July 2005 ArtsFolk: Ross and Cromarty

LAST MONTH Arts officer Adrian Clark outlined the diverse and exciting work going on in the Inverness area. I read his piece with great interest and was left with renewed admiration for my colleague and the work he does with such vigour and commitment. This was coupled with an underlying sense of ‘how do I follow that!’

I’m sure that all the arts officers in Highland would agree there are times when our jobs seem thankless, when being the lone arts officer working in an area is an isolating and demoralising experience, and when we wonder why on earth we are doing this job.

There are times when demands seem to come from every direction, when we are expected to be accountants, community workers, funding experts and marketing officers. When we are asked to be innovative and creative, to deliver projects that address ‘issues’ ranging from community planning and social inclusion to health but when increasingly our budgets are being reduced and the mountains of forms and legislation seem to increase on a daily basis…...Child protection, Data protection, Risk assessments and Personal Development Plans……..

But then there are also times when things happen that make you realise just why we do these jobs, and those moments are truly priceless. Times when conversations are overheard or evaluation forms returned, when you realise that without your input none of these things would have happened and that sometimes peoples’ lives are changed for the better as a result if something you have done.

These are the times when being an Arts Officer is truly one of the best jobs in the world. One of the joys of these posts is the breadth and diversity of the projects and people we work with. It would be impossible in this short piece to do justice to all the arts activity in Ross & Cromarty over the last few months, so in these few paragraphs I will try to capture for you the essence of just one of the very rewarding projects that have recently ended and of which I feel particularly proud to have played a part in making happen.

SPAciffic Memories was borne out of some publicity I received from an organisation called The Campaign For Drawing, asking for ideas for projects which could be used as examples of good practice. The good news was that should our project be selected it would be fully funded by The Campaign For Drawing and would feature in a UK wide publication highlighting good practice.

Soon the room was buzzing with the sharing of memories, talk of past friendships and tales of young love, of fashion, food, work and play in a past era.

The project had to involve memories, drawing, and some aspect of local heritage, be that a building, a place, or an environment. This was just at the time when Strathpeffer Spa Pavilion had been reopened and at a time when I was working quite closely with Linda Odd of Age Concern. This relationship had already generated discussion about the good old days when the pavilion was in its heyday and when people from across the Highlands were drawn to Strathpeffer for the weekend dances and music.

From this a group of us got together to explore possibilities and a project emerged with a proposal for a series of workshops to be held at the pavilion and to be led by artists John McNaught and Eleanor White. The workshops would use a variety of simple printing and drawing techniques coupled with digital media and would produce imagery relating to the participants memories of a building – it would soon emerge that some had very special memories of indeed.

To cut a long story short our proposal was successful, one of only five in the whole of the British Isles….. fantastic news but now the pressure was on to deliver!

Over a period of just over a month in May a group of 10 participants (average age 81) met and started initially just to talk. For the first meeting people were asked to bring along mementos which had stories attached to them. This helped to break the ice and – amongst lots of laughter and discussion – the initial drawing began.

One of the ladies present had held her wedding reception in the pavilion over 50 years previously, whilst another had brought with her the photograph of her which her husband had carried with him throughout his active service during the war. Soon the room was buzzing with the sharing of memories, talk of past friendships and tales of young love, of fashion, food, work and play in a past era.

By lunchtime on the first day when sandwiches and cakes arrived the mood was one of industrious activity and whilst the technical drawing ability of most was pretty basic, confidence to try the various materials and techniques on offer was increasing at an amazing rate.

Over the following sessions various props were used to look at surface texture, pattern and composition – 40’s and 50’s dresses brought a splash of colour, old photographs and letters were scanned and incorporated. Towards the end of the project a whole day was dedicated to digital work, which proved fascinating to the participants, allowing them to experiment with moving their compositions around, laying images on top of each other and creating professional and beautiful pieces that have astonished both themselves and, to be honest, us too!

Documentation of the project is still being compiled ready for submission to The Campaign For Drawing, so we are still looking forward to seeing the work of these very special artists in print, but to me the value of this project wasn’t just about the beautiful work produced. It was about the laughter and discussion and about giving people – most of whom hadn’t drawn anything for many years – the chance to rediscover the joys of being creative.

Wendy Sanders is the Arts Officer for Ross and Cromarty

© Wendy Sanders, 2005