Traffic Signs
A temporary [minimum one year-long] installation financed through the Royal Borough's North Kensington Environment Project. Produced by Urban Projects. Traffic Signs mirrors the tail-lights above on a development site which is part of the wider Maxilla Walk regeneration site which the Trust won planning permission to redevelop during 2006. This £20million plus scheme is envisaged as based around health and education usages with some complementary commercial [B1] elements. It also incorporates the site of a youth training facility and a nursery and children's centre. The TRust is currently seeking partners for elements of this exciting urban regeneration scheme adjacent to the Trust's iconic Westway Sports Centre site. We have commissioned artists to design and deliver a new lighting scheme for the Trust's Portobello Green park adjacent to Thorpe Close and the Portobello Road Market Tent. The scheme aims to enhance the safety of the park through increasing night-time lighting and to provide a tranquil and enagaging experience for its users. Installation is now complete, after a few initial problems and the coloured light totems, colour-changing pathway lights, uplighters and other features are all in action - the official launch took place on Monday May 22nd 2006. The Artists Jane Penty and Julie Millar designed a number of unique elements including pathway lighting, internally illuminated benches, uplighting of trees and several specially manufactured 'light totems' which cast gentle patterned and coloured light across what were previously dark areas of the park. The park is already well-used on summer evenings and it is hoped that the new scheme will both increase and broaden usage, as well as making an attractive visual contribution to the area. The lighting scheme was part-funded by WREF - the Western Riverside Environmental Fund.
New banners for Thorpe Close
While strictly a design project linked to signage requirements, these banners also make a significant visual contribution to Thorpe Close. We commissioned local art student Miranda Mackenzie to design new banners. Miranda worked with the staff and users of the properties along Thorpe Close. These range from community organisations and charities such as the Pepperpot Carribean Lunch Club, Pennies and Pence and the Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum, to fashion and design retailers in Portobello Green Arcade. Miranda's designs feature cloth from clothing and accessories sold in the arcade, logos of organisations and in one case a painting by a Pepperpot Club user. They also feature her own drawings and designs based around photographic imagery. Miranda has now graduated and myou can see some of her recent work including animations at her own website. CLICK HERE TO SEE MIRANDA MACKENZIE'S WEBSITE
Songs, Stories, Rhythms and Rhymes - Everyday Magic
Our Arts in Education programme is currently running a storytelling-based creative learning project for local nurseries and primary schools. The storytellers and other artists, who have a depth of experience and skills in music, song, drama, storytelling and design, work closely with teachers and playgroup leaders to provide sessions for young children that stimulate and encourage an awareness of language and a heightened sense of the world around them. Absorbing and stimulating for children, these sessions help develop confidence and self-expression whilst enriching the experience of the everyday. We also offer storytelling training sessions with staff working with young children, giving them the skills and materials to continue the workshops. Through ongoing sessions, children develop their imaginations, their word-skills and their confidence in speaking out. Our recent series of sessions with under 4's was part-funded by Sure Start. The programme is now running in 8 local schools and includes special projects and performances by the children. A CD of childrens' songs, Shukalaka Shake, has also emerged from the project,as well as a video/DVD about the programme - which is now known as Everyday Magic. There is also some work in cooperation with Janice Watson of the Clinical Medical Department of Glasgow University around schools involved in a 'Playground Games' project.
For more information on our storytelling and arts in education programme see the case study in Showcase CLICK HERE
'Mobile Porch'
A roaming piece of mini-architecture, that moved around Trust land providing an exhibition, performance and interactive space for the community.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MOBILE PORCH AT www.mobileporch.net
Light Box
An exterior neon light exhibition, dramatically lit up the underside of the Westway for several weeks (see picture at top of this page).
Westway Whispers
This involved local groups of all ages in poetry writing workshops focusing on their responses to and perceptions of the Westway. The workshops culminated in the publication of a poetry anthology.
In all these projects our premise is about involving the local community and encouraging their interaction.
For further information on our Public Art or Arts in Education Programme, please contact us 020 8962 5720 or email info@westway.org |
