3. Camelon
Arts
Film still from 5 Tales of Camelon
Between July 2019 and July 2021 I was Lead Artist for Camelon Arts; a three year, town-wide, participatory arts programme in Camelon, Falkirk. The project is managed by Artlink Central and funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. During my time with Camelon Arts it was staffed by myself, Project Assistant Mark Bleakley and a roster of guest artists.
5 Tales of Camelon (2019) was an intergenerational schools project looking at local history. The project was a collaboration between P3s and P4s (at Carmuirs and Easter Carmuirs Primary Schools) and older residents. Oral histories from the residents formed the inspiration for the school children, who worked with the Camelon Arts team and guest artists Emma Finn, Gemma Crook and Tim Fraser to make 5 short fantastical films about the town - full of aliens, huge fishes and haunted smells.
Photo of The Big Screen by Jassy EarlThe Big Screen was a project produced as part of the Camelon Winter Festival Weekend. It was a travelling LED video screen van that toured the streets of Camelon and Tamfourhill over 12th and 13th of December 2020, featuring local singer Dionne Hickey, community contributions from local groups and three videos made with talented residents as part of the Camelon’s Got Talent project.
In April and May 2020 Camelon Arts launched a creative activity every Monday for children in Camelon and Tamfourhill to do together while apart. We sent out over 200 Make It Monday packs with all the materials needed for each month’s four activities.
Over Summer 2019 Camelon Arts and Laura Aldridge held workshops with different Camelon and Tamfourhill residents to make over 200 Camelon Artefacts out of clay. The results were then pit-fired; a process of 'firing' ceramics at the bottom of a bonfire pit, using organic materials (such as copper wire, salt, coffee grinds and banana skins) to create patterns and colours on the surfaces of the ceramics.