Stowe Framework: Launch

I’ve previously talked about the events I’d run in a launch and how I would set up the exhibition. Here’s a quick recap of the events, and the layout of the exhibition:

Events for the launch have a dedicated booking page

The Launch is intended to be a marketing event so that the project gets as many people involved in the activities as possible. More submissions give me the chance to tinker with activities and methodologies to achieve my aims of investigating what people think of typography in Walthamstow. Everything so far has been an experiment and test, and the launch is the start of announcing the project

As I said in my critical report, I had hoped to receive more submissions in the first testing part so that I could tinker with them further so that at this point I would have the weight of tried and tested methodologies.

Later

To keep people engaged with the project later in the summer, I would like to have another smaller event so that people could see what submissions there are, and to perpetuate submissions. Like the drain covers I was inspired by, I want to have people screen printing glyphs mashed together from the online tool.

Walthamstow Garden Party at the end of August seems like the best opportunity to do this. Hosted in Lloyd’s Park, the Garden Party is a community showcase of art, performance and music and encourages everyone in the area to gather together. This year, it is still pandemic pending, but, let’s plan for optimism.

Walthamstow Garden Party

I can’t get people to print typography on location as it will be too stretched out, and I don’t want to replicate what is already there, I want to shoe what the community have already created using the online tool. Portable Print Studio have a setup that allows them to screen print on location and lets people pull their own prints.

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Here, using photos with permission of the Portable Print Studio, I’ve created some mockups for what a screen printing session could look like. The screens are pre-exposed with letters that have been created using the online tool, either as a positive or as a negative. The screens can then be mono-printed with a selection of colours that participants can choose for themselves, either on a tote or a print.

I hope that people will want to get involved in a hands on way and that it will mean people will engage further with the project and screen printing. Its applicable for all ages!

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Walthamstow Garden Party

To keep people engaged with the project later in the summer, I would like to have another smaller event so that people could see what submissions there are, and to perpetuate submissions. Like the drain covers I was inspired by, I want to have people screen printing glyphs mashed together from the online tool.

Walthamstow Garden Party at the end of August seems like the best opportunity to do this. Hosted in Lloyd’s Park, the Garden Party is a community showcase of art, performance and music and encourages everyone in the area to gather together. This year, it is still pandemic pending, but, let’s plan for optimism.

Walthamstow Garden Party

I can’t get people to print typography on location as it will be too stretched out, and I don’t want to replicate what is already there, I want to shoe what the community have already created using the online tool. Portable Print Studio have a setup that allows them to screen print on location and lets people pull their own prints.

• 

• 

• 

Here, using photos with permission of the Portable Print Studio, I’ve created some mockups for what a screen printing session could look like. The screens are pre-exposed with letters that have been created using the online tool, either as a positive or as a negative. The screens can then be mono-printed with a selection of colours that participants can choose for themselves, either on a tote or a print.

I hope that people will want to get involved in a hands on way and that it will mean people will engage further with the project and screen printing. Its applicable for all ages!

Launch development Exhibition

If I want to get more people to contribute to the project, I think the best idea will be to run events during the E17 Art Trail at the start of July. I’d like to have an exhibition space where people can come and find out about the project.

In Walthamstow there are a few different options to host:

Vestry House

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We Are Here exhibition

Vestry House Museum has a rich history and great exhibits on social issues – for example the We Are Here exhibiton showcasing the stories of the Windrush generation in Waltham Forest. The space is a little small for having people in and out and not well-ventilated. The museum is also out of the way for a lot of people and I want to attract lots of through traffic, not necessarily tourists to the area.

Walthamstow Central Library

I’ve never seen an exhibition in the library, and it is very Central. I would have liked to have something set up in the entrance lobbies which are much more modern and open, but these spaces aren’t available for hire. Overall, good location, but not the right feel.

The Mills

I really like the Mills Community Space because it has such an artsy feel, and it has a few spaces available, like this room which has huge windows onto the street to get people in. There is also space on the walls to host people’s work. But, it is slightly small and I want to host an event here so to get coverage over the area, I’m thinking about another location.

Winn’s Gallery

Winn’s Gallery

In the lovely Lloyd’s Park, Winn’s Gallery is a white-walled exhibition space at cheap rates for local people. There are multiple windows and doors for a breezy, well-ventilated time, and it’s on the main avenue of the park and next to the cafe and children’s area. There will be plenty of local people around to take part. We have a winner!

Layout

I can’t find official layout plans of the gallery which is very annoying, and as a consequence of the pandemic layoffs, my requests to the council for more information about it have gone unanswered. Using my mapping and sleuthing skills, I think I’ve found rough dimensions of the gallery:

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Let’s call it 27 x 8 metres. From photos, I can estimate where the doors are I would want to use:

This way, I can get cafe visitors from the south entrance, and park visitors from the north. I can create a one way system too if needed, plus it will have great ventilation.

At the south entrance I want to have a large table where people can do the activities and will be enticing to the children if they want to do some colouring in. There will be crayons, colour pencils, arts materials for people to use and activity sheets people can do at the time or take away with them. The doors are large and glass so no matter the weather people will be able to see in.

At the north entrance I want people to see the Walthamstow is … activity. A wall full of bits of paper in the breeze will hopefully entice people in to see what is being written there! Also near the north entrance will be information about the project so far, and a place to have a go at the online tool.

I’ve just thought that I can have a scanner like at the Aquarium so that people can fill in their letters and glyph ideas and I can have a record of them while they take their creations home. Using a projector at the Eastern end, I can show people’s contributions live.

The pink circles are hand sanitisation stations that are everywhere so that people are always close! The art materials will have to be sanitised after every use, so maybe I should have another table so I clean things between people coming in.