Last week we held a Creative seminar to explore ‘Regeneration and the Role of Public Art’.  It was a well attended day with a mix of architects, planners, council officers and of course artists. Our speakers opened our minds with the possibilities of what an artist can bring to the table, how each project brings it’s own challenges and the biggest question of all: “What next?”.

While we work on the last question, we’d like to share artist and guest blogger, Claire Manning’s thoughts from the day. Claire has taken part in the Continued Professional Development sessions held by Figure Ground and volunteered with Jane Pitt and Caitlin Heffernan, two of the artists commissioned for IN-SITE.

A creative seminar linked to the IN-SITE project, arranged by FrancisKnight at the University of Kent, Chatham Historic Dockyard, 8th July 2015

I found the discussion about the role the artist has to offer in public projects particularly intriguing. Possibilities:

• Recorder (1)
• Researcher (1)
• Collaborator (1)
• ‘What if’, expansive open thinker (1)
• Producer, directing the work of others (1)
• An enabler, building bridges and understanding (1)
• One who forces a pause, provoking debate amongst those who think they already have a solution (2)
• Collaborative provocateur, not to get people’s backs up, but to help others think creatively (4)
• Can be an independent, self-appointed provoker working without permission to suggest an alternative agenda (2)
• One who plays – is curious – and invites others to join in the game (3)
• Maker of work that matters to others (1)
• Creator, making work that might not be liked by all, but that gets people talking (4)
• Creating art that changes people’s perceptions of themselves, where the effect on one individual is as important as the effect on general public (5)

Source:
1 Tom Littlewood, Ginkgo Projects
2 David Cotterrell, Artist
3 Jo Thomas, Artist and part of Figure Ground
4 Alice Waller, Medway Council
5 Lance Phillips, Physical Folk