Land - Pendle & Rossendale Projects
Image - Barnoldswick Community Garden
Bugs Lantern Parade
Artists from Action Factory led workshops for 10-13 year-olds in the summer of 2003 to make exotic lanterns on the theme of ‘bugs’. The children joined in a parade with their lanterns as part of the Barnoldswick Festival in September, processing along the canalside to finish in a local park.
Environmental Arts Workshops
In November 2003, environmental artist Gordon MacLellan led a series of activity days in Wycoller Country Park for four Pendle schools. These involved children in mask- and puppet-making, poetry- and story-writing and all kinds of artwork as they discovered the secrets of Wycoller’s historic past and its natural treasures. In January 2004, Gordon followed this up with a training workshop for 23 primary school teachers at the Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford, which showed how teachers could develop links between literacy and outdoor work in gardens, school grounds or the countryside.
What is Sculpture? – Teachers' Training Day
In March 2004, 15 teachers attended a full day course led by artist Pat Southern at the Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford. The day made a link between the Panopticon public art programme and the way teachers could address sculpture in the National Curriculum at Key Stage One.
Mapping the Canal
In October 2004, in a series of workshops linked to Mid Pennine Arts' award-winning children's writing festival, Kicking Leaves, illustrators Steve Hutton and Angela Thompson and writer Esther Davis led sessions with schoolchildren aboard British Waterways' canal boat Kennet to map the local stretch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. This work was intended to feed into the wider mapping of Regional Park strategic routes.
Community Planting
Also in November 2004, a community bulb- and tree-planting day was held at the Wycoller Panopticon site in preparation for the arrival of Pendle’s Panopticon, Atom. The planting was organised by East Lancashire garden designer Paul Hensey and countryside rangers were on hand to assist with tree planting. Many local people and children of all ages turned out to enjoy the activity.
Wycoller Schools' Writing Residency
In November 2004, children from two Pendle schools explored the paths around the Wycoller Panopticon site with writer Maureen Fenton, learning and responding creatively to the history, people and natural environment of the place. The residency was linked to Mid Pennine Arts' award-winning children's writing festival, Kicking Leaves.
Poplar Sculpture, Salterforth
On the Salterforth play area by the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, a 14-ft tall poplar stump, saved from felling, was transformed into a dramatic sculpture to provide a waymarker on the National Cycle Network. Children from Salterforth Primary School contributed their ideas to design workshops led by sculptor Iain Cant in spring 2005 before work began.
Rag Rug Workshops
Workshops run in Wycoller by textile artist Lynne Stein during spring and summer 2005 offered local people an opportunity to learn the ancient craft of hand-tufting. The result was a beautiful wall-hanging featuring images of local plants and wildlife.
Environmental Garden, Colne
In summer 2005, a council-owned green space was leased to Sacred Heart Primary School in Colne for the development of an environmental garden with public access, for use by both pupils and local people. Sculptor Martyn Bednarczuk and other local artists worked with pupils at the school throughout the summer and autumn to construct a new entrance to the garden, develop pathways and seating and create artworks from found objects – including a large owl sculpture carved from a tree stump.
Barnoldswick Community Gardens
In summer 2006, Year Five pupils at Coates Lane Primary School in Barnoldswick worked with artist Helen Callaghan to create features for the local community gardens. First they made an 'ideas tree' – a wire mesh frame with 'foliage' in the form of writings and drawings showing their ideas for the gardens. Next they worked together to produce a mural of their ideal community garden on the end of a garden shed. The colourful imagery enhances the gardens and is an eye-catching landmark for boaters on the nearby Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
Atom Launch Event
Children from Bradley Street Primary School, Nelson, were among the performers at the celebrations for the opening of Pendle's Panopticon Atom at the end of September. Following drumming workshops with Martin South and Philip Howley, organised through Land, the children provided a rousing finale to the launch event.
Equestrian sculpture and outdoor classroom
In an off-shoot from the Land project, young people from Holcombe Pony Club took part in artist-run workshops during summer 2008 to enable them to help with the design and build of a stone-carved equestrian sculpture and carved informal seating. These are sited close to Croft Top Equestrian Centre in Rossendale.
Shoe Trail
Working with artist Julie Miles, Year 7 pupils at Haslingden High School and All Saints Catholic High School in Rawtenstall worked up designs for sculptural shoe pieces which Julie then carved in brick. The shoe sculptures, representing a variety of shoe designs, celebrate the traditional shoemaking industry of the area.
The Pink Link
The Pink Link was a project intended to encourage young children to enjoy and interact with the landscape. At the Rossendale Alive Festival in summer 2004, they were invited to fill a bag with small pink pebbles and take them away to mark a favourite spot in the landscape. In keeping with Land’s aims of protecting and enhancing the landscape, the pebbles were of course completely environmentally friendly. One five-year old, Ciaran Grimshaw, had a lot of fun making a pink 'snake trail' in the grass at Calf Hey reservoir.
Willow Work at Rossendale Ski Slope
In summer 2005, Land offered young people aged from 9-16 an exciting opportunity to learn the skills of willow-weaving with professional willow sculptor Jeff Allen. Everyone who took part contributed to the creation of five willow deer sculptures.
Plus:
The Hallowe'en Celebrations and Willow Work at Wycoller and the Land Finale event with international pavement artist Julian Beever which have their own webpages.
