Methodology and Activity Way of the Roses - Public Art Report on work undertaken to date Introduction This section details the work undertaken by Matt Baker (hereafter ‘I’) and Cathy Newbery to deliver the Way of the Roses Public Art Brief. This spans from July 2010 - December 2010. The purpose of this process was to create a framework concept for an overall artwork for the Way of the Roses that met the aims of the brief and: • had sufficient detail of individual artworks to give the partners confidence in moving forward with the project • proposed a realistic programme and method of implementation • kept all project partners informed and involved at all stages of the process Visiting the Partners on Home Territory August - Morecambe for 2 days..Community Engagement Team, Council Engineers, Cycling Team, Sustrans briefing September - Bridlington for 3 days..Rennaissance Team, Town Improvement Forum, Local Councillors, Shoreline Management September - LEADER co-operation event (Burton Agnes)....Dales LEADER and CWWW LEADER, Local Action Groups, Heritage, Land Management Studio Research Research into long distance cycle routes, mapping, landscape processes, pilgrimage, ancestral routes - and foolowing up on detailed information contributed by partners on specific local characteristics etc Methodology and Activity
Transcript
Methodology and ActivityWay of the Roses - Public Art
Report on work undertaken to date
Introduction
This section details the work undertaken by Matt Baker (hereafter ‘I’) and Cathy Newbery to deliver the Way of the Roses Public Art Brief.
This spans from July 2010 - December 2010.
The purpose of this process was to create a framework concept for an overall artwork for the Way of the Roses that met the aims of the brief and:
• had sufficient detail of individual artworks to give the partners confidence in moving forward with the project • proposed a realistic programme and method of implementation • kept all project partners informed and involved at all stages of the process
Visiting the Partners on Home Territory
August - Morecambe for 2 days..Community Engagement Team, Council Engineers, Cycling Team, Sustrans briefing
September - Bridlington for 3 days..Rennaissance Team, Town Improvement Forum, Local Councillors, Shoreline Management
September - LEADER co-operation event (Burton Agnes)....Dales LEADER and CWWW LEADER, Local Action Groups, Heritage, Land Management
Studio Research
Research into long distance cycle routes, mapping, landscape processes, pilgrimage, ancestral routes - and foolowing up on detailed information contributed by partners on specific local characteristics etc
*an overall artwork for the route that is made up of a range of individual pieces of artwork
Methodology and Activity
Cultural Mapping
As part of the research process for the Public Art project Cathy Newbery was commissioed to carry out a Cultural Mapping across the length of the route. The detailed findings of this survey are covered elsewhere and integrated into the Implementation strategy proposed in scetion 4 of this document. However, the main themes of the Cultural Mapping are outlined here as they were a formative part of the overall research process:
The Way of the Roses route has a lot to offer culturally as part of a journey with festivals and events, architecture, heritage and interesting places for rest points. Audit of the cultural activities shows the following:
Types of activity: Agricultural Show, Architecture, Arts, Open Studios, Bird Watching, Literature Festivals, Heritage, House & Gardens, Carnival, Christmas Markets, Gallery, Cycling, Dance, Food/Drink Festivals, Public Art, Performance, Music, Nature, Museums, Light Installation, Kite Festival, Scarecrow Festival and specialist shops.
There are strands of activity that could be marketed together for specialist trips.
There is a significant visual art offer, public art and Open Studios across the route where users can meet artists in their workshops.
Performance is a strong strand with venues and festivals showcasing specialist, popularist, historical and contemporary events.
Twenty seven Heritage places to visit.
Alternative/folk history trip e.g. Smallest art gallery Settle, Sanctuary & Wakeman Hornblower at Ripon, Mystery Plays & processions Agricultural Shows, Kite Festivals in Morecambe and Driffield.
Geographical areas have specialties e.g. Yorkshire Dales has a vast amount of archeological finds and natural attractions, York has lots of museums and festivals, the coasts have offbeat festivals e.g. comedy.
To maximize the ‘cultural-offer’ methods of extracting/linking information from the various tourism sites along the route would provide a good method for keeping information up to date and will be explored in the next phase. Venues and programmes are maybe interested in joint promotions and linking more with the route.
Methodology and Activity
Emerging Themes
By mid September the following themes for the artwork were emerging:
At the Partners Meeting in Burton Agnes on 22nd September I proposed undertaking the following research journey by a combination of car and bicycle:
On the journey I proposed meeting and interviewing as many local people and stakeholders in the cycle route as possible
A Research Journey
Methodology and Activity
Partners Call to Stakeholders
The postcard below was circulated in hard copy and electronically as widely as possible by project partners to potential stakeholders, in addition, I followed through on potential leads thrown up by studio research.
What I would like to build an understanding of in your area:
u structure of landscape - geologists, walkers, farmers,
uhistory of the place - big stories and small ones
uculture of the area - creativity in all forms, but particularly from the grassroots
ufunding opportunities for partnerships that could support and arts initiative making a connection between local culture and a new National leisure cycle route
19. Watching football in 3D - Bridlington20. Old Flanborough Lighthouse 21. Start/Finish - Bridlington
Methodology and Activity
Meeting People - Researching the Route Through Discussion
The people I met and talked with in detail along my research journey are listed on the folowing 2 pages: (casual/chance chats with people along the way are not listed)
Susan Baxter Mark Smith Richard Hammond Rachel Dyer Michelle Cooper Sarah Hall Jaqueline Greaves Cedric Robinson Richard Storton Dr Suzana Ilic Prof. Harry Pinkerton Alison Clough Cathy Hopely Martin Charlesworth Catherine Johnson Andrew Laycock Rima Berry Dave Tayler Don Gamble Judy Rogers Christa Perry Tanya St Pierre Chris Henderson Prue Kegwin Katy Penn Sam ? Biddy Noakes Jim Moulton
Baxter’s Potted ShrimpsBaxter’s Potted ShrimpsLancaster City CouncilLancaster City CouncilMaritime MuseumLudus DanceLudus Dance Queens Guide – Kent SandsRSPB – FuturescapesLancaster UniversityLancaster UniversityPioneer Projects/Looking WellForest of Bowland ANOBForest of Bowland ANOBCraven Council –Arts Craven Council – DevtDales LEADER YDMT – directorYDMT – heritage projectsPeople in the Dales Hay TimeFlowers of the DalesMayorDales LAG Nidderdale ANOBArtist + CyclistArtist + organiserYorevision Cycle Group
Jane Barber Geoff Craggs Tessa Goldsmith Alexa Morton Natalie McCaul Nial Adams Graham Ward Jo Huntley Alex ? Kay West Hilary Angle Sue Douthwaite Jo Green Martin Cooper Phil Gilbank Grahame Hicks Paul Moon John Brown Helen Jackson Jim Coleman Jane Coleman Steve Race Barbara Mavis Anthony Halford Bridlington Town Improvement Forum (8) Maureen Bell Steven Carvill Martin Burnhill Liz Philpot Richard Burton Denise Cowling Nigel Atkinson
Yorevision - ChairBusinessman and historianEducation Officer – FountainsMarketing – FountainsCurator of ArchaeologyEast Riding MuseumsWolds LAG Artist + historianArtistFormer Mayor Artist – East Riding ArtistsWomen’s Institute History Society and GatewayMayor HistorianGateway – Chair Photographer Gateway and LAGBridlington RennaissanceFarmerFarmerRSPB…HLF Bridlington PrioryBridlington Priory (email)
TIF Artist Seafront managerBridlington Rennaissance Town Councillor and ACEBridlington RennaissanceBridlington Rennaissance
Meeting People - Researching the Route Through Discussion 2
I invited the people I met to speak some lines connected with ‘roses’ and ‘routes’ (illustrated below) into a voice recorder. I have more than 50 recordings as a record of my journey. I hope to make a work from these recordings as part of the overall project.
Methodology and Activity
Research Conclusions
Everything in this document is part and parcel of an artistic process, as such some of the ‘research conclusions’ are
best presented in the form of the artwork proposals contained in section 3. Design.
Presented here are my conclusions relating specifically to the overall identity of the Way of the Roses cycle route.
One the reasons for choosing the name ‘Way of the Roses’ was to reference the Wars of the Roses and the red and white roses that are the county crests of Lancashire and Yorkshire. My findings on these specifically were:
• Concept of the War of the Roses had little or no relevance to people on the route
• I was told directly by both Lancaster and York museums that they held no material on the War of the Roses as it had been predominantly conducted outside the counties of Yorkshire and Lancaster
• Whilst the local sense of place surrounding ‘Lancashire’ and ‘Yorkshire’ is very present – the fact that the route crosses the boundary between the counties after 20 miles of the 170 mile route means that 88% of Way of the Roses is in Yorkshire.
However, there was a recognition that ‘Way of the Roses’ does create associations with ‘History/Heritage’, ‘Old Routes’ and ‘Sense of Identity’ (Roses as something to ‘belong to’). This was futher confirmed in comparison between Way of the Roses and other long-distance cycle routes. It was pointed out to me by people familiar with other Coast to Coast routes was that the Way of the Roses was different in the fact that it passed through landscape where the activities of humans, in shaping the landscape and their own history, was very evident and ‘close to the surface’. Whereas other Coast to Coast routes passed through long stretches of apparently ‘natural’ landscape.
Methodology and Activity
Research Conclusions - continued
When discussing the potential impact of an Artwork project for Way of the Roses three objectives were universally agreed by all the people that I spoke with (both cyclists and non-cyclists)
1. that the ‘artworks’ could be a means of encouraging cyclists not to ‘race’ from one side of the country to the other, but rather, to engage with the places that they are travelling in.
2. that involving local people in the conception and management of the ‘artworks’ would give cyclists access to ‘inside knowledge’ of places along the route. Also this would maximise the potential for economic and cultural exchange between cyclists and the local community.
3. that many potential users of the Way of the Roses would not be doing the whole route as a complete journey - people doing the route over a longer period of time or wanting to do short sections (eg close to where they live) might be able to use the ‘artworks’ as a structure for shorter rides.
My Personal Conclusions
Travelling the route and talking to people my awareness of the route having ‘history close to the surface’ was:
• The number of times that the Way of the Roses either crosses or coincides with paths taken through history by a vast array of people and other activities. These range from Neolithic people moving standing stones to Victorian vagrants, from Mediaeval drovers to glacial erratics, from Roman merchants to Viking armies, from Celtic cart burials to the Pilgrimage of Grace, from the exodus of non-conformist religions to the transport of quarried stone and coal.
• The way the landscape still holds marks (and people hold memories) of these movements – in particular the way that elements of the landscape have both been transformed by and shaped by these movements.
Methodology and Activity
Working with these observations and the detailed narratives provided by local people I began developing an artwork concept that answers the brief to build a unique identity for Way of the Roses..
-NOT by seeking to establish it as something ‘hermetic’ that passes through a landscape (eg with consistently themed markers etc )
– but RATHER to mark the route out as a unique cultural experience OF a landscape that gives the rider insight into and awareness of others in history who have passed this way and the contemporary experience of inhabiting the land today.
I believe that the Way of the Roses could become known as a new kind of ‘Coast to Coast’ route - one that that promises an insight into the travelling history of people and landscape across the classic English Counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
Methodology and Activity
Design
Working with the material I had gathered, I put together a set of design proposals - the current version of these proposals can
be found in section 3. Design.
Presentation, Consultation and Development 1
I had a series of development sessions with Project Manager Cathy Newbery which help shaped the detail of the designs
and begin to formulate an implentation plan for the project - the current version of this plan can be found in 4. ImplementationPresentation, Consultation and Development 2
Cathy Newbery and I presented the design and implementation proposals to a meeting of the wider partners in Way of the Roses in Harrogate on 10th November.
The proposals were well received and it was decided that we should: • have two more detailed follow-up meetings, in Morecambe and in Bridlington• begin discussions with potential funding partners • draw up a report on the commission to date - suitable for use in funding and partnership negotiations in the next phase
Methodology and Activity
Presentation, Consultation and Development 3
Morecambe 2nd December 10 - very successful meeting with Community Engagement team, Planners and Shoreline Engineers - plan of action agreed...see 4. Implementation.
Bridlington 9th December 10 - presentation to combined meeting of Bridlington representatives (Shorline management team, Bridlington Rennaissance - architecture + development, Town Improvement Forum and CWWW LEADER - Director + LAG representative.........very positive reception for both Bridlington proposal and Pasing Places concept. Bridlington representatives saw the artwork proposal as a potential catalyst for developing the wider landscape on the North Promenade - plan of action agreed ...see 4. Implementation.
Presentation, Consultation and Development 3 (continued)
Sustrans - December 10 - a series of phone conversations and computer presentations with Katy Hallett (Sustrans Director of Public Art).......Katy was positive about the design approach and individual artworks, she gave useful advice about budgeting, project delivery and a structure for funding applications, in addition to useful and informed creative feedback - plan of action agreed...see 4. Implementation.
ACE - first meeting March 11 - strong synergy identified between WoR project and many ACE North aims Steering Group-March 11 -Day of partnership working to explore forms of aggreement and delivery acroos partners along the route.
Publication of Design Document - April 11-distribution and progress updates to partners and Passing Place key contacts
ACE -Development Meeting - June 11 - very positive response to the project - useful notes for areas to devlop further
LEADER Partnership working event - June 11- a day long event organised by the Dales LEADER group to shocase the Way of the Roses project ...share working methodolgy and engage potentail partners in the next phase of the Public Art Project....a very successful day.
Ongoing development with main partners and Passing Place contacts - June/July 11 - looking at potenetial funding sources and project timeline
July - Sept 11 - using funding secured from main funders to support exploratory meetings with potential Academic and Digital Research partners. Also to further build local partnerships on the ground with community and arts groups and finally to complete the project proposal in a form for potential funding bodies
Methodology and Activity
This document is the second in a set of four outlining a commission to develop a public artwork* in association with the new coast to coast cycle route ‘Way of the Roses’.
*an overall artwork for the route that is made up of a range of individual pieces of artwork
