The day was made up of a variety of speakers and discussion, the audience were engaged and asked lots of questions. Being amongst the debate enabled me to ponder and define my place within it and where I chose to situate myself.
The speakers that really interested me were artists Kate Genever and Steve Pool and Francis McKee, director of CCA in Glasgow. Kate and Steve revealed some of the processes and responses they encountered during their residency (commissioned by YA) in Parsons Cross. They stated 'they want to be artists of the world, not artists of the art world that make work that only speaks to other artists'. Their residency was an exchange with people, not doing something to, but doing something with others. They commissioned other artists by putting out a call for proposals on Arts Jobs and this raised awareness of Parsons Cross/Knutton Road in the art community and got four more people thinking about and responding to the residencies concerns. Questions were posted and teased apart: what is community? How meaningful is an end product? With so much stuff in the world do we want to make more? Kate and Steve raised many concerns and talked sensitively about them, including problematic issues such as art as a panacea, working with both social agendas and creative agendas and fears of being seen as do-gooders.
Art practice in a social context is a complex issue that requires thoughtful, considerate and responsive negotiation, clear communication is key. Kate and Steve's collaborations gracefully acknowledge and faced these complexities head on and created useful and meaningful outcomes.
Francis McKee told of taking on the failing and hated CCA building three years ago and being told, 'You can do what you want with it'. He began by adapting and shaping the building, developing a responsive, open source approach to programming where anyone could propose to use the space. Engaging with the public and communities in this way ensures the CCA shows what the wider community is interested in and creates a diverse rolling programme for the centre. Francis has turned the building into a busy, bustling, well used space with people claiming ownership of the building. He spoke about 'leaving the art out of it', bringing people in for the cafe, bookshop, other events and then inviting them to view the art activity. This honest approach was refreshing, as much of my work in communities has little to do with ART, it is about conversations, ideas, learning new skills and self expression (which is art...).
One of CCA's early projects involved turning a room into a greenhouse, growing runner beans and inviting people to pick their own. Cooking classes were run alongside to teach how to cook the vegetables. The Abundance Project in Sheffield was mentioned as inspiration.
