Volunteers needed for really cool Recycled Playground project!
Sheffield NOW! (you can read about the organisation in previous posts) has just got funding through for a very exciting project that I’m going to be working on called ‘The Recycled Playground’. We’ll be doing a series of fun, free workshops to explore parks in Sheffield and build structures out of recycled stuff that respond to specific spaces and what young people want to do/feel there. The project starts in April…
If you are interested in volunteering or you know of some good places to get recycled stuff (bottles, bags, fabric, wood etc) get in touch with either lisa (lisaprocter@sheffield-now.com) or me – my Sheffield NOW! email is nickyward@sheffield-now.com.
Come make a Recycled Playground! Saturday 31st October
This Saturday, I will lead artist for a really exciting Sheffield NOW! event at Four Greens, Sheffield (S5 7NN) It will hopefully (depending on funding) be part of a series of events to create a giant play structure out of recycled stuff!
So far, we have aquired loads and loads of old bicycle tyres, and on Saturday will be building with them to make a giant caterpillar structure. We will also be imagining what it would be like to be a caterpillar for the day, and printing, collaging and writing our stories on strips of fabric (old bedsheets!) that will be sewn together to form part of the caterpillars body.
The event is free and everyone is welcome! Wear scruffy clothes though – you might get paint on them!
Here’s a photo of me practicing building with tyres…
Your Art – The Festival 2009 Scrapbook!
Here’s the artwork visitors made at the Wirksworth Festival 2009!
A few people said they had been inspired them to get collaging – If you have made any collages, please send me a picture – I’ll add it to the gallery if you would like!
Thanks for coming to the festival!
Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone that came to Wirksworth last weekend. I had a really great time, and will post some pictures soon!
The Chesterfield Canal Collage – Really Nearly Finished!!
I’ll probably carry on adding bits and pieces to this over the next few months, but think that it looks lively and captures the feel of the festival – Thanks to all my helpers over the weekend, I’m very happy with the (almost!) finished result. Let me know what you think (you can leave a comment below)…
I’ll be exhibiting this along with some of my other work at the Wirksworth Festival on the 12th and 13th September. If you haven’t been to the festival before, its a fantastic event – Loads of artists display their work in peoples homes and buisnesses throughout Wirksworth – I’ll be just off the Market Place, in Crown Yard. There’s loads of performances and stuff going on, so there’s plenty to keep the whole family entertained. The website is www.wirksworthfestival.co.uk if you want to find out more.
Creative Partnerships, Sheffield
For the past 3 months, I’ve been working with children at Hunters Bar School, Sheffield one day a week as part of a Creative Partnerships project to design and produce a structure that makes the classroom a more creative learning environment.
The result is fantastic – a set of drawers that look quite ordinary from the outside, but when each drawer opens, the space is transformed to help you learn in different and exciting ways.
For example, the bottom drawer pulls out to form a stage on which you must wear the special hat to give you good luck…
There’s a friendship funfair that pulls out of another drawer, with loads of games and activities designed by children to help you make friends…
Conversation trees grow out the top of the drawers and can be taken around the school – the colours, textures and pictures inspire different conversations…
There’s also a chill out den that folds out one drawer, and an inspiration wave that rolls out of another! As one child exclaimed on seeing the finished result ‘It’s like each drawer is a tardis!’
Canal Collage!
The Chesterfield Canal Festival was a great event – lots of children helped cut and stick and paint using all the rubbish visitors and exhibitors gave me over the weekend! In a week or so, I’ll have a bit of time to finish the collage, and will put some more pictures up. For now though, here’s some pictures from the event itself…
Chesterfield Canal Festival, Kiveton Park, Rotherham 23rd – 25th May 2009
I’m going to be displaying my work at the Chesterfield Canal Festival – www.kiveton2009.com – It should be a great weekend – you can camp there and they’ll be loads of stalls and stuff going on – including boat rides! I’m going to be getting visitors to donate their rubbish from the festival, and help me create a canal-inspired collage – it should keep me busy for a few days! Would be great to see you there!
Your Sheffield NOW! Rivelin Valley
Sheffield NOW! teamed up with Ruthie (a fab artist who makes giant knitted structures), and lots of young people and their families to find out more about spaces through den-building and collaging. Using a mixture of french knitting, weaving and collaging, this fantastic structure evolved over the course of an afternoon! A really fun and relaxing way to spend a weekend!
Your Sheffield NOW! Endcliffe Park – Photos from the day!
We had a fantastic day making African inspired dens using bits and pieces found in Endcliffe park Sheffield, weaving artwork people created throughout the event in and out. The work created will be added to the Your Sheffield NOW! Weave (see the Sheffield NOW! page for more details) – If anyone is interested in helping create the weave, please get in touch – I will be recruiting volunteers for a cake fuelled day, to put together the work we have collected at the last couple of events!