Museum on Tour, 4 October 2017: A hectic month coming up

by Jo Clarke, Marketing and Communications Officer

We have a busy month coming up as a number of the projects we’ve been working on this year really get into their stride.

The ‘Poppies: WAVE’ installation on the Hoe has had amazing feedback since it went on display in the summer. Our ‘Plymouth Remembers’ programme inspired by it includes a range of events this month from family activities to guided walks to photography tutorials – all of which are free. We’re hoping to announce one more special event as part of this programme soon which we’re very excited about – watch this space!

The ‘We The People Are The Work’ exhibition opened at the end of September to coincide with the Plymouth Art Weekender and remains on display throughout October.

Our commission at the Council House by artist Peter Liversidge takes the form of a sign painting ‘factory’ where people get placards made. You can find out a little more about it in our video clip.

It’s been great to see the photographs everyone’s been posting online of themselves with their signs and the different slogans they’ve chosen. We’ll be sharing collages of them on our social media channels throughout the exhibition.

Elsewhere, our family events will be keeping some of our staff really busy. Half term and the annual Big Draw celebration means we have a series of workshops planned, including making banners, creating moving images and devising flick book animations. Many of our sessions are artist-led which means attendees get the chance to tap into a range of specialist skills while they’re having some holiday fun.

Our new brochure is out and contains all our Museum On Tour information until the end of the year. Thousands of copies are currently being distributed around the city so pick one up from your local library, the Tourist Information Centre, the Council House and a range of other venues.

Now our programme until the end of 2017 is confirmed we’re turning our attention to 2018 when there are a number of important anniversaries connected to Plymouth taking place. We’re one of the partners for the Atlantic Project, a contemporary art festival currently being developed for next autumn. We’ve also just made an announcement about the 2018 Plymouth History Festival. The dates for the festival have been confirmed as 5 May to 3 June and people are being asked to send their event information through by 15 December.

We’ll have more Museum On Tour updates in November. In the meantime, we’ll look forward to hopefully seeing you at one or more of our offsite events over the next few weeks.

Behind the Scenes, 27 September 2017: Engaging communities with creativity

by Fiona Evans, Vital Sparks Producer

It was in September four years ago when Vital Sparks was launched to help communities run their own creative projects.

The scheme is a partnership between Plymouth Culture and Plymouth City Council and is funded by Arts Council England. The idea was to use art to grow confidence and vigour in neighbourhoods that were tired of being told what they wanted. Bringing folk together to get murals painted, community gardens planted and yarn bombs knitted. Creating opportunities for people to get together and be creative.

The project has always had a bursary scheme at its centre and the average grant is about £2,600. The funding is complemented by the offering of support to new fledgling projects as and when they need it, so some of my time is spent visiting projects, or calling them to see how they’re getting on. Sometimes projects don’t need any help. At other times I have been kept busy writing funding bids, press releases, risk assessments……the list goes on. I’ve also found signposting new community groups to other more established Vital Sparks funded projects to be significant as they can share their learning. This has enabled us to create a network which I think is a great idea.

You’d think that giving money away would be easy but it’s surprising how much work is attached to handing out grants. I’m lucky because being based in the same building as the Plymouth Museums Galleries Archives staff means I have the benefit of working with a Business Support Team who make sure all our grants get paid. Things can get a bit complicated when groups don’t have a bank account! There are instances in the past when I’ve driven my Vital Sparks bursary recipients to the local Credit Union to set one up or had to find other ways to ensure they receive their funding.  

Every day is different with Vital Sparks. At the moment, for example, I’m lending support to a variety of projects including a growing piece of work called Lesbian Voices. Through ‘Pride In Plymouth’ Jo Lewis has recently secured a grant of £46,200 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. I first came across Jo when she was a writer on a previous project of ours called ‘In Other Words’. She is seeking out and recording lesbian voices and histories of Plymouth and will be starting to recruit volunteers in November. Vital Sparks has provided some match funding for this exciting project and I can’t wait to see what is created.

The Plymouth Art Weekender has just taken place and some of our projects ran events during it. On one of the days I popped in on Art, Craft and Laughter to see how they were getting on. Set up by Debbie and Charlie Seldon they use art and craft to help tackle mental health issues…..hence the laughter. They provide a safe, non-judgmental space for people to experiment and learn. They were taking part in the Art Weekender for the first time. Their feedback will be very useful when we think about encouraging more people to take part next year. 

I also went to the School of Creative Arts where a free Fijian workshop funded by Vital Sparks was taking place as part of a bigger cultural festival called ‘Bula’ which culminates with Fiji Day in October. It was the first time this community have run a workshop for the wider public and it was great to see so many people there.

Whilst our current projects keep me more than busy, I am also focusing on a new and exciting phase of work for 2018. The biggest news in the world of Vital Sparks is the new Mayflower Community Fund that we will be managing next year. We are finalising the details at the moment and the scheme is set to launch in January. If you’re interested in doing something in your community to mark Mayflower 400 watch this space! 

Museum On Tour, 7 September 2017: We The People Are The Work

by Jo Clarke, Marketing and Communications Officer

In 2016 Plymouth was awarded £635,000 from Arts Council England’s ‘Ambition for Excellence’ funding scheme. The money has enabled a number of organisations in the city to come together to establish ‘Horizon’ – a two-year visual arts programme which, amongst other things, will support a series of talent development opportunities for artists and enable four major arts festivals and events to take place.

Two of these major events will be this and next year’s Plymouth Art Weekender (22-24 September). An international public art festival called the ‘Atlantic Project’ is scheduled for 2018 (more about this in the future). First though, we have ‘We The People Are The Work’.

The Council House, Armada Way, Plymouth

We’ve been collaborating on this project with four other arts venues: Peninsula Arts at the University of Plymouth, The Gallery at Plymouth College of Art, Plymouth Arts Centre and KARST. It will take the form of a multi-site exhibition which opens on 22 September. As the Museum and Art Gallery is closed our venue is the Council House. The exhibition has been curated by Simon Morrissey, the director of a Frome-based organisation called ‘Foreground’ which aims to bring new art to new audiences. Simon has been assisted by Plymouth-based producer Vickie Fear.

Six international artists will be showcased in ‘We The People Are The Work’. You can find out more about them all here.

Artist Peter Liversidge photographed by Martyn Hayne

The artist whose work will be displayed at the Council House is Lincoln-born, London-based Peter Liversidge.

Liversidge is an artist who ‘experiments with the idea of what is possible’, and who has always been interested in work that finds itself slightly outside of what is, at first, thought of as ‘fine art’.

All his artworks begin at his kitchen table with him sitting alone writing proposals on a manual typewriter. Some of these come to fruition, others don’t. What they all have in common is their ‘gently persistent questioning of the world around us’.

Over the last ten years Liversidge has worked with organisations in the UK, Germany, Holland, Iceland and the USA. In 2016 he developed a collection of songs and vocalisations inspired by the public’s relationship with Tate Modern’s iconic Turbine Hall. ‘The Bridge (A Choral Piece for Tate Modern)’ was performed in the Hall by a choir of 500 amateur singers.

The Bridge (Choral Piece for Tate Modern), June 2016, courtesy of the artist

For this particular commission the audience was just as much a part of the work as the work itself. This has interesting parallels with the ideas and aspirations behind our project, which has seen all six artists involve locally-based communities in the development or production of their artworks.

Liversidge’s ‘Sign Paintings for Plymouth’ brings together the ideas and voices of a range of individuals – many of which often go unheard. These provide the inspiration for a series of placards that you will be able to see being made in the Council House. The signs will be spread around the city, used in a ritual burning in the bonfire on The Hoe on 5 November and in a special Closing Day Party on 18 November. Liversidge will also have a temporary public artwork on the flagpoles on The Hoe in October and November.

Curator Simon Morrissey and artist Peter Liversidge in a workshop session with members of Plymouth’s Youth Parliament

Liversidge has worked with a number of participants including children from Salisbury Road Primary School, the Pioneers Project at Tamar View Community Resource Centre and members of Plymouth’s Youth Parliament.

If you’d like to find out more about him this 2009 article from The Guardian and 2013 ‘In The Studio’ feature from The Independent are interesting reads. You can also hear him give a Lunchtime Talk on Tuesday 7 November at the Plymouth Athenaeum.

Take a look at the website for full details about the exhibition and the wide-ranging programme of events that’s taking place while it’s on display.

‘We The People Are The Work’ runs from 22 September to 18 November.

Museum On Tour, 7 June 2017: New exhibitions and events

by Jo Clarke, Marketing and Communications Officer

Summer was always a fun time at the Museum and Art Gallery before we closed. We would make sure we had exhibitions on display that were of interest to local residents and tourists. Our holiday workshop programme brought many families into the building and gave children lots of opportunities to be creative.

Thankfully as a result of our ‘Museum On Tour’ programme it’s business as usual this year, even though we’re having to use a range of offsite locations instead.

One of the major elements of this is the exhibition of work by much-loved artist Beryl Cook that we’re staging at the Council House from 24 June to 9 September. Cook lived in Plymouth for many years and we have three works by her in our permanent collections.

What’s so special about this exhibition is that we have co-curated it with Beryl’s family. They were the most important thing in her life. As well as providing us with access to some of her earliest and quirkiest works, working in collaboration with them has given us a range of personal insights into her and the people she loved the most.

The exhibition will be divided up into a series of different themes including fame, family and friends and fantasy. There will be a special range of merchandise available to purchase – a new experiment for us at the Council House.

The exhibition has also given us lots of inspiration for events and we’ll have a host of talks, tours and family activities on offer. You can find out more about all of these from the what’s on section of our website. It’s great to have an exhibition that we can generate so many ideas from.

Image John Cook 2017. www.ourberylcook.com

This work shown above is one of the paintings that will feature in the exhibition. Many people local to Plymouth will recognise the location as the famous Elvira’s cafe in Stonehouse! A man sits at one table drinking a large mug of tea while a dog watches its owner eating a sausage sandwich at another. The woman behind the counter who is serving a customer with a piece of cake is Teresa, Beryl’s daughter-in-law. Teresa will join our exhibition curator Hilary Bracegirdle for a lunchtime talk next month during which she will share her memories and stories.

---

Another exciting development for us over the summer are our ‘Out and About’ events. Staff and volunteers will be taking a series of themed activities to local community festivals across the city and beyond over the next few months. We began with a successful event at the Freedom Community Festival last weekend and will also be at:

• Contemporary Craft Festival, Bovey Tracey: 9-11 June
• Armed Forces Day, Plymouth Hoe: 24 June
• St Levan Fair, Plymouth: 15 July
• Love Parks Week, Whitleigh Hub, Plymouth: 20 July
• Plymouth Play Day: 2 August – a venue for this will be confirmed soon
• Devonport Park Festival, Plymouth: 20 August

If you’re planning to attend any of these events make sure you come and say hello to us on our stand. Here are some images from the Freedom Community Festival to close today’s post. People made banners and badges highlighting the things that are important to them. Thanks very much to everyone who came along and got stuck in!

Museum On Tour, 15 March 2017: Plymouth After Dark #1

by Tony Davey, Learning Development Officer (Communities)

I’ve been busy with colleagues from our Programmes Team over the last few weeks planning ‘Plymouth After Dark’, a new exciting community project from the City Council’s Arts and Heritage Service.

The project will spend the next four years examining, recording and documenting life in the city when the lights go down, from both an historic and contemporary viewpoint. We’ve been talking with a range of potential partners, from Public Health to Devon and Cornwall Police.

We’re currently developing a range of initiatives and events to suit all ages and all tastes. The project will culminate with a major exhibition in the new History Centre in 2021, as well as create a brand new permanent collection for the city.

We’re officially launching the project with a series of events looking at ‘going out’ in Plymouth, whether that’s dancing the night away at an all-nighter, shaking your head to a live band performance or enjoying a quiet drink with friends at your local.

The first major event from the project will be ‘Sounds of the Sixties’ on Friday 12 May at the New Continental Hotel. The evening will be a chance to relive the sounds that shaped the decade, with a 2 hour set from one of the country’s leading tribute bands, The Revolvers.

Before getting on your dancing shoes, local historian Chris Robinson will present a brand new talk, ‘Going Out in 60s Plymouth’. We’ll also be bringing along our Photobooth for you to strike your best 60s pose in. There’ll be a free 60s inspired drink on entry, as well as 60s inspired nibbles on your table. It’s sure to be a fun filled night.

There is a serious side to the night as well – honestly! We’re really keen to collect people’s stories from their nights out in the city and we hope this event will help bring the memories flooding back. Myself and other colleagues will be on hand to talk to people and arrange suitable times for their memories to be recorded. People can also bring in any memorabilia they have for us to look at.

I’m very excited about the project as I believe it will provide lots of opportunities for many different people to participate, and put the spotlight on a part of peoples’ lives and the city’s heritage that isn’t always considered – after all we spend around a third of our lives in darkness…..

Reflecting on Cornish life – Portrait of Jack Clemo by Lionel Miskin

The following has been written by Rachel Wright, volunteer on the ‘In the Frame’ project who has researched Portrait of Jack Clemo by Lionel Miskin.

As just one of a series of portraits of Jack Clemo in a variety of mediums, this oil painting represents the marriage of two cornerstones of Cornish cultural history.  Following his attendance at London’s St. Martins School of Art, Lionel Miskin made Cornwall his permanent residence. Miskin and his family first moved to Mevagissey, and then on to Falmouth in the 1960s. Here he became head of Falmouth School of Art’s Art History and Complimentary Studies department. This appointment demonstrates his high esteem in the Cornish artistic community. Miskin’s style was at times avant-garde and represented an interesting departure from the contemporary regional scene.

Portrait of Jack Clemo by Lionel Miskin (PLYMG.ZO.2004.CH.3). Image Plymouth City Council (Arts & Heritage) © Artist’s estate

 

Depicted here, poised at a writing desk, Jack Clemo was crucial in shaping Anglo-Cornish literature of the present day. Unlike previous authors, Clemo constructed a vision of Cornwall familiar to most of the Cornish community. Clemo’s work concentrated largely on the industrial landscape of Cornwall as opposed to the coast where many local residents could not afford to live. Clemo’s literary career is believed to have begun in 1948 with the publication of his first novel Wilding Graft, despite his active role in the Cornish literary scene for several years prior.  He was a regular contributor to the Cornish Review, a magazine first published in 1949 which ran until 1952, and offered the very best of Cornish writing on all aspects of the arts.  This acted as an early and important outlet for his talent and provided a snapshot of creative activity in Cornwall.  In 1970, Clemo was awarded the Cornish Gorseth bardship, despite his general distrust of Cornish Revivalist culture. His writing principally focussed on working-class culture and provided an introspective reflection on the harshness of life in post-industrial Cornwall. This was greatly informed by personal experience.

This portrait of Clemo demonstrates an interesting blend of past and contemporary artistic traditions.  Although the style of the painting is not typical of post-war works, the subject matter is in keeping with artistic attempts to represent social and economic adversity through social realism.

Through the window behind the sitter, Miskin has illustrated the mining industry and china clay mines typical of industrial Cornwall and a central theme in Clemo’s own literary works. The contrast in colours between the dark and cruel mining world compared to the warmer shades inside the house could be demonstrative of the poet’s attitude to the harsh realities of the collapsing mining industry in comparison to the working class home created by his mother, Eveline Clemo (featured in another of Miskin’s portraits The Poet’s Mother’). This is further exemplified by the collection of homely objects on the desk and the mismatched fabrics of the make-do attitude of the Cornish working classes and a single mother struggling on the poverty line.

The subject himself is facing away from the artist and seems almost unaware and disinterested in his surroundings. This could be a response to Clemo’s alienation from the industrial workforce and working class community due to his poor health, which had inhibited him his entire life. Clemo attended Trethosa Village School but was largely self-educated due to his deteriorating condition. Throughout childhood he suffered from intermittent blindness before permanently losing his sight aged 39. As a young adult this was coupled with permanent deafness. This meant that although Clemo’s upbringing was considered to be stereotypically Cornish and would greatly influence his writing, he was largely excluded from the pursuits of the rest of the community.