'out of the ashes'
Arts Dream are delighted to announce that they have been awarded a large grant from The Big Lottery Fund and a grant from Ferry Farm Community Fund for their project ‘ Out of the Ashes’
This project relates directly to the horrendous Fire at the Academy in August 2016
During that fire many archives were lost and the aim of this project is to retrace with the help of present and past staff and students the memories, narratives and photographs from the last 50 years of the Academy. There are 2 parts to the project:
- The first part will be an online exhibition of stories and photographs that will be exhibited on a specific ‘Out of the Ashes ‘ Face Book page. Members of the Academy community will be asked to send information to the FaceBook page. Linked to this there will be writing and art workshops, and the scanning of images etc in community events. There will be competitions for present students to share their thoughts and feelings about the Fire whilst developing a range of writing and digital skills. People who do not have Face Book will have the opportunity of in-putting their material in a different format at the community meetings
- The second part of the project will involve a professional artist taking some of the narratives and stories, as stimulus for a large scale art work entitled ‘Out of the Ashes’ that will be exhibited and have pride of place in the ‘New Academy’ The final work will be able to be downloaded for personal use and prints of ‘ Out of the Ashes ‘ will be displayed in for example the Selsey Town Hall and the Library so everyone can take ‘ownership’ of the project
We are delighted to say that Pamela Howard OBE has agreed to be the artist on this project. She lives in Selsey and has had close links with the Academy on other projects and events. She has an international profile, and her work is highly applauded throughout the world. She will be attending community events and sharing drawings and preparation work with the community.
So we need to hear from you !
- Were you part of the Academy Selsey in any context over the last 50 years
- Have you got some fun exciting stories to tell maybe about a Prom, or a science exhibition, maybe about a trip to America, or a great sports day, or anything that evokes a specific memory for you. The more special the better !
- Have you kept photographs of yourself and your friends from past times ?
- How did you feel about the Fire ?
- Can you like the FaceBook Page ‘Out of the Ashes ‘ just to get started
- Check out the full details on: www.artsdream2013selsey.weebly.com
- Look at Pamela’s fantastic drawings on www.pamelahoward.co.uk
We hope the final outcome of the project will be an important social document for Selsey and become part of Selsey’s cultural heritage and a memory of a past time and ultimately evoke:
‘ That Art can rise like a Phoenix ‘Out of the Ashes ‘
So if you have any images the more unusual the better, then just send them in!
PAMELA HOWARD IS THE ARTIST WHO IS WORKING ON THE PROJECT. SOME OF HER WORK BELOW.
UPDATES:
Out of the Ashes
The Big Lottery Fund and Ferry Farm Funded project Out of the Ashes has now been running for 6 months and there has been much interest in uncovering some of the memories and photographs of past staff and students at the Academy.
The aim of the project after the devastating fire was to retrace some of the memories of past staff and students who have been part of the Academy over the last 50 years, and to produce an on -line exhibition of photographs, and stories detailing interesting memories.
To assist us in this project we have been working with a researcher from the West Sussex Records office who has uncovered some interesting facts and photographs from the late 70’s through to the present day. Currently we have over 700 people on the Out of the Ashes Face Book page sending in photographs ( current total 400 ) and feeding in comments about for example, special events, residential courses, trips abroad and a host of fascinating projects that happened in the then named Manhood Community College and more recently the Academy.
Some of the highlights for the Ashes team has been talking to past staff and students in the Community meetings and seeing their fantastic archives and hearing some of the fascinating stories about staff, pupils and school experiences. The Academy is such a ‘happy school’ and this comes across in all the conversations with the team.
We are now in the second phase of the project, and the commissioned artist professor Pamela Howard OBE is well on the way to producing a memorable art work that will leave a lasting legacy for the Academy and for Selsey. It has been fascinating to watch her process. She has been inspired by the images and the stories of the Academy and has created a work that combines the aspiration for a new beginning and a new future but retains the ‘ captured memories ‘ of a past time. Currently she has produced a ‘cartoon ‘ of the final art work , a smaller sized painting that is currently being photographed to act as a reference document that will be used when she up scales the work to the much larger 2 metre art work.
The work is not a flat painting but a 3 D collage made up at times of Found objects, so for example a button becomes a football, kit kat papers become a life boat, and odd bits of string, and other materials enhance the surface to reflect different textures that ‘escape the fire ‘ to form a new and different narrative. The piece is not a social document although events can be easily drawn out of the art work, and some characters will be recognisable, but an interpretation of a devastating event stimulated by the phrase ‘ And the band played on ‘ When you view the work you will understand the context!
This is a large scale piece and is to be realised within a garage space near Pamela’s studio where she will work on it. It is far too big for her studio ! A number of assistants both local and international will help her with the mammoth task of creating her original art work from the initial drawing into its final concept.
Pamela will be working on the art work through June to August at the garage at the side of Stewarton, Park Lane Selsey, apart from June 16 - 26th when she is in Moscow and the 28th and 29 th of June where she has professorship duties in Bournemouth. Weather permitting she will working from 10am to 6pm.
She would love people to stop by and chat about the work.
Currently 150 students at the Academy are producing their own ‘Out of the Ashes ‘ painting and sculptures and examples of these will be exhibited on the Out of the Ashes -Selsey Face Book page by the end of May.
A fascinating project for Arts Dream and our thanks must go to the Big Lottery Fund and Ferry Farm Community Grants for supporting Arts Dream in this exciting and dynamic project. Just a few of her images below:
Out of the Ashes
The Big Lottery Fund and Ferry Farm Funded project Out of the Ashes has now been running for 6 months and there has been much interest in uncovering some of the memories and photographs of past staff and students at the Academy.
The aim of the project after the devastating fire was to retrace some of the memories of past staff and students who have been part of the Academy over the last 50 years, and to produce an on -line exhibition of photographs, and stories detailing interesting memories.
To assist us in this project we have been working with a researcher from the West Sussex Records office who has uncovered some interesting facts and photographs from the late 70’s through to the present day. Currently we have over 700 people on the Out of the Ashes Face Book page sending in photographs ( current total 400 ) and feeding in comments about for example, special events, residential courses, trips abroad and a host of fascinating projects that happened in the then named Manhood Community College and more recently the Academy.
Some of the highlights for the Ashes team has been talking to past staff and students in the Community meetings and seeing their fantastic archives and hearing some of the fascinating stories about staff, pupils and school experiences. The Academy is such a ‘happy school’ and this comes across in all the conversations with the team.
We are now in the second phase of the project, and the commissioned artist professor Pamela Howard OBE is well on the way to producing a memorable art work that will leave a lasting legacy for the Academy and for Selsey. It has been fascinating to watch her process. She has been inspired by the images and the stories of the Academy and has created a work that combines the aspiration for a new beginning and a new future but retains the ‘ captured memories ‘ of a past time. Currently she has produced a ‘cartoon ‘ of the final art work , a smaller sized painting that is currently being photographed to act as a reference document that will be used when she up scales the work to the much larger 2 metre art work.
The work is not a flat painting but a 3 D collage made up at times of Found objects, so for example a button becomes a football, kit kat papers become a life boat, and odd bits of string, and other materials enhance the surface to reflect different textures that ‘escape the fire ‘ to form a new and different narrative. The piece is not a social document although events can be easily drawn out of the art work, and some characters will be recognisable, but an interpretation of a devastating event stimulated by the phrase ‘ And the band played on ‘ When you view the work you will understand the context!
This is a large scale piece and is to be realised within a garage space near Pamela’s studio where she will work on it. It is far too big for her studio ! A number of assistants both local and international will help her with the mammoth task of creating her original art work from the initial drawing into its final concept.
Pamela will be working on the art work through June to August at the garage at the side of Stewarton, Park Lane Selsey, apart from June 16 - 26th when she is in Moscow and the 28th and 29 th of June where she has professorship duties in Bournemouth. Weather permitting she will working from 10am to 6pm.
She would love people to stop by and chat about the work.
Currently 150 students at the Academy are producing their own ‘Out of the Ashes ‘ painting and sculptures and examples of these will be exhibited on the Out of the Ashes -Selsey Face Book page by the end of May.
A fascinating project for Arts Dream and our thanks must go to the Big Lottery Fund and Ferry Farm Community Grants for supporting Arts Dream in this exciting and dynamic project. Just a few of her images below:
student work:
From beginning to end:
cOMING UP
