Family and inter-generational work

This page is under development

I regularly work with organisations who value and promote family and inter-generational engagement with arts and culture; projects have included workshops, films, and bespoke creative evaluation processes.  This page shows some of these projects.
2023
  • British Library Deaf Families Day (September)
  • Beecroft Gallery: City Jam Festival Light Painting workshops
  • British Library Family Day: Prefabulous Animals (May)
  • Focal Point Gallery: Creative Open Day
2022
  • British Library/ Open Cities Family Days (May, September)
  • British Library Deaf Families Day (September)
  • Focal Point Gallery:  Digifest Light Painting (more info further down the page)
"Why Don’t You Make An Image Out Of Simple Data?"                                July 2020

As a response to COVID-19 lockdown, FPG commissioned a range of creatives to produce content inspired by the BBC Children’s television programme, Why Don’t You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go and Do Something Less Boring Instead?, each instalment suggesting a new activity to keep you entertained and stimulated away from the screen, using easily available resources. All the videos have subtitles.
For the eighth episode, I created ‘Why Don’t You Make An Image Out Of Simple Data?’. In the video, I looked at how we can record information from simple daily observations and turn them into something else, so that numbers (or snails!) can become colours, or letters can become patterns; how we can turn one way of looking at something into another way of seeing it. To follow this episode all you need is some paper and felt-tip pens (and maybe some snails). Video edited by Gabrielle Milanese.
2019
  •   British Library Deaf Families Day (2020 event postponed until 2022)
Creative Open Days/Family Days/Digifest: Focal Point Gallery
I've been involved with a number of FPG's events, which aim to engage families and young people with the current exhibition, meaning no two days are alike.

2022  Digifest Light Painting

2018

2016

"The Peculiar People" traced the history of ideological and social-political communal living experiments in Essex throughout the 20th Century to the present day. Building our own model Utopia was an appropriate response. Our sessions used drawing and cardboard construction to create an alternative vision of Southend - our own utopia. Bunnies, underground trains and ice cream shops proliferated amongst parks, houses, restaurants and schools.

2014

Images to Follow
2013 "Southend Sunshine" workshop for FPG's Family Arts Festival, mixing sun printing, relief printmaking and sound
Intergen East Intergenerational project for Studio 3 Arts:
NDCS Family Fun Day: Hybrid animal puppet making. More images here
2011 - "Project 2013", Southend High School for Girls
Linked to their 'Project 2013' centenary I worked with students to develop and record interviews with old girls, culminating in the creation of the Locker Listening post, a prototype installation to stimulate project development. The installation contains extracts from the interviews focusing on social and attitudinal changes which paralleled uniform change.
  • …Although it never happened to me it was rumoured that Mr Senger would measure the length of your skirt when you were kneeling down, it had to be so many inches above the ground or something…they had to be long enough, there were no short skirts...
  • ...I used to have to wear a green and white stripy shirt, and the students next door used to call us 'Pacers', because you used to get these green and white stripy spearmint sweets that looked the same in those days...
Exhibited at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff and also at Essex Record Office
2010/11    Intergen Intergenerational photographic project across four London Boroughs, for Studio 3 Arts
2009         City of Culture Bid Participatory facilitation project for Metal’s consultation exercise
2009         Discover Arts activities for children with disabilities and their siblings
2008/09    Breaking the Rules MediaShed workshops with teenagers exploring youth subculture