Kilcooley Community Forum: New Decade for Development

FORUM

16 June, 2010

Kilcooley Community Art Garden Officially Opens.

Ann Ward Arts Council NI, speaking at the opening of the new garden in Kilcooley.

In attendance were Ann Ward Arts Council NI, local Councillors and council officers, MLA’s and representatives from NIHE, PSNI and the local community.

The community art garden was the final part of the ICCP re-imaging application which received funding for a host of initiatives within the estate.

Jim Rea Chairman of the Forum thanked everyone for attending and paid tribute to the Arts Council NI and other partner agencies for their contributions to the overall project.

Ann Ward said she believed this was one of the most successful re-imaging projects and applauded all who had helped develop such a beautiful garden.

Councillor Anne Wilson, speaking on behalf of the Mayor of North Down said she was very impressed at the workmanship and how beautiful the garden looked.

Lucy Turner (lead artist) gave a synopsis of the overall project and what had been achieved to date. The new District Manager from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Alison Methven spoke of her delight at the garden and the artworks incorporated into it. She said the NIHE was committed to working in partnership with communities on such wonderfully positive projects.

Mark Gordon Community Development Manager said the garden and its artworks were the fruit of a lot of hard work and community involvement. He said the project brought residents of all ages together to work on the various aspects of the garden design. He hoped people would enjoy the finished product.

Everyone was then invited to the Square Centre for light refreshments.

Lucy Turner:

Concept for Community Garden Re-Image Kilcooley Toward A Shared Future

The results from the questionnaire where collated from a series of consolation workshops that were carried out throughout the estate from the official launch on Monday 11^th February 2008. Residents where invited to participate with the aid of visual images or power point presentation. The Questionnaire was also offered to persons who have a vested interest in kilcooley i.e. community officers who have worked within the community and who that are likely to be involved with the re-imaging process.

The initial design was created by Lucy Turner and In May 2009 when funding was secured four artists/craft persons where commissioned to work within kilcooley using results from the questionnaire as a guide in creating a series of art works for a community garden.

Prior to the project beginning the replacement mural at Drumhirk Drive was painted with a portrait of Admiral Edward Bingham North Downs only VC veteran. The mural was hand painted by John Stewart in muted colours with an overall navel theme. It made sense to carry a nautical theme into the garden, Bangor being a sea side town, Bingham having been born in Bangor.

Each artist chose a theme from the questionnaire results as an initial reference point for working with residents.

Wish Tree

Lucy Turner at the Kilcooley Fun Day in August 09 constructed a wish tree inspired by Yoko Ono’s world wide Wish Tree art exhibition. Residents who attended were invited to write their thoughts and ideals on labels under the guise ‘Re-Image Kilcooley toward a shared Future’. The individual labels were then tied collectively to the branches of the tree. The labels will inspire hand built tiles to be laid around the bench before being boxed and buried under the central mosaic as a time capsule. The tree was displayed in the forum office until autumn allowing other residents to attach further labels

Central Mosaic

Ceramic Artist Marty McClure worked over 6 weeks with children and young adults who attend clubs at the Community Hall. Marty choose the theme ‘Living Together Sharing Common Ground’ the mosaic will be graphic and bold in design and inspired by the paintings of Miro. The kids choose words that best describe communal living and with letters and ceramic tools carved images and text into pre cut circles and triangles of stonewareclay the mosaic when laid and central to the proposed garden. It is hoped the time capsule when buried will be visible through a port hole of shatterproof glass.

Carved Oak Bench

Owen Crawford discussed his work and design ideas with men who attend the over fifty’s Club at the community hall. Their text, a poem will be sand-blasted into solid oak and shaped into a bench which will sit by the edge of the mosaic.

Wheel Bench

Handcrafted by TREE in Oak the bench will surround a tree near an existing path. At its base will be embellished with wording developed through workshops, promoting a community garden, in hand built ceramic tiles.

Free Standing Sculpture

Lucy Turner proposed a sculpture fabricated from stainless steel and aluminium conceptually based on sailing boats, underpinning the nautical theme of the wall mural at Drumhirk Drive. Kilcooley representatives and I will view the Raven Collection at the Heritage Centre Bangor. These maps were hand drawn in 1656 and depict the land and sea of the North down area, elements of maps and mapping could serve as a back drop. The three panels depict imagery relevant to the area which is now Kilcooley spanning the 19^th, 20^th and the 21^st Century. Each panel has hand drawn elements created by young people through a series of workshops with one of the panels depicting the compass that is central to the mosaic.

Lucy Turner lead Artist ‘Re-image Kilcooley Toward a Shared Future’.

www.lucyturner.com

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