The following report is from Graham Burgess who attended the Community Arts Project workshop. The workshop was held on Saturday, 17th January 2009 at the Gill Nethercott Centre. Please note that the workshop was independently organized (that is, it was not a Whitchurch Arts event). Your comments are always welcome – you can leave your comments, below. Here is Graham’s report:

REPORT ON WORKSHOP 17TH JANUARY 2009.

These are my personal comments but I hope they will make a positive contribution to constructive debate.

Introduction.

Corinne Marsh is I think the third person to be involved in the Arts Dynamic in respect of the Town Re-vitalisation. In the very earliest stages I was one of the ones approached by Tony Corbin and at a meeting with him and Sarah Davis the neighbourhood Rocks concept was considered a worthwhile element to include in persuasions put before SEEDA. The prime aim was to provide something that might persuade outsiders (visitors) to take more interest in Whitchurch and to also enrich the community. This novel scheme was accompanied by other suggestions, some of them of high quality around the end of 2006.If anyone is really interested I have copies of minutes and emails.

From an early beginning with a Working 4 Whitchurch team, that is now somewhat dissolved, various elements of the overall scheme were delegated to different groups.

A Steering Group was appointed and then one Glenda O’Neill was appointed.

It is not clear what the detail of the Job Description was but whatever the reasons the appointment was not valid so far as efficiency was concerned and she resigned. There had been interviews for that post and funds allocated.

The Arts matters were not advanced much at all. Then on her resignation another appointment was made Ed Beckham. The job specification may not have been clear as he resigned also. He was paid so this was another example personnel selection not being as good as it should be and funds being wasted.

There were no real advances in respect of the implementation. There are rumours about the number of propositions put forward but no clear facts.

At some stage the look and feel of the project moved from a professional attempt to apply artistic and promotional skills to town marketing to something arty and including not just amateurs but those with no experience.

My personal view is that it was initially decided that the town needed an operation in a creative hospital. Funding was sought and funding was obtained under the dynamic of entry into an operation on key body parts. There are a few key operators in Whitchurch who have professional experience at using proper instruments in order to bring about a desired healing result within strict cost parameters. There are some who have in addition to normal professional skills particular expertise.

We seem now to be not addressing the original challenge and empowering people with experience in the appropriate areas. Amateur surgeons are about to enter the operating theatre. Funds are being spent on training operators. The town lies on the operating table awaiting attention. After more than two years the best surgeons are still on the back burner.

Some members of the artistic community and truly professional ones are not attracted by the sort of workshops that they may have experienced many years ago, so this first workshop attracted few of them and some of the attendees were not from Whitchurch.

Aspects of the workshop could have been of interest to people with any level of skills.

I attended because I wanted to know more about the dynamic extant at this time, also to make contact with anyone who has an interest in art. This latter consideration is key to my role of Chairman of Whitchurch Arts as our aims are far beyond the town re-vitalisation scheme and focussed at involving people of all ages and levels of expertise in art.

All we do is very open and on the website for all to see.

THE WORKSHOP. 2yrs and 3 months from start up.

In my professional opinion the sort of workshop that took place today is not the best way to optimise the use of public funds towards creating a visitor attraction in the short or medium term. The mix of attendees was almost totally amateur and few there could ever produce a scheme capable of bringing identifiable benefits within strict timescales and cost parameters. The timescale is already long and over drawn. It has cost more money.

The actual content of the Workshop I think was very good of its sort and it is the sort of thing we should apply in various areas of basic arts skills to empower those with an interest to not only do their own thing but to learn how to respect the work of others whether their work be different or better.

I am not clear how important “local “ is to the planned workshops or whether any of them will draw upon local knowledge.

The workshop applied to the very basics of artistic sensibility and in that pure context would have been valuable to a wider mix of expertises and people. I can envisage this sort of thing being empowered by Whitchurch Arts in the future working at a basic level more basic than the workshops we have planned. It could fit in with our strategic plan for involving the young of Whitchurch in art.

Corinne Marsh tackled what is a very sensitive area with a bunch of novel participants in a very good way. The honouring of personal artistic sensibility and the empowering of people to participate was well done. Key focus was given to exercises involving the key senses of sight, smell, feel, sound and thought.

At the end I spoke to various participants and one of the things I sensed was a feeling of a vacuum. One said “But where can I learn to paint?” The workshop was good of its sort but a sound tactical effort not really connected to the potential and existing strategies in Whitchurch. We have referred some of these people to the Fishing for Arts Exhibition Sunday 18th and hopefully their ambitions can be included in the creative medium and long term strategies envisaged for the wider community and even those outside it. At least they may meet more sympathetic friends; at best they will be able to share in the growing development of Whitchurch Arts.

If Corinne can be further empowered and given the full information on the 19 (?) submissions so far she will be better empowered to plan the next stage which at present is a display in the library. Space there is limited and one comment I made was that ideally much more space than that would be needed. Art by definition is full of variables so she must be made aware of the wide range of skills and interests extant in Whitchurch already.

If we are not to enter into a scenario similar to those before Corinne must be given full information so her talent is applied most effectively.

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