Following an open call out in October 2020 to curious creatives and outdoor enthusiasts based around the Salford area, and building on the Fire Garden project in 2017, we invited a group of 20+ artists, local residents and park volunteers to join the free course and engage in a mix of digital workshops in larger groups, and smaller in-person learning sessions.
The Creative Explorers Outside continued personal development (CPD) was designed for people who are interested in or have experience of:
- Arts, culture and heritage, particularly with a focus on participation
- Green spaces and the environment/gardening/conservation
- Making things happen within your community
- Learning, developing or sharing creative skills
In the lead-up to Christmas, we led a series of sessions including an introduction with Liz Pugh, a banner-making workshop with Charlotte Dearman, telling stories with your smartphone with Imran Azam and uncovering stories and creating audio with Dan Steele. The course continued again in February, culminating in a fire drawing workshop at Cobden Works at the end of March 2021 to mark 12 months since the 1st lockdown was announced and implemented (the original idea was to hold an appropriately distanced sharing event in the park but this wasn’t possible due to pandemic restrictions). This was filmed as a record of things to share with participants. In addition to the in-person fire drawing workshops with Carrie English and Peter Finegan, online sessions focused on:
Sense of place/ placemaking/ researching local history with Paul Hassall (Eccles & District Local History Society), Carole O'Reilly (Senior Lecturer in Media & Cultural Studies, University of Salford and author of The Greening of the City, Sarie Mairs Slee (Head of Salford's Culture and Place Partnership) and Kate Charnock (Programme Co-ordinator, Place, Salford City Council)
Inclusive as well as diverse practice with Venture Arts (we worked with Venture Arts to support an artist involved with their organisation to engage in this project), DIY Theatre, Age Friendly Manchester and The Whitworth (Early Years and Cultural Park Keeper)
Elaine Okoro, a writer involved in the project, had the idea of writing a poem to include with the film and recording the text in different languages. Watch the outcome here:
