It’s been great, hard, frustrating, exciting, revelatory and damn scary at times but the work is up, the talks are over and it’s all done bar the shouting. Or final evaluation.
I think it’s been a successful project, the facebook page has 72 likes which is pretty good, this website has about 300 unique hits since the project started and I have been front page news once for ‘The Hornsey Journal’ and once for the new ‘Ham and High Broadway’ – their very first issue in fact.
I have spoken at 2 schools, 1 sheltered accommodation for the elderly organisation, 2 Surestart play centres,the University of the 3rd Age, the Muswell Hill Traders Group, spoken to representatives from Muswell Hill Sustainability group, Muswell Hill and Fortis Green Residents Association, the Friends of Muswell Hill Library Committee, and the United Reform Church.
The project has featured online on the Muswell Hill Sustainability Groups website, the Local Gallery’s website, n0tice, in individuals’s blogs, ‘The Hornsey Journal Online’, ‘A London Street’ (Japanese Magazine).
I conducted 5 residences in total – one very short one at the Library back in March as part of ‘Green is Good in Muswell Hill’ and then the Local Gallery in May, the Koukan Gallery in June, Coppetts Wood Primary in July and the 5 day residency at Muswell Hill Libray in August. Three more than I had originally planned.
I also did 2 audio interviews for ‘Muswell Hill Media’ and produced a Youtube video whilst doing the residency at the Library.
Did it go as I had hoped? Yes, mostly. I would have like to have spoken to more schools in the area, I think it’s a great shame that more did not take the opportunity to get me in – as I’m free and green and it is inspiring for kids- I know that from the ones I have spoken to and have seen the work.
I would have liked more people to have remembered to drop some paper off. HUGE THANKS to those that did. There would be no project without it. As it happened I had more than enough and from a great range of ages and people, but, you know there could have been even more participation. I find it a little sad when I hear people saying ‘Wow- that’s amazing! I didn’t know that was going on in the Library’. I did try and get the project ‘out there’ as much as I could.
Do the people of Muswell Hill like the work now it’s finished? As you might expect some love it and some really don’t. The ones that don’t probably wouldn’t like anything contemporary and at least with it’s positioning – although it is approximately 7metres – long you can choose not to see it if you so wish (it is sited above eye-line). And those that do – great! That’s what I hoped. I also hope you will tell your friends and encourage more people to visit the Library which is a wonderful, free resource that we need to support by going there and using it. We’d really miss it if it wasn’t there after all. Thank you.
youtube video of Muswell Hill Library residency
