Notes after the I UK study trip: Stoke-On-Trent and West Midlands

Posted by sam.rushton on May 6, 2011 in Partners, CCU, Study trips, I UK study trip, Partners, Study trips

Notes from the evaluation session led by Mark and Penny on the last day of the study trip.

Method: post-it notes, flipchart and group discussion.

• Brownie
• Great experience and some thoughts what I would like to do by myself.
• S sense of history and culture of Stoke-On-Trent.
• The fantastic mix of experiences.
• Loads of new ideas about community arts and how to practice.
• Concept of well-being (culture & health.)
• Friends and contacts.
• Contacts and ideas for research.
• Great collection of fantastic people and possible ideas for several collaborative projects.
• Good people and good relationships.
• Reflection about community arts compared to cultural animation.
• The concept of cultural animator as an artist.
• I hope to stay in touch with the group and to find several ways we can collaborate & develop projects together.
• Make clear connections between active citizenship/politics/community arts.
• Connections with international artists/practitioners.
• Ideas about how to put my discipline into practice with social context and the theory of issues to back the art up.
• Friends.

• Excited to visit another country and find out more about how it works out there.
• I would like to do an icebreaker on first day.
• We need to find a way to stay in touch and involve all the partners during the trip.
• I would like to know more about participants and their background.  (A kind of exchange session.)
• I am fully convinced that this study trip is a very good way of learning and creating / sustaining relations.
• Try to recruit more men on future visits.
• I would like to meet come councillors.
• I would put fewer things on the first day.
• I thought in English context that in Poland we don’t have local culture animators (who stay with local community)
• I loved to see all participants in my country and to show them what we have.
• I am thinking about how and if it’s possible for my country to implement such a policy towards art in community practice.
• A community art is both very complex and very simple!
• We need more time for discussion and debate.
• Still digesting big amount and info (and food (love heart)) from this week.
• Idea of connecting university course with facilitating civic engagement – like during speak up.
• The arts as a way to speak up/communicate.
• More opportunity to discus/compare and contrast the projects & organizations we visited.
• We can plan a perfect study trip but it is possible at all?
• We got experience and that is the best part of participation.
• I knew, but now I realised the gaps existing between my daily work and community arts…
• It was really great to meet all of these people and had a possibility to share experiences and contacts
• I hope we will make some project together in the future.

• The people & working with them.
• I loved the New Vic Theatre (Borderlines).  It was really a pleasure.
• Beautiful polish & Lithuanian names.
• The great mix of people in the group.
• I really loved to visit all galleries, museums, artist places and especially the FACTORY!
• Leopard pub with all people that there was and very nice conversations in there.
• Galleries (like air space.)
• University atmosphere.
• Hearing people’s stories.
• SINGING
• People I met here.
• Factory: artists and the project they are doing in May.
• Burslem School of Art.
• Air Space.
• Food was wonderful! I hadn’t known that you have such a delicious food and desserts!
• I really likes the idea of artists making social research using creative tools.
• I love the sunshine here.
• I love that people are active and creative.
• University: fully equipped places for students
• Atmosphere.
• Lectures, people.
• Aim!
• Spring!
• People in Stoke-On-Trent were very nice.  I felt very special here.
• Most discussions I have had.
• The weather J
• Being able to host new people and help them enjoy their stay, recommending food places to visit and making them feel welcome.
• Working with take part students and Mandays men.
• I loved: evenings in the pubs, air space, that we were ?????? most of the time, meeting a head of Burslem School of Art. Visiting Spode.
• Meeting with people who are empowering themselves by being involved in different kinds of activities.
• Acting workshop in New Vic, B arts Susan, Balti food at Caldmore, people participating all week.
• I loved the singing on the first day + how this brought the group together.
• Connecting with new creative people and learning about their projects and interests.
• Ideas about how to use my skills differently.
• Meeting amazing people.
• Socializing in pubs and singing on the first night bringing the group together.
• Workshops with borderlines, Spode and painting at the shop.
• Different kinds of methods that we could see.
• Radio.

• Watching the play at the New Vic Theatre.
• The museum presentation.
• I didn’t like that the schedule was so overloaded and that that programme didn’t include free time for the participants.
• I would make sure that people (organizations) we visited are prepared for visit.
• Let them eat fruit not only biscuits!
• Too many things to visit especially on Monday, would like more time with the group relaxing and talking.
• Stair lift not working.
• Too much stuff on the first day.
• Monday was very hard.  It was too much activities.  Its to hot for my mind.
• Too long a day on Monday.
• I would like to have talked to the group about my projects and to have an input into where we took the group.
• I miss reflections like “own reflection” because all week was quite heavy and there was not time to sit and think.
• Pork pie with mash potatoes.
• Please plan some down time to breath.
• Please give us some free time.
• LESS FOOD!  In order not to put it in the bin in the end of the day.
• Too much food.  I would like to see some projects of university students.
• D111 locked + not told that I would need to get key.
• Staffs Uni catering.
• The Rivals show.
• No free time to bond with the group. i.e. some creative exercises to get to know each other.