Time to Make - a diary of events
‘Time to Make’ is a team of Dudley ‘Time Rebels’ (Rachel, Dan, Rick and Becky) who hold a shared belief that making space and time for people to be creative and connect positively impacts individuals and can build on the cultural ecology of Dudley Borough. ‘Time to Make’ sessions have different themes and creative focuses with space for people to bring along their own creative activity, sessions are relaxed and shaped by participants. We pop up in different venues across Dudley.
The session was attended by 16 people made up of another Dudley creative group that have stopped meeting, fellow cultural collaborators and a group that had seen the promotion on Facebook (Eye Candy.) Real mix of ages and collage experience. Having lots of materials and imagery to explore worked well and everyone created something. One attendee went to buy a frame for her image! Lots of people ‘off the street’ enquiring when the space would be open, 2 men popped in to chat and said they might return, the men talked about their disabilities which prompted us to have a chat about the accessibility of our session and how to make sure everyone is able to take part.
The session was attended by 10 people, most had seen the invite on the Black Country Collage Club Instagram or the Glass Museum Eventbrite. Real mix of ages and collage experience, having lots of materials to explore worked well especially with the 3 children. Robin from Black Country Collage Club attended and shared her experience of running her own collage workshop. One attendee donated lots of vintage magazines for future workshops! One attendee took materials home to carry on making.
We had 1 attendee a male who was looking for space and inspiration to get creative. He had seen the advertisement on Eventbrite. It was good to have time to think around the materials we are using and what we might need for future sessions.
We had 3 attendees, fellow cultural collaborator Marlene and Thea (+ her dad) who Rick knew from poetry events. Struggled to gain interest from people organically passing the session. Need to think about our promotion and linking with other groups. Also setting up an Eventbrite for the Colab sessions.
3 attendees, a lady from Birmingham who had travelled to try something new and meet people and a younger couple who had been to art collage but not done anything creative since. We sketched from the collection and used this to inspire our sculptures. It didn’t take as long as expected so maybe an ‘extension’ activity could be useful. Also one attendee hated the carving but decide to focus on the sketching element- she didn’t leave though!
We had 6 attendees, a family of 3 with an older daughter with additional needs who had travelled from Pontefract on holiday and had seen the session on Eventbrite and fancied doing something creative and free, a couple from Lye who had come as they don’t do anything creative or have time to ‘breathe’ and a lady from Birmingham who attends lots of free creative activities across the West Midlands. I think the activity was really accessible for everyone and allowed people to explore materials and interests. One attendee had never created a mini zine or college but used the techniques to explore his ideas around ‘modern society’ another attendee created a ‘get well’ inspirational zine for her friend who was undergoing treatment for cancer. We’ve reduced the amount of materials at each session as too much can cause people to be overwhelmed and it’s proving difficult to transport.
