Week 3: Process

People I contacted

• I feel like I got on with Joe Pochodzaj in the first module and his projects align with me, so I’ve sent him an email to ask if we can have a chat about my project. I’ve kept it simple for now so I can build my project without any expectations.
• Paekakariki Press – Session on Sunday
  • A great day connecting with Matt and learning to compose by hand. Most interesting was the chat about type and history around the tutoring, and the people dropping in!
• Fellowship Funding – Session on Thursday
• Communities: ConnectingCommunities@walthamforest.gov.uk
  • Contacted on Tuesday 6th October
• Rendezvous Projects
  • Contacted on Tuesday 6th October
• Fraser Muggeridge of Typography Summer School
  • Contacted on Thursday 8th October
• Michael Shann – a poet working within Waltham Forest, and a fellow runner. I’ve contacted him on Twitter to see if he would be interested in getting involved.
• Land Art Agency – experienced in running environment and sustainability workshops.
• The Mill
• Chai and Chaat
• Will Hudson from The Hudson Group

Prep for Webinar

For the webinar I have been asked to do the following:

• A clear research question, with aims, objectives, purpose and audience.
• 3 – 5 Research examples linked to your project, historical, theory, industry practitioners.
• Outline the type of written submission you will be creating whether it is academic / research based or entrepreneurial / business based.
• A sketch/ draft of your critical path outlining the logistics and resourcing plan for the project.
• A list of collaborators/ connections/ contacts related to your project.
• A list of ethical considerations in relation to your project

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the webinar at the time because I was ill, but here is what I have posted on the Ideas Wall:

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On the Ideas Wall, Susanna have me feedback for my research question, which at present stands as:

How does vernacular typography contribute to a sense of place and belonging in the community? By exploring the multicultural borough of Waltham Forest, I will build a framework that can be applied in a community, be it geographical or cultural, and aims to engage people in the visual and social history around them.

She said that:

Week 3 Ideas Wall

She also went on to say:

Week 3 Ideas Wall

Much to think about!

Waltham Forest Funding

On Wednesday I attended an online session about applying for Make It Happen funding through Waltham Forest Council. To make my project work really effectively, I think that applying for funding will help me grow a lot more, but I can’t dream too big in case I don’t get it.

I’m going to start a new post about this as this will be an ongoing process.

Rendezvous Projects

I asked a few questions of Lucy Harrison about her projects:

• Why did you start running projects around Walthamstow/East London?

Rendezvous Projects started with myself and Katherine running the Warner Estate project a few years ago as we both live in Waltham Forest. I moved here in 2009 but have been in east London since 1999 and Katherine has always lived here. I do work on other projects outside the area, but a lot of the ideas I have had in recent years are based on knowing about the place and the people.

• How do your projects progress? Do you have a clear idea of the outcome at the conception stage, or do you let it develop?

All our Rendezvous projects, and most of my own as an independent artist, are funded in some way, so they need to be planned to a certain extent when doing the funding application, and there are certain things we need to try and aim for. Other aspects develop and some things don’t work out in the way they were initially planned which is just how projects involving people will always be I suppose.

• What kinds of activities do people in the community, whether as contributors or as audiences, respond well to?

Hard to say… things that bring people together and make them and their stories feel valued, but it is quite a big question!

• What challenges do you usually face in running the project?

It varies with each project to be honest and each will have its specific successes and challenges

• How are your projects changing in response to Covid-19? (From your email, this might be a null question!)

At present there is very little funding to do our projects. Lightboxes and Lettering had pretty much finished at the start of the pandemic, our other project Sweet Harmony had to have an event cancelled and we focussed on the book and website more. But at present we are just waiting for things to pick up now that funding streams are slowly starting to open again. We’ll have to see what the funding criteria and priorities are when that happens.

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I really like how Rendezvous seem to have clear stages and aims when I see them online. Of course, looking at a project afterwards is like this, but applying for funding means that like them, I need to have a plan, but still have room for the project to breathe.

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