As we sped coughing and spluttering into our opening we were met with enthusiasm and a great deal of buzz.
We already have people wanting to come back and bring art. I can’t wait to carry on developing this!
Loving it.
Live art
Live music.
Wall art.
Space for young people to showcase and get involved.
Next week – marketing week. If anyone can help us to get flyers out and media interest then please please get in contact.
Last week, we had a session on ‘Making it Work: self employment in the arts’ with Juliet Brain, and it really I feel saw me turn a corner, and crystalised how much we have done and the potential of what we could do, both as individual artists and as a team. The beauty of the day was it was a real warts and all session about what life as a freelancer is like, from someone who has all the experience we could have wished for; and we were all made to really look at ourselves in terms of strengths and weaknesses, which is never an easy thing to do.. but it was amazing by the end how much it made me think and the confidence it inspired. We looked t what we already knew about ourselves – I knew my basic confidence lay in my ability as an artists and as an organiser, and my driving passion was equal for creating art and for providing other people with platforms and opportunities for their work as well as bringing this creativity for the public; but Juliet also asked us to write all our qualifications and experience on post it notes and stick them on the wall – the rainbow splurge that emerged made us realise that together we have a lot to offer! After a confidence boost, we explored the slightly more daunting side of arts as buissness – ie branding and copy write issues (arrrgh!), issues around child protection and partnership working (arrrrrrgh!) and tax (arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!), which made our brains hurt but I think really instilled in us a determination that we could and would get on top of these things and get them right in the future, backed up by all the skills that we realised we had in our tool box which really had been enhanced and added to by all we have done with the Young Leaders Programme so far. We also looked at the links that are out there for artists, big organisations like the Society of British Designers and the English National Youth Arts Network, and descovered all the advice and support they can give which took some of the mystery out of such massive networks and turned them instead into useful tools to navigate. I think overall this was the key note of today, it really was so much about empowering us to take on board all of what we could utilise to help us get where we want to go, and recognise what we have already to back us up!
Talking of putting our skills to work, on Friday we went to go and see the first space in which the YAK SHACK will be opening, as part of the Fusion project i Cowley based in an empty shop in the Temple Cowley shoping centre in Oxford. It is not going to be empty any more! We are going to be upstairs for the last three Saturdays in June, and each of us are going to be doing music, visual art, poetry and graffiti based things involving and including young local artists and showing people what we are about! More details to follow, but I am so excited; planning is all well and good and obviously necessary but there is NOTHING like actually getting active, creative and stuck in! ….
I have decided that the arts glass is half full. Positivity, it seems, breeds positivity in the arts sphere. Becca and I gave a presentation of our work investigating heritage sites from a young person’s perspective to the Heritage Lottery Fund South East Committe the week before last, and even though it was a short experience it was a bit of a corner turn; talking to people with a combination of honesty and positivity creates a connection between different arts arenas, and from this the seeds of the most exciting ideas are born. Yes, we know that ‘heritage’ is not at the top of most 12 – 25 year old’s list of interests; the positive is, as was demostrated by the presentation by Helen and Jo on the ‘Portrait of a Nation’ project which happened a couple of years back, when you give young people the chance to dictate the way they want to explore an aspect of their own heritage the creative results can be explosively amazing! The ideas that young people come up with during these kinds of opportunities and explorations are truly remarkable, as much an expression of themselves as of heritage; the DVD which charted the Oxford group’s journey with Portrait of a Nation could not have been a better example. And when you think about it, who could better give a fresh persepective on history than the younger generation of thinkers? Who could better bring history back to life? And isn’t that the essence of what makes history so remarkable? Let young people take their descovery of heritage in the directions they want, and let them descover and express their thoughts through the mediums they really connect with: dance, art, theatre, music, comedy even…. The feedback we got from this meeting was so encouraging, and now we are all fired up to hopefully get a project off the ground later in the year which can bring local young people and heritage together. So many ideas are buzzing about right now…
On this note of positivity, excitement is barely containable over our own project – we are running with the idea of trying to create a space in the local area which can be a hub for the young budding creatives of the local area; it is something we are all really passionate about, and that is now translating into energy and action! Gallery space for young people wanting to get their work out there is my mission, and having a space to experiment with some more ‘out of the box’ ideas: i’m thinking new interpretations of texts, exploration of writting and poetry through responsive art work (theatre and visual medium), breaking down some of the boundaries of ‘conventional learning’ which have frustrated me and which I really beleive turn off so many other young people. Its ambition and ideas at the moment, but then again, looking at that positive, it seems to us like a preety good place to be starting from….
Will we or won’t we?
At the last training session we spoke about the possibility of getting our teeth into a project at The Courtyard.
The advice that we had been given was to research our target market – are they going to dig it? How are we going to market it? What will we need? Is it viable and most importantly do we want to do it?
So, we have got this idea which could be amazing as a project but the vision that we have almost seems like an oasis. It is reachable one minute and the next just a haze of uncertainty. It has struck me that you need a lot more on your side than just enthusiasm sometimes. Your partners have to love it. Your participants have to dig it. You have to have timing and luck on your side.
It makes me wonder how many great ideas never come to fruition just because things are not aligned at the right time.
How full is your project writers bin? How many plots have you had to screw up and brush aside?
Helen was right. The producer’s job is a very creative one. It is about the vision and the creation of something out of nothing. I just wish it didn’t have to be so personal sometimes. I can see that this process might hurt sometimes.
That is the practical bit for us finished.
I was amazed at how little of the generic presenting there was. I think that this was a relief for some of us. Whilst I didn’t mind being in-front of the camera, saying constructed things to camera is not always easy. I suppose you could say that we had quite a Ken Loach approach. When you see us on screen, those are our words and our feelings.
That was the point of the project, to capture our real opinions and thoughts. I am really grateful that I had the chance to be involved in this project and it was a lot of fun. Being so closely involved in the whole process of filming was a lot of fun and this was where my focus lay during each day. Having had the evaluation and time to think about the project as a whole, I feel almost urgent for our film to encourage people to get involved in heritage projects.
There are so many great opportunities out there to get stuck into a site and really make a difference. A difference not just for heritage, local communities but also for yourself.
Right, I will stop the enthusiastic rant there. That is quite enough. 
Just get out there to your local heritage sites. You will be surprised.
Today has completely flown by.
I managed to get the essentials into my tiny handbag and remembered to put make-up on. A must for presenting! I was up most of last night as I could not relax and was quite tired but this did not affect me at all! We were an hour late leaving the station due to Oxford’s temperamental and frustrating traffic. The schedule amended we picked up tools at Guildford station and set to recording the first scene. I was filmed in the back of a seven seater car with my director sat next to me, the camera-man and sound lady sat in-front of us. Ellie – back of car director – was going to attempt to direct through the medium of hand (one of those faces drawn on her hand) but unfortunately this was not one of those things that we picked up and ran with. Had it have been a film for our own ends I think things would have been different.
We had a very personal talk and tour of the workhouse (‘The Spike’) and learnt a phenomenal amount about the setting up and restoration of the building, the history and lives of the homeless. It got us thinking about possible projects to raise the profile of the workhouse. The lower floor of the building is already used as a community centre and is being used and enjoyed by the local community. Tours are a problem for them as it is hard for them to come by volunteers to carry them out which is a shame. They have a fantastic video that shows the reality of living in and around the workhouse system. They have made it like watching a soap episode so it is really engaging. Anyone interested in old buildings (as the architecture is great), history, homeless or ‘HLF’ projects should definitely go and see this place. If you can, go when there is a tour as I think that you will get more out of it.
On Monday, I worried that I would feel that I was in over my head but I was wrong to worry. We were very well looked after by our film man (Phil from… someone help me out here) and as it happens I spent all day in-front of the camera rather than behind it. I am a little unsure about how I feel about this. I know that Friday is going to be hectic and I am going to be doing the technicals. It would have been good to have the practice so that we can be swift with the recording. One of my worries today was that we hadn’t been quirky enough with the filming as we want to steer clear of making it a dry film. Whether this will be done through editing, what we say or film angles I am not sure. With the presenting I tried to be as real to life as possible without being too cheeky. Those of you who know me, will know that I can be quite cheeky.
From an OYAP young leaders programme point of view, i am really enjoying the opportunity to get to know people through the medium of long public transport journeys. Not a mode of travel that I normally opt for on long journeys.
Friday is Bletchley park and Pitt Rivers. Until then. I wish you all a good Thursday.
If you have any questions, please ask.
Posted in Rebecca Ritchie-Timms
Tagged community, film, heritage, Heritage lottery fund, training, video, vlog
Hello,
I work on the Ark T music project which I have been a part of from the age of 14, I have worked on the project as a trainee for 5 years and have recently taken on a leadership role within the project. I work in the studio recording and mixing tracks by young musicians 2-3 times a week, I organize live gigs at the centre every month and I work on the Young Women’s Music Project which has recently been handed down to me.
Here are a couple of examples of the work I do:
The Young Women’s Music Project:
The Ark T studio + Live sessions:
http://www.myspace.com/arktstudio
From this program I hope to learn to set up and sustain my own project, to build more confidence in my work and learn more leadership skills.
Hello,
I am very excited about this wonderful opportunity. The programme is just beginning to kick off and there is an almighty buzz already!
A few words about myself:
My background is made of community festivals, street theatre, carnival and children’s workshops. I have always been involved on some level and made the decision very early on that I wanted to continue this professionally.
I studied at Oxford Brookes University and gained a 2:1 in Arts Management & Administration and Business.
This journey that I am embarking on with OYAP will give me the support, skill set and confidence to make a real difference to people’s lives. Bringing people together and inspiring them to reach out and grab their ambitions.
I will be blogging on OYAP with updates. I plan to blog in more detail on beccart.wordpress.com.
I am looking forward to your comments.
Becca
