The People's Alphabet

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Funded by Arts Council England North West, Grants for the Arts, the aim of the project was to work with diverse groups of people in Blackburn and Darwen to create a challenging and relevant exhibition linked to the Peter Blake Alphabet, which was exhibited in Blackburn from September to November 2005.

Through the project we engaged groups who would not normally access the museum and art gallery in the production of visual art works which were exhibited alongside the Peter Blake exhibition. Community Groups worked alongside professional artists to experiment with new techniques, increase their skills, knowledge and understanding of visual arts and explore the ideas and issues which are important to them in a new creative manner.

Around 150 people contributed to work for the exhibition. Young people from Nightsafe, Volunteers from Circle of Friends, children from St Barnabas and St Paul's Primary School, visitors to Arts in the Park and museum visitors all contributed to the exhibition.

During the exhibition we delivered open access workshops in the gallery enabling more people to engage with the exhibition.

The following are quotes from the Nightsafe Group:

"I got real recognition for having my picture in a museum. I didn't used to like art, but now I think it's great." - Young Person

"I really enjoyed it. It was good to have the use of power tools and other materials. It helped everyone be really creative." - Jay, Day Centre Worker

"Everyone felt a great sense of achievement by taking part in the Peter Blake project, it was a great experience." - Lesley, Nightsafe Worker

"I think the standard of work was really good and the young people gained a lot from the project." - Amanda Fisher, Day Centre Manager