teaching fellowship award

Just before beginning the 'my school' project I was checking my UCA mailbox when I realised that what I was doing seemed to fit the bill for a teaching fellowship. I'm not very experienced at writing project proposals and the very same day was the deadline for receipt of applications. However I managed to put something very sketchy together and got some feedback from Philippa Ashton, Kathleen Rogers and a friend of mine, Lesley, who works as a charity fundraiser. By the following week, and two days late, I finally had something decent together with recommendations from Steve Littman and Bob Russell. A summary follows:

The project will provide:
· an opportunity for students to undertake teaching work with KS2 children (thereby providing a hands-on introduction to teaching for those who might wish to enter the profession),
· raise the ‘bar’ by providing high level specialist visual subject input into schools, by improving student’s visual literacy, creative skills, understanding and enjoyment of modern and contemporary art while fostering increased awareness of contemporary artists within society,
· enable these children to engage with new technology and reflective visual practice currently unavailable to them within their existing curricula model,
· enable her course (DFSA) to engage with a local WP agenda,
· provide a pedagogic model for other courses, staff and students to engage with other schools on similar projects in different subject areas,
· enable a key member of staff to forge further links between the subject(s) of her on going (and exhibited) research practice and her T&L activities,
· and enable the college to publicise its wider work within the local community.

My own research and practice mostly concerns ‘the artist as a mother’ and my own children often feature in the work in make. I have been interested for some time in actually involving them in the work rather than them being the subject – establishing a more collaborative basis, particularly with my older son who is 11 and at the threshold of his teenage years. I am trying to increase my awareness of activities for young people in the local area and would like to contribute in some way in the future, whilst working this into my research objectives. Since attending a SEEDA conference for Women’s Enterprise at the Farnham Maltings last year, I have been inspired by the idea of launching a Social Enterprise targeting local teenagers and involving them in a range of creative activities. I hope to develop this idea in such a way that the University would have a pivotal role. This project is an opportunity for me to work with a younger age group, confront new challenges and see what opportunities present themselves that will add value to my development in this area. I will continue my research into other local businesses that have Social Enterprise status in order to establish a model for my own initiative, identify good practice and make links beyond the University.
http://www.seeda.co.uk/news_&_events/press_releases/2008/20081119.asp
http://www.seeda.co.uk/search/?quickSearch=1&s=social+enterprise&GoButton=Go

Alongside ‘my school’, I will continue my own creative practice - stills, video and sound work that is ongoing since the late 90s around my son’s games, words, songs and more recently my daughter is also becoming part of this work. In January 2007 I completed ‘living room’, a claustrophobic and chaotic family portrait made over the holiday period that reflects the dominance that the children have in our shared space. This is a 3 screen Hi-Definition Video artwork that was made and screened for New Territories – The National Review of Live Art in Glasgow which took place in February 2007. A series of daily screenings took place at the Tramway called Definitive Stories and ten artists were invited to conceive and execute new work in Hi Definition Video. ‘The project seeks to encourage artists and experimental filmmakers to use the Hi Definition system and asks them to consider innovative forms of deployment within this rapidly emerging format.’ This work was screened in Strange Screen Thessalonica In January 2008. My most recent research presentation, ‘the artist as ‘a mother watching’ - began to contextualise my art practice in relation to the work of other photographers and artists who make work about their children or their experience of motherhood.

I would very much like to widen the scope of my research by writing a journal or conference paper relating to the proposed project and this award would provide the motivation. I have taken a break from writing since starting a family in the mid-90s but previous to this I had a healthy run of published articles.

the last 2 months....

I can't believe I haven't written anything since 8th November. A friend and I were walking near Frensham Pond last week and she mentioned she had found my blog! Didn't think anyone read it so that was bit of a shock... and a wake up call to get a bit more active in here. 

We had flu round the family twice before Christmas so that knocked us out a bit. Now we have finally finished our family festivities - starting with Sam's birthday party at the beginning of December and Amelia and Mark both in last 10 days, with Christmas and New Year sandwiched in the middle. The season of cake, cake and more cake and a rapidly expanding waistline! 

Exposures meeting with Goldsmiths just before Christmas was cancelled because all the staff had flu so Grace and I are finally taking the archive to the library this Tuesday. I started the 'my school' project on Wednesday with a Y2 DFSA student, Luke, assisting. I have also applied for a teaching fellowship at UCA as the project seems to fit the bill for such an award.  It should help the University to further its Widening Participation Scheme and will further my own research objectives of wanting to make work with the local community, particularly in terms of trying to establish creative projects with young people. I should know whether I have been successful by the end of next week. 

What should I blog about?

Over the last few days I have been trying to think how I should use this blog. Will it just be for research purposes, or should it also examine more personal concerns. Like many other women artists, I find it so difficult to seperate out all the layers of my life (particularly when the children are on Easter break!!). In fact much of my research and visual work is about family life, so it seems quite important to take a holistic approach to writing this if it is to serve any useful purpose in moving on my ideas and saying something relevant to any possible interested audience somewhere down the line.

My 4 year old daughter joins my 10 year old son at school September so I am beginning to think about what to do with a bit more time on my hands. I went to a SEEDA funded conference about women setting up their own businesses which was quite inspiring. I have a few ideas that I may try to develop - perhaps as a 'social enterprise' - but my thoughts are still taking shape. I want to draw some connections between my teaching at the University College for Creative Arts, my own photo/video practice, the students and their work. Perhaps some sales opportunities - artmarket for all concerned together with workshop/networking opportunities - but not sure what format will pull all those strands together. I belong to the 'Home Interaction Research Cluster' (they haven't included my name on web page yet!) at UCCA and 'The Home' - as a 'container' for the family and (in contradication!) as a working base - will be a significant feature in developing my ideas. http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/index.cfm?articleid=17006