What's happening in North Glasgow

Linn (Ward 1)

Artist: Deirdre Nelson

An Ideal Shopping List

Deirdre used her background in craft and textiles to engage with groups across the community, with bunting workshops, mapping exercises, and different sessions on drawing, embroidery and dyeing. The focus of her residency was an ‘ideal shopping list’: a large roll of pristine textile on which residents could list what they wanted for their area, by stitching or writing with fabric pens. This fun and accessible approach to collecting ideas accompanied Deirdre to many community activities such as litter picks, networking breakfasts, family days, plant sales and art groups, and to meetings with groups and individuals in the ward. Participants were encouraged to consider both what they wanted from culture, and their wider concerns for their area.

“The end result .... a permanent portable piece of textile
which gives voice to the community.”
DEIRDRE NELSON

Deirdre engaged with:

Newlands and Auldburn (Ward 2)

Organisation: Village Storytelling Centre (Shona Cowie)

A Map of Narratives

Story was central to the residency in Ward 2 which was led by Shona Cowie who facilitated a ward-wide creative conversation with story gathering, shaping and sharing.

A host of activities included: performances; workshops; focus groups; story clubs; conversations within local networks; and ‘Sangs an’ Clatter’ events, a series of gatherings across the ward involving music, story, food and socialising, allowing the gathering of many stories and opinions in an atmosphere of celebration.

A 4-week writing programme gave enthusiastic young people an opportunity to express themselves freely without imposed objectives, an experience which they reported felt new to them. Through all these interviews, informal conversations, workshops and performance events, Shona was listening to and documenting stories from across the community, allowing her to create ‘a map of narratives’ which helped her understand its strengths – and its challenges.

“It is important, opportunities like this... I haven’t ever been in a situation like this where I can engage with writing and performing just for myself, to help me think and understand
who I am and where I am from.”
‘C’, 15 YEARS OLD

Shona Cowie engaged with:

Greater Pollok (Ward 3)

Artists: Daniele Sambo and Hannah Brackston

Action led approach: Make, do & play

'Green Space, Young People and Play’: this theme was the starting point for the Ward 3 residency, and responded to its unique geography and demographics. The two artists sought out ways to meet and connect with local groups, and were in turn invited to participate in a number of community events.
Activity delivered included – Adventure sessions into Damshot Woods – Darnley Common Health Games workshops with over 200 primary school kids – Hijacking the weekly health centre walking group to explore Haugh Hill Woodlands – Bogie building, designing, decorating and racing throughout the ward – 2 day drawing and map making workshop in the woods for pupils – Collaborating with a local playwright and teacher to produce an outdoor version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with high school pupils – Mowing a race track through long grass at Crookston Castle – Community print making workshops – Creating displays for the new Life Style Medicine Programme in Peat Road Medical Practice – Designing and organising Kate Cranston’s Tea in the Park at House Hill Park with the support of local groups.

“The residency has placed building relationships at the centre of the programme... relationships were absolutely essential to us.”
DANIELE SAMBO AND HANNAH BRACKSTON

Daniele Sambo and Hannah Brackston worked with:

Cardonald (Ward 4)

Artist: Fiona Fleming

Guess where this is....

Throughout her residency Fiona’s primary method of engagement was to sketch and paint views out on the ward’s streets – it made her available for conversations with people, and the artwork would generate interest and discussion, which she’d often record in mind maps.

When the weather was too inclement, Fiona would make abstract paintings from photos, posting them on local community forums and asking people to identify where they were. She created an online rapport with local residents who had seen her at work, in person. She also offered more regular engagement in sessions at Penilee Community Centre.

Fiona used the busy Cardonald Library and Learning Centre as a base, initially for practical reasons, but found that the conversations she had with staff and library-users alike supported her consultation.

“Many residents were happy to spend a long time talking to me about the neighbourhood and its history, and their place in it.”
FIONA FLEMING

As well as collaborating with passers-by across the ward, Fiona worked with:

The Homework Club in the Community Flat at Moss Heights (Govan Community Project)
Hillington Park Church Art Group
St Nicholas and St Andrew’s Church in Penilee Fête
Cardonald Church (CoS)
Elderly Residents of Deanfield Care Home in Penilee
Clients at Junction 52, Capability (based in Penilee Community Centre)
Councillor McSporran, representatives from Glasgow Life (Sports Development, Southside Housing Association and others at Mosspark Baptist Church
Linda Hamill, a local resident and Chair of Platforum

Govan (Ward 5)

Artist: Paul MacAlindin (The Glasgow Barons)

If you had the magic wand...

The Glasgow Barons, an innovative orchestral ensemble, was set up by conductor and Govan resident Paul MacAlindin to promote live music for everyone living there. His existing links with the area, together with the added support of the Creative Communities initiative, allowed him to interview 169 people who live, work and regularly use the services in Govan, asking them about arts in their community.
He spoke to people at specially programmed events and visits – such as Musicians in Exile, where local asylum seekers and refugees shared the music of their home cultures – as well as Glasgow Barons concerts which happened during his residency. As a conductor, he handed the baton to members of the public, frequently asking ‘If you had the magic wand what would you do for Govan?’

“I like concerts. I loved your concert. I’m no’ just saying because you’re asking me. I don’t get the chance to do anything like that. I could never afford to go to anything like that.”
GOVAN RESIDENT, 41

Paul MacAlindin worked with:

Govan Housing Association: The Hub, The Digital Hub | Fairfield Working Men’s Club (The Air In Between)
Friends of Elder Park | Govan Community Project Men’s Group
Govan Community Project TEFL course | Govan & Linthouse Parish Church (St John Passion)
Govan Allsorts Choir | The Govanites: Govan Housing Association Women’s Group
Govan High Music Dept | Govan Men’s Shed | Govan Road spontaneous interviews
Govan Youth Information Project: Riverside Campus | Govan Youth Information Project: Riverside Hall
Ibrox and Cessnock Community Council | Govan Community Council | Musicians in Exile (April gig)
Kinning Park Complex café | Pirie Park Primary (school concert)
Plantation Productions Youth Group & Staff | Scottish Action for Refugees TEFL classes
Sensatronics Lab

Pollokshields (Ward 6)

Artists: Alec Finlay and Henry Bell

Pollokshields proposes.....

Alec and Henry invited the local community for their ideas about what could improve or transform their area – online, in person, at public meetings – and the same platforms were then used to share those proposals, both realisable and unrealisable, helping to reflect the interests and wishes of the local community without imposing limits on their imagination. Online, they were shared in a blog, and on social media as ‘Pollokshields Proposes (visit www.pollokshieldsproposes.co.uk).

A number of ideas, worked up into posters, were photographed at local sites by Mhairi Law, as a visual culmination of the work undertaken. A selection of these were displayed in the local Glad Café at the end of ‘Phase 1’.

“some of the (more) playful proposals.... a street sign dedicated to John Maclean, and ‘mender and filler’ poems
added to filling for potholes...”
ALEC FINLAY AND HENRY BELL

Alec Finlay and Henry Bell worked with:

Pollokshields Quad | Pollokshields Gurdwara | The Community Fridge
The Hidden Gardens | Locavore | Urban Roots
Soul Riders/Bikes for Refugees

Langside (Ward 7)

Artist: Shona Thomson (A Kind of Seeing)

Explore – Challenge – Articulate

After an initial intense period of archives research into Ward 7 (called Langside but including Toryglen, Mount Florida, Kings Park and part of Cathcart) the artist made presentations in different spaces and places across the ward, presenting what she could find about its cultural heritage and how it is (or isn’t) represented in national, city and local archives.

This approach using archival maps, photos and films, aimed to stimulate stories and conversations about the identity of the area, encouraging people to challenge preconceptions and reflect on improvements as well as identifying needs and ambitions for the area.

Shona took space at local events like the Southside Fringe Festival launch fiesta, attended Southside Heritage Celebration at Pollokshields Burgh Hall, and took a table at Asda Toryglen to engage with passing shoppers. She also organised two events, ‘Looking for Langside’ at Langside Library and ‘Showcasing Toryglen’ at Toryglen Community Hall, as well as producing a short film with community participants on the benefits of arts activity already taking place in Toryglen.
akindofseeing.co.uk

“By sharing what makes their place special, people are sharing what’s important to them, their needs and priorities.”
SHONA THOMSON, ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Shona either worked or consulted with:

South Central (Govanhill, Pollokshields, Shawlands) - Ward 8

Residency by artists working in association with Swap Market

An Open Studio

Ward 8’s residency was delivered by Ailie Rutherford, Alex Wilde, Najma Abukar, Alaya Ang and Rae-Yen Song in association with Swap Market – a collective that runs an exchange space on the Southside of Glasgow.

The group used a variety of methods to engage with different groups of people in various accessible contexts. They contacted other creative organisations, groups, projects and spaces across the ward, to find out what was happening already, and what people’s ambitions were. Eventually they held an Open Studio at their premises, inviting other local groups to feedback on the proposal they had arrived at through their consultation.

Swap Market also engaged the general public, running weekly drawing clubs in the Swap Market premises as well as Gorbals Library and Govanhill Library. These open drop-in sessions attracted predominantly young people and families, but also individual adults and an older persons craft group. A creative skills ‘Timebank Tombola’ was taken out on the streets and to Gorbals Festival to further engage people locally, and a community-based snakes and ladders game was created to allow a collaborative, fun and open way around the idea of mapping. Players were encouraged to add their own stories and local knowledge of
the area.

The artists engaged with:

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Creative Communities in South Glasgow