Number 1010355
NEWS
July 2010 Watch this space for celebrations of a couple long term projects that are coming to completion. The mural for Bangor Street Community Centre will be installed late summer. The mural is "probably" the largest in Britain at 130ft long and full of interesting cameo scenes. The work on the garden of the Irwell Unit at Fairfield Hospital also comes to fruition by the end of summer. The garden is a riot of form and colour and features a gemmed totem pole along with mosaic and ceramic work. Celebration events are being planned for both projects. May 2010 "Night at the Museum" took place over the weekend of 14th, 15th and 16th May 2010. Artists worked in 3 heritage venues after hours. Using light, sound, photography and contemporary artefacts, visitors were encouraged to look and think differently about their local history and heritage sites. Action Factory is involved in an exciting project called 'Something Beautiful' which culminated in an event in Blackburn town centre held on 13th March. The project is part of the Arts strand of Celebr8 Woven Cultures programme and we worked with a playwright, photographer and film maker and a digital artist to explore ideas about beauty in everyday life. Each artist spent time with a group of local people to create work to be shared at the final event. February 2010 Action Factory has been successful in getting funding from the Future Jobs Fund for a Trainee Community Arts Worker, and Nicole Pattinson has joined the team. February 2010 "World Community Arts Day" A celebration Day at Action Factory on Wednesday, 17th February 2010. This was the 2nd time we celebrated World Community Arts Day and it was stimulating, exciting and fun. It was a day where artists, staff, clients and friends came together and tried out activities and enjoyed each other's company. December 2009 Great news. Action Factory have been asked to work on an exciting curriculum based project with teachers and pupils at Darwen Aldridge Community Academy (DACA). The work produced will be displayed in an exhibition in their new gallery space in Darwen Town Centre November 2009 Watch the video of a group of people involved in an Action Factory workshop having fun with lights and photography in Blackburn Centre.
October 2009 Art Bite ran through the month of October. People were able to take part in workshops on many different activities ... from batik through to making new things with electronics. A photography workshop captured some of the activities along with images taken in Blackburn and local areas. These images can be viewed at our flickr page www.flickr.com/groups/artbite
September 2009 Successful bid to be approved supplier. Action Factory is really pleased to have been selected by Blackburn with Darwen Children's Services as an approved organisation to provide specialist arts and crafts activities in Children's Centres in Blackburn and Darwen. We are looking forward to continuing to develop our relationshiops and our existing work with eary years groups.
September 2009 Factory is on Youtube! Follow links below to see images from the celebration event we held for Alwin Reamillo - our artist in residence who "plAAyed" with shadow play, overhead projectors, acetate, and much more, and also a video of the work we have done with the Interfaith Forum and schools in the Blackburn with Darwen area.
Alwin's shadow play Interfaith forum
Older News ...
Action Factory has been working with Blackburn Art Galley and Museum to provide artist residencies as part of the plAAy initiative. International artists Mok Buakaow and Alwin Reamillo have both had residencies at Action Factory. The exhibition of work from the plAAy initiative "Strange World" at Blackburn Art Gallery is on until the end of September 2009. For more information about Mok and Alwin click here.
Action Factory Community Arts won the creative inspiration award at the 2007 Creativity Works Awards, here is a quote from the programme:
"It is truly a people based company that invests heavily in training and support for both staff and volunteers as well as the thousands of groups and individuals who have and continue to benefit from their caring, nuturing, creative and magical approach.
Creativity Works is proud to recognise the importance and value of having a world class participatory arts company in East Lancashire. A high percentage of creative people and people working in the creative industries in the area owe some of their success to working with, for or just an encounter with Action Factory Community Arts."
The Festival of Learning Art Bite ran through the month of October. People were able to take part in workshops on many different activities ... from batik through to making new things with electronics.
A photography workshop captured some of the activities along with images taken in Blackburn and local areas. These images are being uploaded to www.flickr.com/groups/artbite
Action Factory put on activities as part of the Festival of Learning which was happening all over the UK during the month of November and with the aim of getting adults to relook at learning. We were asked to put on art taster sessions for adults. The Learning Festival is a government initiative.
We put on a large number of events and activities located all round the Blackburn and Darwen areas. Much of this was photographed by the people involved in the photography workshop and these are available to view on our Art Bite flickr page.
These images catalogue the may activities including dancing, music, writing, mosaics, photography, batik, electronics, bag making, cake decorating, lantern making and claywork.
October 2009
September 2009 ...
Successful bid to be approved supplier. Action Factory is really pleased to have been selected by Blackburn with Darwen Children's Services as an approved organisation to provide specialist arts and crafts activities in Children's Centres in Blackburn and Darwen. We are looking forward to continuing to develop our relationshiops and our existing work with eary years groups.
Action Factory is on Youtube! Follow links below to see images from the celebration event we held for Alwin Reamillo - our artist in residence who "plAAyed" with shadow play, overhead projectors, acetate, and much more, and also a video of the work we have done with the Interfaith Forum and schools in the Blackburn with Darwen area.
September 2009
Mok Buakaow
Contemporary Art PlAAy Artist in Residency - Mok Buakaow
June to September 2009
Mok creates engaging sculptures from clay which she calls nongs. In Thai, nong is an honorific title used to address younger people. Mok tells us "Nong is comfortable in his own skin, maintaining a good-homoured smile at all times. Nong has none of the markers of status or race - no gender, age or clothing - so all kinds of people can see themselves in the character".
During Mok's stay she was able to make a number of her nongs in different sizes. She took nong out to make interventions in the Blackburn and Darwen area. These photographs provoked a new look at the image, at what is very ordinary to residents of the area, and made the viewer see the area through a stranger's eyes.
The pictures and the nongs are on exhition at the Blackburn Art Gallery & Museum until the end of September.
Alwin Reamillo
Artist in Residence - Alwin Reamillo
April to June 2009
Action Factory was pleased to host artist in residence, Alwin Reamillo, courtesy of the Contemporary Asian Art Programme plAAy and Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery.
The PlAAy residency is intended to give artists a breathing space and the opportunity to play or develop new ideas. Alwin worked with an idea using light and shadow, old overhead projectors and images copied onto acetates which led to a night of shadowplay using puppets.
Alwin is originally from the Philippines, but now lives in Australia. He is an artist of international renown having worked and exhibited in many countries including Australia, Japan and Manilla.
Alwin likes to develop art with people and communities to create large pieces of multi-media sculpture. These pieces have a playful element to them for instance he developed a whale car - that actually works.
Alwin has also been involved in a poignant work that pays tribute to his late father and other workers in the piano making industry in Manilla. Alwin worked with many collaborators to bring together different parts of many pianos left from over from the collapse of the business to create one working instrument. He then transported this instrument to Australia where it was a focus for many activities and recitals.
Older News ...
Action Factory Community Arts won the creative inspiration award at the 2007 Creativity Works Awards, here is a quote from the programme:
"It is truly a people based company that invests heavily in training and support for both staff and volunteers as well as the thousands of groups and individuals who have and continue to benefit from their caring, nuturing, creative and magical approach.
Creativity Works is proud to recognise the importance and value of having a world class participatory arts company in East Lancashire. A high percentage of creative people and people working in the creative industries in the area owe some of their success to working with, for or just an encounter with Action Factory Community Arts."
