and we can present what we did, and how it has been developmental for us.
And Yes we have written a new mission statement: Here is the old one:
The process was really helpful, and actually showed each of us what our individual approach is to the gallery, what we need at this point in time, and what we can offer.
We have a board meeting next week (for our newly structured board) and we can present what we did, and how it has been developmental for us.
And Yes we have written a new mission statement: Here is the old one:
AirSpace Gallery aims to be the centre
for the Visual Arts in Stoke-on-Trent and the region, providing gallery,
studio, educational and meeting spaces.
And the new one:
AirSpace is a collaborative, artist led project in
Stoke-on-Trent, providing professional development opportunities, studio and
exhibiting space and support for artists. Through a dynamic programme of
exhibitions, events and activities AirSpace gallery brings critical, high
quality conceptual art to the region.
(Though we are just living with it for a few days before the board meeting and might change it.)
image + text
Its universal and that makes it interesting for me; I don’t want to be an intellectual ingrown toe nail. For me, I’ve had worthwhile, interesting, engaging experiences that have made me stop and think. It has made me contribute thoughtfully. The key learning things came from the fact that we were focussed and there to make a contribution. As soon as you give purpose it tweaks your interest.
It’s not only stimulating; it’s satisfying its both. It keeps you intellectually engaged and it gives you a sense of wanting more.
The listening, not just my
listening, listening, was important to the whole thing. We had to listen to one another, we learnt
from one another and that opened doors.
It wasn’t idly sitting and taking in but it was being involved.
I came on board with an approach relating to my own practise....those ideas were blown out of the water in the consultation process. Artlink’s process leaves time and space for you to be reflective and actually respond to workshops. It means you can have a genuine collaboration and you can end up making an object which feels quite removed from my practice. In many ways I’m surprised about what’s been made, that’s really exciting for me.
In the workshops it was my aim to involve everyone, yes to bring my expertise but to involve everyone so I can learn from them as well. What’s interesting is the difference in response, that’s where I learn and everyone in the group learns from it.
When having to complete a creative task set for you by someone else perhaps it is best to be taken by surprise. The organisation Artlink is very good at producing ‘Oh!’ and ‘Ah!’ moments. I have had many over my time as a volunteer. As it brings together diverse collections of people and places to find creative ways for individuals to be involved in their communities, Artlink seems to value the generative, restorative element of surprise.
Friday 8 February 2013
six questions
An interesting catch up on Skype for us - I had hoped that the presentation in Leeds would solidfy whst we are doing but unfortunately seems to have dislodged things a bit... In terms of our conversation we discussed publishing online rather than in a publication - better reach and potentially more useful. We also discussed the possibility of an event as a manifestation - something I hadn't thought of... It would be interesting but I feel that we need to put a line in the sand, a marker down here, ... (and then have the possibility of an event) otherwise things can rumble on...
It seems to me that our six questions are key again - maybe these should be the answerables that we build our manifestation on... I certainly feel that me and Susan's work try to answer ours - Emily and Anna are less fixed on their outcome at the moment - is it helpful to try to answer your question/s guys?
By having the questions on the homepage, these could introduce our research for the viewer, aiding their navigation- we could then introduce a bit of context as to why we wish to answer this question... I think this could work...
How to build a structure that has room for change or failure?
It seems to me that our six questions are key again - maybe these should be the answerables that we build our manifestation on... I certainly feel that me and Susan's work try to answer ours - Emily and Anna are less fixed on their outcome at the moment - is it helpful to try to answer your question/s guys?
By having the questions on the homepage, these could introduce our research for the viewer, aiding their navigation- we could then introduce a bit of context as to why we wish to answer this question... I think this could work...
How do you make the gallery relevant to the
community in which its in?
How to build trust into the commissioning
process?
What are the connections between what you
are doing and how do they work for you?
How to put art in the centre rather than
access?
Which direction do you want to face?
Mix Tape
We are thinking about a manifestation in the form of a website mix tape: Emily's image of Mixtape from our presentation above.
We just agreed in our skype meeting to share other sites we like for different reasons.
I like soanyway.org.uk as I like how it's quite random.
I really like the Miranda July website because I love the first page.
I quite like the idea of it being a repository for all things participation, but realise that might be too unmanageable, and our conversations seem to suggest it is purely a repository for the content we already have. I will have a think about others that might be good to look at.
We just agreed in our skype meeting to share other sites we like for different reasons.
I like soanyway.org.uk as I like how it's quite random.
I really like the Miranda July website because I love the first page.
I quite like the idea of it being a repository for all things participation, but realise that might be too unmanageable, and our conversations seem to suggest it is purely a repository for the content we already have. I will have a think about others that might be good to look at.
Thinking...
What became clear to me through doing our presentation was a need for me to try to draw together the research activity that I engaged in, and the practical changes that have been happening at AirSpace, in relation to the learning from our group project.
Johnny, you have mentioned a few times that the research transcripts may not be where it's at, but for some reason I am still really keen to see them finished, and to write up a paper or something on them.
I do see what you mean though, and in relation to the Common Practice text (thanks for that by the way - still reading it) It would be a good idea to try to think about AirSpace and its value as a small arts organisation, and in particular in relation to the cuts. This idea of needing to adapt to become either more corporate or more philanthropic definitely seems to need to be looked at in more detail. I think we have recognised that we need to almost become more strategically self-serving, which seems the opposite of philanthropy, in order to ensure sustainability (of our own interest in giving so much to the project, without monetary reward.) Maybe this could be an angle for me to look at.
I am trying to pull things together, and think about what to do with the content gathered. I am hoping the conversation we have this afternoon might help with that.
In the mean time, I have added our 4 leadership badges to my collection of small things.
Johnny, you have mentioned a few times that the research transcripts may not be where it's at, but for some reason I am still really keen to see them finished, and to write up a paper or something on them.
I do see what you mean though, and in relation to the Common Practice text (thanks for that by the way - still reading it) It would be a good idea to try to think about AirSpace and its value as a small arts organisation, and in particular in relation to the cuts. This idea of needing to adapt to become either more corporate or more philanthropic definitely seems to need to be looked at in more detail. I think we have recognised that we need to almost become more strategically self-serving, which seems the opposite of philanthropy, in order to ensure sustainability (of our own interest in giving so much to the project, without monetary reward.) Maybe this could be an angle for me to look at.
I am trying to pull things together, and think about what to do with the content gathered. I am hoping the conversation we have this afternoon might help with that.
In the mean time, I have added our 4 leadership badges to my collection of small things.
Thursday 7 February 2013
Tuesday 29 January 2013
AJE old process
So back from the second residential in Leeds -
.... a very different affair from Wakefield...
Unfortunately Susan couldn't be with us, so SAJE became three (AJE), with susan voice in attendence via Anna... reactions? All fine, although more critical feedback would be good. Next step is to review what the mixtape is and how we distribute it. I was very aware when we were presenting that this wasn't the format it was intended to be viewed in - somehow, in a presentation, it becomes too reduced, no rhythym, too regularr and too reductive... The joys of a mixtape were always the unexpected, so lets think of:
- rhythym and pace,
- editing (smooth or jarring)
- volume (shouting or whispering)
- placement/distance (close or far)
- level of completion or production: rough cut or polished
- Clarity or distortion
- and of course visual appearance - looking, reading, squinting, remembering, interpreting, translating
Worth a read - although one thing that seems missing to me is any investigation of where the resources come from, and what the money is intended to do... If space in the symposium/publication was devoted to why we should fund public art in the first place - then maybe we could see how small arts orgs specifically particular serve that goal, which might be one approach within what is referred to as collective strategies...
Monday 14 January 2013
Sunday 13 January 2013
thoughts on leadership
My work always starts from the interests, ideas, needs of
project participants. I usually try to
work co-operatively, bringing everyone into the decision making, taking all
contributions into account. My thinking
was that if I worked hierarchically, participants wouldn’t have a sense of
ownership of the project. What often
happened though was a lack of direction.
Over the past six months, I have reflected on what was
successful and unsuccessful, had discussions with participants from past
projects and as a result planned a new programme of participatory
projects. I held focus groups to share
the ideas and approach for this new programme.
By doing this as presentations, I turned around my usual approach. Through this I found hierarchical and co-operative
are not opposite approaches; presenting a clear idea then enables people to
choose to get involved so at times working hierarchically may support
co-operation at other stages.
Through this process, I have now written a three year plan
with a clear vision and rationale. I
plan to use this to encourage further participation in projects with people
with disabilities, artists and arts organisations. From the Cultural Leadership Reader, the
article that resonated most with me was about Connective Leaders: building “a
sense of purpose across organisational boundaries, perceived connections
between diverse people, ideas and institutions.”
I feel my role as a leader is to articulate a sense of
purpose, I would also add to the idea that it’s important to build in check
points to ensure the purpose is mutually held; that it reflects the interests
off all involved. Articulating a broad
purpose is not the same as controlling all details, the broadness can allows
for contributions, for their to be changes and areas of uncertainty. I have been using the Disney model to
separate planning; the vision, planning and evaluation; and found this useful
for me and also for participants to know what is being asked. During a focus group, one participant made a
comment, which reassured me about my approach:
“Having a destination creates an
archway to look through but as with all creative processes you don’t know how
to get there, discussion shapes it. Being involved in the process with
the artist gives a sense of ownership and pride; you feel you’ve created it
together.”
I also realised that I’m often
trying to fix things when actually the work can set up situations that hint at
alternatives without providing solutions.
Reflecting on past projects, I found that work successfully improved
access for disabled people, not when advocating for specific changes but when
projects brought people together. This
provided opportunities to share and discuss new experiences.
Part of my leadership is my
conviction that art releases the imagination; helps us consider alternative
perspectives. What those will be and
what will happen next, you can’t know so you set up contexts and let things
happen. I don’t need to fix, control,
document, but briefly bring people together in specific contexts and enjoy the
surprises.
Working on the group project has
been really useful to share our practise and ask questions of each other. Again, it’s not about fixing, or advising, it’s
been about supporting each other to reflect and come to new
understandings. I’ve learnt this is a
really valuable process and hope there are ways to continue beyond this
project. There has been a lot of
sensibility; we made a plan but treated it flexibly by checking what we each
needed at the time. Reflection was aided
by the context we had chosen, a wood burning stove, big pots of soup and
country walks.
The question I was asked was “How
to put art at the centre rather than access?”
In response I’ve written a short statement that I hope succinctly
explains my approach. As this approach
includes working closely with participants, I’ve also collected and presented
quotes about experiences. The statement
and reflections on projects have informed a project blog which presents the new
programme and an archive of previous work.
A question I asked Anna was,
“What are the connections between all the things you do – and how do you make
them work for you?” I realised that the
question I asked was relevant to me as I’ve stopped drawing which used to be
really important for me. I’m now using
the project to motivate me to pick this up again as a reflective tool.
Wednesday 2 January 2013
Badges
Having agreed to make a badge for each of us which will underline the part of the presentation where we draw out relevant learning for the wider group we have each chosen a slogan to represent one aspect of our learning.
When it gets to the bit where we share that, we will offer the other groups a chance to select one of our badges, which hopefully will get them thinking about the relevance of our learning to their own experiences on the programme.
Susan's badge says Expert in...and people can add their own text. and comes from Acknowledge and use the expertise of everyone in the room, including yourself.
Johnny's say equality/quality and mine says 'don' mind the gap - and comes from a realisation through involvment with the course that the job of the leader is not to always fill gaps, but might just be to recognise them.
When it gets to the bit where we share that, we will offer the other groups a chance to select one of our badges, which hopefully will get them thinking about the relevance of our learning to their own experiences on the programme.
Susan's badge says Expert in...and people can add their own text. and comes from Acknowledge and use the expertise of everyone in the room, including yourself.
Emily's says Leadership is responsive and came from understanding about confidence in flexibility.
Johnny's say equality/quality and mine says 'don' mind the gap - and comes from a realisation through involvment with the course that the job of the leader is not to always fill gaps, but might just be to recognise them.
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