During 2011 I worked with Chew Valley School and their cluster of nine Primary schools to deliver a Heritage Lottery funded project, Lake Odyssey. This project explored the history of the local area through the arts, with a particular focus on the 1950’s when Chew Valley Lake was built. Pupils were engaged in learning about the heritage of their surroundings, and of the people who live there. Year 10 students carried out oral history interviews with local residents who had been in the area in the 1950’s. These interviews then informed creative outcomes of the project.
Young people at all 10 schools took part in workshops run by professional artists in songwriting, dance, sculpture making, music, puppetry, drama, performance poetry, and photography.
The whole community came together on Saturday 16th July 2011 at Chew Valley Lake for the final Lake Odyssey event day where pupils shared what they had been creating.
My role in this project was to organise the creative workshops for young people, I project manage the community festival and fulfil the role of artistic director for the event.
I looked after anything and everything from equipment and plant hire, budget coordination, site management, liaising with artists and school staff, scheduling, recruiting and managing volunteers, press and marketing, health and safety requirements, overseeing the event, and project evaluation.