How Does It Work?
Work in Progress
Participants have found great satisfaction in having a practical end-product for some of their activities and in collective projects that bring several groups and individuals together, producing works of real quality exhibited publicly and easily accessible by all. This is a chance to celebrate and share what people have done, and to belong to something bigger. Mentors emphasise the importance of the process as much as the product, so this collaborative work is often thought of simply as ‘Work in Progress’ – moments at which participants can enjoy a sense of fulfilment whilst confident they will continue to achieve more in the future.
Here are some examples of ‘Work in Progress’:
- ‘Poetry and Paintings’ by a group in Tiverton, created by participants most of whom had never painted or written before.
- ‘Exploring Sound’, a CD by participants who experimented with a wide selection of wind and percussion instruments.
- ‘Christmas Card’ produced annually from the work of participants.
- CD of reminiscences recorded by the group in Witheridge.
The following collaborative projects were each created by 25 – 40 people from different mentored groups and individuals as well as housebound individuals. A professional designer/artist conceived the overall theme of each project after discussions with participants who then created the individual components that were brought together for the final product. The artist toured groups to provide encouragement and training where necessary. The products are exhibited in GP surgeries, local libraries, council offices, etc. 5,000 people a week pass through an average mid-Devon GP surgery; that is many more people than would see an average exhibition:
- Upstream Quilt: 3’x6’, on the theme of water, with individual squares made by 25 people across Mid-Devon working individually or in small social groups.
- Upstream Banner: 3’x11’, made for an exhibition at Exeter Royal Albert Museum.
- Upstream Weaving: 3’x5’, on the theme of the countryside, with every little section created by participants who learned to weave on small home-made looms.
- Upstream Felt: ‘The Four Seasons’, 8’x8’, an outstanding piece for which participants first had to learn to make felt and then to work with it.
- BBC ‘World at War’: More than 30 participants recorded memories, visited the museum exhibition and joined a celebratory tea-party.
- ‘Tiverton in Flood’: Participants worked with the Environment Agency and pupils from the High School to record memories and a DVD of the great flood of 1960.
- Winter project, 2006/07: An extraordinary ‘ceremonial’ cloak of many colours made from a wide range of fabrics and craft techniques.
