Maindee Stories project wins Epic Award* (now Creative Lives Award) for Wales
Winning the Epic Award (Best in Wales) 2018.
The 2018 Voluntary Arts* Wales Epic Award-winning textile project 'Maindee Stories' with women's group 'Coffee n' Laughs
(*Voluntary Arts are now known as Creative Lives and present ‘Creative Lives Awards’ each year)
Maindee Stories//Coffee'n'Laughs won the prestigious Epic Award for Wales! We were delighted to have been considered because the competition was tough.
These awards, celebrate the achievements of volunteer-led community groups across the UK and Ireland each year. To be considered, you had to have completed a participatory art project within a set timescale and, additionally you could nominate someone in the community that does great work to make the community a better place. Without hesitation, I nominated Marilyn Priday (she also is my mother-in-law) who leads the Coffee 'n'Laughs group. The group meet every week at Community House in Maindee, Newport. Marilyn founded it when she retired 15 years ago (her energy and commitment are extraordinary) leading it with her best friend Susan Lewis and Sughra Muhammed.
I’ve worked with this group on many creative projects - everyone knows me well, which makes a huge difference to a project in terms of trust and creative process.
Six months prior to my application (to Maindee Unlimited's New Paths grant, a funding stream from Arts Council Wales called IPP - Ideas, People, Place) I led a focus group asking if the group would like to take part in my project which I decided to call 'Maindee Stories, The Fabric of our Lives'. I was inspired by Grayson Perry's work 'The Vanity of Small Differences' https://www.victoria-miro.com/exhibitions/429/ and 'Death of a Working Man' https://www.victoria-miro.com/news/413
I could have run the project for six weeks (that was the requirement of the funding) but because the processes were slow - (embroidery, printmaking and handmade books) I decided on six months - and that was just the tip of the iceberg!
This project benefitted from the longer lead time because of the friendships and collaborations that developed over that time. As a result, new people have joined and have now led wonderful creative projects, continuing the legacy of this project.
All those weeks, with some sleepless nights... loading the car with 5 or 6 bags full of materials and tools...packing and unpacking them was worth it! The workshop time just flew by.
Our Epic award, Marion and Marilyn at the Ceremony, and a closeup of part of the finished work.
To give an example of the competition - in 2011 there were 4,000 voluntary arts groups in Wales. Of course, not everyone applies and I can only imagine that this number has grown. The shortlist this year was made up of 32 creative groups.
Coffee n'Laughs/Maindee Stories was judged by a panel that thought it was outstanding. What the group provides in terms of support is extremely valuable. In fact, there is what's known in the circle as the 'Coffee n'Laughs effect'. Sughra explained this to me a few months ago.
“...When you come here, the group is so warm and friendly, you've left the house, done something creative, or maybe you've just come along for a chat or for some advice, or to learn some computer skills...It sets you up for the rest of the week. By Tuesday or Wednesday, it starts to wear off - just in time for another Thursday to come around. Coffee n'Laughs is a life-line to so many people in the area.”
The inspirational award ceremony was held in Dublin on 3rd May.
Tania Banotti, Director of Creative Ireland said, “Arts and culture are fundamental to empathetic citizenship.”
More about the other nominated groups here.
It was a great opportunity to meet other groups working nationally on such diverse projects. On accepting the award, Marilyn told an empowering story about a young mother who didn't have enough money to buy a reconditioned laptop for her son, so Marilyn employed her to run a workshop at Coffee 'n' Laughs to demonstrate how to cook chicken biriyani! That story is just one of many brilliant stories at this community centre.
In addition to a certificate and prize money, we were presented with a beautiful embroidered landscape of Dublin landmarks by DeborahToner.
Find out more about the Creative Lives Award here Thank you to the panel for choosing us and thank you to everyone on social media who voted for us, we are very grateful for your support.
The Wallich: https://thewallich.com/museum-project-exhibition-cardiff/
Say it ain't sew: https://www.facebook.com/sewglasgow/
https://www.facebook.com/yarnbombingmountmellick/
With thanks also to Sandra Fowler, Linda McCarthy, Bilquis Chohan, Marilyn Priday, Susan Lewis and Cath Cains for their creative contributions Maindee Stories.