Graham kicks things off

A long, and good meeting was held yesterday at the White Hart (thanks Andy!) starting at 7:30pm.  Here’s what we discussed…

• Finances
  • Graham kicked off our May 2009 meeting by telling us that Eric, our treasurer (who joined the meeting near its end), reports there is £1384 in our account – most of it earmarked for the Off the Walls on-going event.
  • We also have some materials available for future events: about 20 skylanterns (£3 each) and fish netting (decoration used during our Fishing For Art event).
• Off the Walls
  • A kick-off show is planned for Sunday 21 June at the Gill Nethercott Centre
    • Venue owners and managers  (e.g. pubs, hairdressers,…) will be invited to see and select the works they want to showcase (and sell!) in their establishment.
    • The show will be open to the public, too.
  • Graham and Eric showed the photos they took of various venues around town – wall measurements were recorded on them
  • John is printing up some place-holders (eyes) that will soon be put on the selected walls
  • Two volunteers have come forward and expressed an interest to administer Off the Walls (neither were present at the meeting)
  • A query was made: is there space for sculptures?  Perhaps shelves could be installed in some venues?
  • Insurance against theft would likely be the responsibility of the artist, not the venue (to be investigated and confirmed)


John "Bollards" Buckley

• Bollards
  • An email from the town clerk was read out by Graham…
  • It is likely that John Buckley’s proposal for “Whitchurch Bollards” will be the winner of the Community Art Project headed by Corrine Marsh (its taken two years for the Steering Group to get to this stage)
  • Furthermore, it is likely that Whitchurch Arts will be retained to manage the project and liase with Hampshire County Council (where the funding for the project comes from, and who own the town’s bollards)
  • Insurance would have to be obtained by Whitchurch Arts (£10M liability – standard practice these days supposedly) – John will investigate this
  • Unfortunately, it appears that at least one more Steering Group meeting (28 May 5pm perhaps now 18 June in Town Hall?) is required to finally finalise the final finalisation of the final finalists
  • The artists at the Whitchurch Arts meetings agreed unanimously to support the Bollard project and to take on the role of project manager for it
  

  Isle of Ikea (formerly Wight) ferry

  • A means to “paint” each bollard was discussed: hire a contractor who can “wrap” a design around a bollard, much like the way adverts are put on buses, or even Isle of Wight ferries


Artistic Chat

• Arty Enviro Bags
  • Graham suggested that Whitchurch Arts should consider selling environmentally friendly “eco bags” that are decorated with art made by our artists
  • One suggestion is to have a black and white print which could be coloured in by the purchaser
  • Another suggestion is to put some embroilery on it, like what Julie Rose creates
  • Concern was raised because another eco bag project is just about to be rolled out (it is believed)
  • Someone, maybe John?, suggested that this idea could be morphed into putting art (and the Whitchurch Arts logo) onto baseball caps, ties, scarfs and T-shirts, which could be sold at various venues around town?
• Recycling/Reuse Art Project
  • John informed everyone of Beth Wright’s idea to create a piece, or pieces, of art from recycled and/or unwanted materials
  • There was an enthusiastic response!
  • Graham says he has marked down Sunday 14 June to have an open house at Nine Springs (his house) where this project could be done, as he is right beside the Meadow…where the installation could be done
  • John informed everyone that Beth is holding her monthly “Sustainability forum” next Wednesay, 27 May at the Parish Hall, between 7:30pm and 9pm (50p donation requested to cover the room hire fee)
• Meadow Sounds
  • Andrew asked for people to help with creating sounds in the trees at the Meadow (thanks to Graham for the idea!)
  • The idea is to hang things that make sounds/music/noise  in various trees throughout the meadow
  • Use the Contact Us form on this website to ask for details
• Cultural Olympiad
  • Geoff will contact the Silk Mill manager to arrange for an art show during the Cultural Olympiad on 25-28 July to be held in marquees on the lawn at the Silk Mill
  • Its another opportunity to show our art in the community!

Related posts

• Meeting Scribbles ~ October 2009
• Meeting Scribbles ~ November 2008
• Meeting Scribbles ~ July 2009
• Meeting Scribbles ~ AGM September 2009
• June 2010 Meeting ~ A Short Line of Scribbles