Our Year in Review

Love Wirral>>>please vote!

 

Poster to download and display or 

Click here to go to survey

Deadline for tender for Wallasey Storm tanks EXTENDED to noon on 20th of January 2014

Spotlight on Wirral by Mosslands School

Latest exhibition from Mosslands starting on Tuesday

http://www.wirralnews.co.uk/wirral-news/local-wirral-news/2013/06/26/wirral-arts-spotlight-shines-on-wirral-80491-33523343/

Update for contributors

Dear contributor

Photo by Carl Leckey

Many thanks to you all for contributions to the Wirral Pride of Place Project. The exhibition will be coming down after the closing celebration this Sunday at 6pm. You are most welcome to join us to celebrate what has been achieved over the last 2 weeks. The event will start at noon, with activities planned throughout the afternoon. One of the volunteers, Shelagh, has arranged for her art club to be in attendance. She will be discussing projects like ours which involved community engagement and she is more than happy for others to join in. There will be a mass art chalk drawing for the public to draw on the pavement outside (if bad weather stops this the Light Cinema have offered us their foyer and cardboard to carry on inside) between 1.30 and 3pm and the mayor will be in attendance from 2.30pm. Local poet Eleanor Rees will be reading from her poem about a gull's journey around the Wirral Coastline and there will be music from The Singing Bowl Orchestra and Caroline England. Wine and cakes will be available and you are welcome to bring your own food and drink to share.

At the end of the day if you would like to collect your artworks and let us know you have removed them that would be most helpful. Alternatively arrange with Jan or Chris to come back on Monday afternoon from 3pm to collect them. If you are interested in donating your pieces to The Caravan Gallery archive, again talk to Jan or Chris admin@thecaravangallery.co.uk

Finally, I would like to invite you to the launch of the next exhibition "Spotlight on Wirral" by Mosslands School on the 2nd of July at 6pm. This will be our final show in this unit but never fear, the Momentary Art Project had a cunning plan and we will be coming back at a venue very close to the original as well as expanding our reach to the Floral Pavilion.



Alison
Director of the Momentary of Art Project C.I.C
Please follow our blog:
http://www.momentaryartproject.blogspot.co.uk/

Forthcoming

STOP PRESS: end of Mosslands school exhibition to be confirmed

Get chalky!

On Sunday 23rd of June as part of the closing celebration for the MAP/Caravan Gallery exhibition, areas of the pavement at Marine Point will be marked off and given titles eg:-

The Black Pearl,

The Lighthouse,

The Sea,

The Beach.

You are invited to draw, using chalk, within the specified areas.

Make your way to Marine Point on Sunday the 23^rd of June between 1.30 and 3.30pm

Bring adults and children who like to draw

Bring coloured chalks (only the kind that will was away eventually in the rain – WHAT RAIN…we don’t have rain??!?!)

Be prepared to enjoy yourself and get messy!

day 23rd of June as part of the closing celebration for the MAP/Caravan Gallery exhibition, areas of the pavement at Marine Point will be marked off and given titles eg:-

The Black Pearl,

The Lighthouse,

The Sea,

The Beach.

You are invited to draw, using chalk, within the specified areas.

Make your way to Marine Point on Sunday the 23^rd of June between 1.30 and 3.30pm

Bring adults and children who like to draw

Bring coloured chalks (only the kind that will was away eventually in the rain – WHAT RAIN…we don’t have rain??!?!)

Be prepared to enjoy yourself and get messy!

The Caravan Gallery

I have just been taking a look at Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale's book "is Britain great? 2" and found a paragraph I wanted to share with you as we gather momentum on the Wirral Pride of Place Project in our unit at Marine Point

"Caravan Gallery Britain doesn't exist in tourist brochures and marketing campaigns or grace the pages of glossy lifestyle magazines; we try to resist the lure of landmarks, must-see attractions and overpriced family fun in favour of undesignated sights and accidental diversions. We understand why 'destination' guides tend to perpetuate single-faceted rose-tinted aspirational versions of places but firmly believe in a more adventurous approach to exploration, a foray beyond sanitised homogeneity, can be equally wirthwhile" the intrepid explorer is forced to question long held stereotypical beliefs and may be rewarded with unexpected discoveries and revelations"

Launched Saturday and now over to you!

Jan Williams of The Caravan Gallery with the THE DEPUTY MAYOR AND DEPUTY MAYORESS OF WIRRAL COUNCILLOR STEVE FOULKES AND MRS ELAINE NOLAN looking at the photographs at the launch of Wirral Pride of Place at the Momentary Art Project unit in Neptune's Marine Point, New Brighton. The project is open daily from 12 til 6 for everyone to join in adding their photos and views to the People's wall and complete a survey.  It will end with a closing finale on Saturday 23rd of June with the Mayor in attendance from 12 to 6pm.

Photo by Andrew hall (director of Momentary Art Project C.I.C)

Clare Kirwan poem: Moses came to Merseyside

Moses came to Merseyside       

©Jo Smith

Moses came to Merseyside

and waved his magic staff.

It was his trademark trick and so

it always got a laugh.

He turned up at New Brighton,

and shouted from the beach:

I’m going to make the Mersey part

-  it’s only two quid each!

And Moses spake – at quite some length

though muffled by his beard

and people shuffled, keen to start

- that’s why they’d volunteered.

And all of them let out a gasp

when Moses raised his hand -

the waves receded, rolling back

til the river bed was… land.

The habitat was suddenly

more coastal than marine

from Egremont to Pier Head

- a long walk in between

On Fort Perch Rock, a crowd of folk

had gathered to observe

the faithful few traverse the gorge

- the ones who had the nerve.

And birds of prey on roof tops

Love New Brighton - ©Jo Smith

looked down with greedy eyes

as they set out from New Brighton,

without compass or supplies.

Past rusty junk and sunken hulks

they shuffled on, quite stunned

to see  the bones of murdered men

and all we’ve jettisoned.

They turned to look at Wirral now

- how very small it seemed,

how very grey and far away -

but how Liverpool gleamed!

And how the Liver Buildings loomed

on cliffs that once were docks

now high above their heads – so far

they could not see the clocks

And Moses muttered something

his voice an utter blur

- so difficult to comprehend

through so much facial hair.

Some remarked how tired he looked

- his staff now seemed to quiver

and what’s that watery trickling sound?

and: Here comes the river!

And everybody for themselves

legged it to higher ground

they clung to ropes or climbed the walls.

Only a few were drowned.

This side is ace, the rest agreed,

(except the drugs and crime)

if there was a just a way for us

to come here all the time.

And so they built a tunnel

for they knew – without a doubt –

if they did it without Moses

they could get across for nowt.

But we all know that nothing’s free

- even a giant hole.

You can cross the Mersey any time

but the tunnel takes its toll.

So Wirral folk still stranded

on the river’s other side

still talk about the time that

Moses came to Merseyside.

And we all smile wistfully

when we think about how Moses

gets almost everywhere for free

while we pay through our noses.

©Clare Kirwan

Artworks used to illustrate Clare's poem are from the "love new brighton" exhibition

16: Artist: Jo Smith
Title: Here’s Looking at You, Kid!
Medium: Acrylic and Sand on Canvas

17: Artist: Jo Smith
Title: Love the Light
Medium: Acrylic and Sand on Canvas

Jo Smith

Jo is a mixed media artist and is known for her local landscapes. Jo's inspiration comes from her daily dog walks on Wirral's beaches. She often incorporates sand, shells and beach combed treasures that she applies to canvases or found driftwood. She is slightly obsessed with the birds she encounters too; seagulls, skylarks and crows etc can find their way into her work. Jo feels truly blessed living on the Wirral and loves to express her attachment to it through her art.
www.josmithart.com
www.seagrassstudio.co.uk

Community Partner update: Poet Clare Kirwan

love new brighton - © Janine Pinion

Over the water

On this side wading birds line up

evenly spaced: the usual suspects.

Over the water, new towers rise

with metal fists to summon clouds

On this side, promenade centurions

patrol their battlements of water.

Over the water your turbines spin the wind

and windows twinkle like diamonds.

On this side we wave like abandoned aunties

you will not visit, who boast of your success.

Over the water all your new splendor

is a kind of puppetry suspended by cranes.

When I’m there I look back again to this side

when I’m here I look across to you

seagulls polka dot the sky over the water

and I’m lost, like them somewhere between the two

©  Clare Kirwan

 From ‘Sculpted’ anthology of North West Poets to be launched in April

Details of painting used to illustrate Clare's poem

7: Artist: Janine Pinion
Title: Wet sands at New Brighton
Medium: Watercolour

Janine Pinion
I’ve always lived by the sea, originally in Belfast and now in New Brighton. The tides rise and fall, changes in the coastal landscape happen slowly or overnight. I like the patterns left in the sands and the way light falls on them – bits of sky reflected in rivulets. I usually work in oils but over the past couple of years I’ve been photographing and painting the Wirral coast in watercolours. It presents so many aspects, from salt marsh to industrial docklands. I like the link to Ireland too.

 

Further along the beach....The Black Pearl

We are delighted to have a post from a new community partner of the Momentary Art Project, Frank Lund who along with Major C. Mace has been creating a very special and unique addition to New Brighton.

"The driftwood pirate ship on the rocks by Dalmorton Road slipway is the latest construction in an ongoing community art project. The ship has been built by myself and my friend and neighbour Major C. Mace, with direct contributions from many individuals and with the support of the wider community. I started the “Art on the Beach” project in July 2012 and both local and visitor communities have warmly supported my work from the first day. 

Much of my time on the beach is spent talking to people, hearing their stories, seeking their feedback and ideas and explaining what I’m doing, why and how the project might develop. Many people have given their time to encourage me, to comment and to get mentally and physically involved. I have had opportunities to work with the children of many families visiting the beach and I hope that they will take away something from these experiences – I certainly learn from them and from their wonderful imaginative powers.

Over the months the community has become progressively more involved and pro-active in the project. There is growing contribution, collaboration and independent construction taking place across all age groups. The Christmas Nativity was very successful especially in the increased intervention by local people. This was a turning point in the kind of constructions used and this change strongly influenced the ideas for the pirate ship. The response from the community to the pirate ship has been immense and I think it is fair to say that there is a real love for this work and a feeling of community ownership.

All beach constructions are temporary and will be destroyed by the tide, by storms or by people. New Brighton’s Black Pearl will certainly meet such an end and in so doing will provide a blank canvas for the next project. It may be that I will not produce anything else as successful and well-loved in the future, but provided the project continues to run then someone else may come along who will." 

Frank Lund: February 2013