What's happening in North Glasgow

Calton (Ward 9)

Artist: John Binnie

We like to mix things up

Together with photographer Robin Mitchell and musician Tina Freeland, John ran 45 workshops with 10 different community groups in the area, involving writing, photography and percussion. From this activity emerged ‘fascinating discussion’ about the role of the arts in local people’s lives – its capacity to bring people together, to share experiences and foster a sense of community. For those who are vulnerable, and often very isolated, art can be life-changing: For instance, this residency enabled groups from Lodging House Mission and the Mungo Foundation to come together and share skills.

“Feel excited by the potential. I want to try everything –
it was so encouraging and positive.”
PARTICIPANT

“What a real laugh. I’ve never tried drama before –
I feel I am coming out my shell.”
PARTICIPANT

John Binnie and his collaborators worked with:

Springburn (Ward 17)

Organisation: Springburn Winter Gardens Trust (Mandy McIntosh)

Now we can make an army of Mother Glasgows

In 2012 Springburn Public Halls – adorned with sandstone statues, fronted by ‘Mother Glasgow’ – was demolished. It was only through a last-minute intervention that the statues were salvaged for the community.

Lead artist Mandy McIntosh used her residency to re-version the sculptures from the Public Halls through a process called photogrammetry: Hundreds of photos of the salvaged sandstone women are fed into software which recreates the shape of the original figures as data. A solid block of foam can then be spun and carved to recreate the original forms.

It is Mandy’s belief that through art, people in Springburn have an accessible way of exploring history and existing skills to nourish a better future for everyone who lives there now. She spent time connecting with many of those people through adult learning and engagement with schools and young people, and her project culminated in an exhibition at the Springburn Shopping Centre’s Community Hub.

“This is a form of cultural recuperation, allowing people in Springburn to revisit these sidelined sandstone figures from a different perspective. The sculptures gazed down on us for over 100 years.... It’s our turn to care for their future, and consider what they symbolised.”
MANDY MCINTOSH

Many McIntosh worked with:

Springburn Winter Gardens Trust | Helen Carroll | Elmvale Primary School | Springburn Women’s Group
Your Space | Tron St Mary’s Women’s Group | NG Homes | Glasgow School of Art Sim Vis department
Contributing artists: Calum Stirling, John McDougall and Michael Marriot
Participants who dropped into Community Hub at Springburn Shopping Centre during the project

East Centre (Ward 18)

Artist: Skye Loneragan

‘YOUR TEXT HERE’

At the start of the project, Skye donned her high vis ‘POET’ vest and took to the streets on her bike, making herself known in, and building relationships with, the community through a focus on waiting spaces, interviewing many she met and spoke to. She installed her own poetry road signs in Cranhill Park where construction work had stalled, and left poetry gifts in envelopes addressed ‘FOR YOU’ or handed out poetry ‘counter number tickets’ in more enclosed spaces.

She aroused curiosity and invited replies and responses using poetry, sound/voice, performance and drama to engage with local groups and individuals on their own terms.

From primary school children to veterans, knitters in Riddrie to those waiting to see family at HMP Barlinnie, Skye approached people from all walks of life, gathering their ideas and responses through online tweets, recorded interviews, written responses on the metal road signs, emails, wood-etched poems, messages in her poetry letterbox – and even on a pilates ball used in improvisational workshops alongside the traffic cone sign, ‘LET ME BOUNCE IDEAS OFF YOU’.

Skye met, interviewed and worked with:

The Golden Generation (65yrs+) | Youth group at Cranhill CC with Quarriers (8-14yrs)
St Thomas’ Primary at Riddrie Library (8-10yrs) | Youth Group at The Cranhill Dev Trust (11-17yrs)
Riddrie Knitters group at Riddrie Library (45yrs+) | Glasgow Girls FC, Budhill Park
The Write to Recovery group through Recovery Café
Staff working in local organisations or community centres
Local artists and residents with connections to the area
Teenagers waiting for the bus on Edinburgh Road, Cranhill
Parents & Children waiting to visit family at HMP Barlinnie, The Croft
Parents & children waiting for a meal at the Family Programme (holiday provision), Cranhill
Scottish Veterans Association (through their resident artist, Allen Clarke and his colleagues)
‘New’ Scots (Refugee Festival Scotland) & the ESOL classes at Cranhill Development Trust
“keep dancing to the music while /you can
‘cause you /don’t know when it /could stop”
YOUNG PARTICIPANT

Shettleston (Ward 19)

Organisation: Street Level Photoworks (Ilisa Stark)

A portrait of a Community

Starting with a mapping exercise, lead artist Ilisa Stack began making links with existing groups in Shettleston, and engaging the community with a range of activity: Creative photography workshops with young people through schools and youth groups, and pop-ups at a local Tesco and Shettleston Library, where passers-by could compare photos of Shettleston past and present, pose for free portraits and make badges. These were all ways of drawing people into conversations about what they feel their community needs. Many responded with a matching curiosity about photography – and a strong interest in local heritage.

“...a great success. The workshops were well pitched and really allowed the pupils to explore and experiment; one parent commented their son had spent the weekend practicing his composition techniques with the family camera.”
DEPUTY HEAD, MOUNT VERNON PRIMARY SCHOOL

Ilisa worked with:

Baillieston (Ward 20)

Artist: Fraser Macleod

Having a Baillieston Blether

Fraser’s engagement with his ward extended to a collaboration with local artists who lived there but were not necessarily working in the area. Together with other experienced arts practitioners, they set about delivering a variety of arts-based activities such as drama, art, photography and storytelling to ward residents.

Activity was focused on local schools which were identified as natural hubs where ‘sections of the community exist and engage with one another,’ resulting in an intergenerational session including pupils and their families. This led to similar ‘Baillieston Blethers’ in the form of pop-up events in Baillieston Library and St John’s Episcopal Church. Members of the community were able to meet Fraser and suggest their own ideas for their ward.

“The knowledge and skills of the local artists allowed
this project to feel much more like a collaboration
and true exploration of the area, its potential
and the desires of the community.”
FRASER MACLEOD

Fraser MacLeod connected and delivered with:

North East (Ward 21)

Artists: Walker & Bromwich

Collectively visioning the future through the past

Working in a fairly large ward with distinct areas, each with their own strong and quite separate identities, the artists decided to use the Easterhouse Mosaic as a way to connect with people across the North East.

The community-built public work was internationally recognised and still resonates with many today, despite its demolition in 2003.

Themes of the mosaic ranged from ecology, economy, housing and education, to work, art, nature, friendship and social responsibility – a rich source of inspiration for discussions with ward residents, and a series of workshops which culminated in an ambitious multimedia project involving printmaking, costume and prop making, and performance.

The grand finale in Platform’s main auditorium was a unique performance workshop which brought together participants from across the ward – reflecting a whole range of ages, ethnicities and abilities – to share the work they had made throughout the residency.
This unprecedented programme was designed to empower communities across the North East ward, to make informed decisions and feed into shaping future creative activity there.

“we felt it was important to give the community access to (Platform).... to feel a sense of ownership of the resources in
the area, and to raise their ambitions and expectations.”
WALKER & BROMWICH

Walker & Bromwich engaged with:

FARE Teen Club | The Blairtummock Adult Group | FARE seniors group | Art Factory, (Platform)
Nu Gen (Platform) | St Paul’s Youth Forum | Ruchazie Youth group | Lochend Community High School
St Andrews Secondary School | Fare Fitness walks Easterhouse | Phoenix Centre women’s group
Tot’s and Teen’s Group, Molendinar | Molendinar Sewing Group | Lunch Club, Ruchazie Community Centre Community Life Styles Day Club, Molendinar | Phoenix Centre Cycling Group, Easterhouse
Glasgow Community Energy
the North East Glasgow recovery community through the Sunday Social at Kelvin College

Dennistoun (Ward 22)

Artist: Karen McGrady-Parker

'Our podcasts are on Spotify? Cool!'

Karen's residency was informed by her drama practise but her way into the community was through leading silent discos.
She created 30 different playlists - from different places, eras and genres, or for different moods - which became 'a starter for discussion, a spark to tell stories and an opportunity for people to feel connected with myself.'

She created & led drama and writing workshops, and one-to-one storytelling, and through the conversations she had developed micro-residencies for, by and with people in Haghill, Sighthill, Royston & Dennistoun.

“This project has brought strangers together.”
PARTICIPANT

Karen McGrady-Parker worked with:

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North East Glasgow

Creative Communities in North East Glasgow