Lomo Wall Open Exhibition

Get involved in a Lomography Wall Open exhibition, community photography project organised by The Media Workshop. Shot some rolls of film in the “Lomo” style with the theme of colour and submit the resulting MUST be 6″x4″ prints by 22/9/11. You could even cheat and use your Smart Phone! Get involved in tiling the “Wall” in our gallery space. Launch takes place on 6/10/11 and runs till December. There are prizes of Lomo cameras to be won.

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Autumn 2011 Newsletter

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Art for the Park

The Media Workshop worked in partnership with the Friends of St James Park and Upper Shirley High School to create a large scale cut metal artwork for the new St James Park in Shirley, Southampton.Friends of St James park logo

 

The project started with some inter-generational workshops with elderly members of the local community. Children from Upper Shirley High learnt oral history techniques and interviewed the older people about their memories of the park.  These memories were then used to develop ideas for the artwork. The Media Workshop ran photography and screen print workshops  at the school explororal history session at USHing the ideas which could be used for the final piece. Silhouettes were created which reflected the activities that have taken part in the park over time.

photography session

       screen printing girls

One particular story told by an elderly gentleman became very significant to the young people. Arthur House had met his sweetheart in the park (later to become his wife) at the age of 15. They would often meet and sit on a park bench. Later when Arthur was away during the war, his wife would go to the park and read his letters sat on their bench. When Arthur’s wife died, Arthur would often visit the park and sit on the bench reliving the memories of their happy life together. Arthur was therefore very sad when he visited the park and found the bench gone.

 

The students were particularly affected by this story and unbeknownst to Arthur decided to raise money within the school to have a bench in the new park dedicated to Arthur and Winnie (his wife) by means of a plaque. They were also very keen to have a bench portrayed in the in final art work.

 

The Media Workshop also spent a considerable amount of time consulting with the local community about their ideas for the artwork. Ideas included referencing the local flora and fauna, Victorian ironwork, Art Deco design and referring to the park’s past as a pasture land. All of which are included in the final design.

Design for artwork

 

The final artwork was created using the waterjet cutting technique. A high powered stream of water is used to cut a silhouette out of 3mm aluminium sheets. Three large scale panels were cut, powder coated black and then placed together to form the final work which is now in place in the new park on the retaining wall of the zip wire.

section of cut design  artwork in park

Kingsland Signage Design Project

Kingsland Flats

 

The Media Workshop worked in partnership with the residents of the Kingsland estate in central Southampton and the Central Local Housing Office to develop and produce new identity signage for the estate.

 

Over the space of about a year we ran number of community consultations and workshops with local residents to create designs for the entrances to the estate, flattshirt workshop signs and artwork for the children’s playground.

The final designs reflect and reference the design style of the local architecture and the main entrance signs include an artistic impression of a map of the local area. Local residents helped to decide the important landmarks to be included. The children’s play area signs were developed during workshops in which local children had a chance to express what they liked best about the play park.

The final pieces were created using a waterjet cutting technique. Sheets of aluminium were cut using a high powered jet of water to create the resulting silhouette designs.Design work for Kingsland Main sign

Children's play signs

Play sign snailPlay sign cloudKingsland main sign

PUSH Find Your Talent Story Books

girl beaulieu trip

In a project funded by PUSH Find Your Talent, we worked alongside Forest Forge Theatre Company to help young families create their own photographic story books inspired by Southampton’s heritage.

reading story book

 

We worked with families who attend the SureStart centres in Millbrook and Weston and also those who attend a toddler group at the Hangar Farm Arts Centre in Totton. The project began with families being taken on trips to discover local heritage. We went to the Maritime Museum, Gods House Tower, Eling Tide Mill and Beaulieu Motor Museum.  On each visit everyone had the chance to participate in an educational workshop, followed by a picnic.

The visits provided inspiration for individual stories that the children and their parents created. Over a series of workshops using drama, photography and art all the families produced their own individual books to keep.

Friends and family were invited to the final session to hear the stories.

girl making story book   boy with story book



Punchbag - a project about domestic violence

At the end of last year The Media Workshop was contracted by Proteus Theatre Company together with other artists, film makers and writers to work on Punchbag a project that set out to explore the theme of domestic violence but through the eyes of women and children who were either in refuges or seeking regular support though outreach projects. Watch the movie or go to: http://www.proteustheatre.com/?page=punchbag

OUT OF THE PAST -BLACK HERITAGE

urial-card_web.jpgBlack Heritage have been working with The Media Workshop to create individual photographic dioramas in celebration of Black History Month. Through a series of workshops, members from the group have shared family photographs and talked about their memories. Come and see the stunning result…

Exhibition opening is on Thursday 7th October 2010 from 7-9pm at The Media Workshop, Mount Pleasant Junior School, Mount Pleasant Road, Southampton, SO14 0WZ
Gallery Opening times: Thursdays 1-9pm

The exhibition continues until 28th October 2010

Project funded by Southampton City Council Community Chest

Autumn Newsletter 2010

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Autumn Newsletter 2010

The Learning Revolution

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A Craft in Transition was Southampton’s contribution to a National Festival Of Learning. The Learning Revolution Festival was designed to value informal learning and give all adults an opportunity to learn.The Media Workshop organized events across the area and would like to thank the following for their special contribution: Black Heritage, Weston Court, The Wednesday Women’s group at the WEA and The Clovelly Centre.

Stand Tall

stand-tall-cover-resized.jpgThe Media Workshop has been working alongside the Challenge and Support Team at Southampton City Council and drama practitioner Annie Sanger-Davies to deliver a series of workshops which aim to help young people use body language in positive ways.

Using drama based exercises and a photo studio set up we’ve been helping young people investigate how to use body language to their positive advantage in different situations. For instance: if they’re being bullied; going for an interview; dealing with conflict or aggression; meeting new friends. etc. Each young person takes away a personalised booklet at the end of the programme, which serves as a body language ‘tool kit’ that they can refer to whenever they need it in the future.