Community Gets Knitting
Residents in Everton, Anfield and Kirkdale are being encouraged to get knitting as part of an innovative arts project.
North Liverpool college Rotunda is working with Anfield and Breckfield Community Council on the knitting project, which brings together traditional crafts and contemporary art. The Rotunda knitters will work with artist Liz Noble to produce artworks for display during Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture 2008.
This is just one strand of the Liverpool Atlantic Arts Project, which aims to involve over 1,000 residents and put North Liverpool on the city’s cultural map. Partners PLUS Housing Group and Rotunda have secured £90,000 from Liverpool City Council to deliver the project. Arts manager Ema Quinn is working with partners including the Liverpool Biennial, North Liverpool Culture Committee and The Big Table partnership on the programme, which promises to be uplifting, challenging and socially engaging.
Rotunda is one of three venues for the Liverpool Biennial Pavilions project. Award-winning landscape artists Gross-Max are working with the community to breathe new life into a piece of vacant land outside Rotunda. Plans for a pavilion and new uses for the land, including a vegetable garden and recycling units, are being developed and will create a thriving hub of activity in the area around the college buildings. Led by the Liverpool Biennial Big Table partners, the project is based on the successful ‘Maison Folies’ project run by the French city of Lille.
Young people who get involved with the Liverpool Atlantic Arts Project will have the opportunity to train as community wardens and to achieve an Art Awards qualification, developed by Arts Council England and Trinity College London. This is a nationally recognised award that participants can study for at their own pace, with Bronze, Silver and Gold levels to aim for.
The Liverpool Atlantic Arts Project is a vibrant programme, with new opportunities for involvement opening up all the time. Those who take part will be able to develop their creative skills, gain experience that could help with employment, meet new people and have fun. No previous experience is needed.
If you live in Everton, Anfield or Kirkdale and would like to get involved in the project, please contact Ema Quinn on 0151 207 2176 or at ema@liverpoolatlanticartsproject.com, or call into Rotunda.