Richard Keating

On 7 Mar 2013, at 13:51, Richard Keating wrote:

Hi

following our previous email, here is a bit more detail about Saturday’s meeting?

the good news is that Mark Connelly, Land Management Officer at the AONB will be joining us for the morning and will give a good overview of how this project will fit into their work and help develop the brief for our work.

Purpose of meeting:

to review the First Friday River Walks Project
purpose of project – Richard and Mark
progress and outline of funding application
community discussion groups in May, possible exhibitions and additional discussion groups
review of work being produced or stimulated by the First Friday River Walks, especially regards SITE13 events at the Stroud Brewery and Museum – please bring sketch books, photographic images, writing, sounds etc.
agree next steps for running events at the brewery
outline possible future exhibition

I’ll be at the Stroud brewery this Friday at 4.00. If anyone wants to join me to look at the space we will be using please let me know.

Thanks
Richard

On 5 Mar 2013, at 16:07, Kel Portman wrote:

hi everyone, (and Fiona who we know won’t be able to make it)
well, after several delays we’ve finally managed to arrange a meeting place for our event THIS COMING SATURDAY…I know, it slipped up on us.

the forum will help to shape our presence at this years site2013 festival and to plan the event/s that will be taking place…. one of our venues is Stroud Brewery – now there’s an attractive thought.
Richard will shortly be sending around an agenda and also be updating us on recent funding initiatives.
We invite you to bring along to our discussions any work in progress.
We’ll have broadband access for any research or viewing images and hope to Skype Tara and Bart who will be in the Netherlands

So here are the details:
date: Saturday March 9th
time: 10:30 – 15:30 (lunch in a local hostelry when we’re hungry)
place: SVA John Street, Stroud (first floor)

SVA are charging us ?10 for the use of the room and I will be bringing along tea and coffee (maybe a cake or 6) so we suggest sharing the total cost between those who are participating.

Please RSVP back to us

Look forward to seeing you all

Kel, Richard and Tom

7th and 8th – preparing for River meeting and updating people about RIVER project

From: Richard Keating keatree@globalnet.co.uk

Hello all,

its been while since we met as a group and a few people have been asking about the relationship between RIVER and First Friday River Walks Project and I know that there are other things that we’ve lost track of.

So to clarify; RIVER is a long-term shared initiative between us all (Martin are you still wanting to be involved? I know how busy you are with other projects.)

As well as visits to exhibitions and get togethers to share work, we have also discussed ideas for exhibitions and prepared a web presence. Ideas/projects have included (and apologies if I’ve missed any, please add them to the list):

preposition proposition – we have unsuccessfully looked at showing work in Cardiff and Newport (unsuccessful as the galleries in question were no longer available
over water/under water – we have from time to time recorded simultaneously but remotely our various experiences over or under water which Kel has put on the WtL website
Bridge – Chris has put forward an idea about celebrating the return of the ownership of the old Severn bridge to the public sector in 2016(?)
The Bore – Chris has put forward an idea for linking the expectation of the Bore with the expectation before a Rugby match at Kingsholm
Waiting for the Ferry – Suze has further developed her idea previously performed across the river at the old passage between Arlingham and Newnham
Where water once was – Kel and Ffin have started to collaborate over a project looking at where water used to run
Watery Landscapes – Kel and Richard have collaborated with Iain Robertson in writing an academic piece based on Purton
Ffin has collaborated similarly on another academic article
Richard and Lucy have run a project along the Frome with young people
Tom is collecting salt for a ‘real photograph’ project from and about the Severn
Between the Woods and Water – Kel is pulling together an exhibition at The Old Passage
Miniature Museum – Tara and Bart have run a project at Sharpness to collect people’s artefacts and memories about the Severn and are incorporating this approach with the First Friday River Walks Project, with a presence during SITE13 at the Museum in the Park
Sketch books and First Friday River Walk – Lucy’s idea of using hand-made sketch books has been combined with First Friday Walks along the Frome and its tributaries. This project is now the subject of a funding application – see below and two workshops have been organised at the Stroud brewery as part of SITE13

First Friday River Walks Project (working tittle)

The purpose is to use the work made on First Friday River Walks to stimulate community discussion about landscape change in the context of the AONB Management Plan. It includes a number of us and some other regular First Friday Walkers – Ffin, Lucy, Kel, RK, Tara and Bart (when in the country), Chris (if time allows), Fiona Meadley, Arabella Lewis, David Moss and Jilly Cobbe, Running parallel to this is the use of the Miniature Museum. If successful with the funding bid, it will also be incorporated into a local Green Space and Community Action Conference (15th April) and an exhibition at Stroud’s Festival of Nature and Launch of the Walking Festival and I hope to include it in my PhD final show

The work from this project could form a part of a bigger RIVER exhibition

Any other of our projects listed above could look to fund-raise

What next?
First Friday Walks River Project – workshop tomorrow – I’ll also let you all know if we are successful with fund-raising
SITE13 – exhibition and various workshops underway

RIVER – arrange a time to meet and review work/project development – any suggestions which month? June maybe once SITE has happened? Please let me know what you think/want to do next

Very best regards

Richard

Meeting with Ali Coles, Seb Buckton, Alice Goodenough and Jackie Townley about ‘Good from Woods’ research project, looking at the well being benefits from Folly Wood membership.

Gave presentation to Cheltenham U3A philosophy group – a lively group discussion ensued and it was useful to be reminded of the precise focus I am developing and conversely, of all the lose ends that the research can’t tie in.

The group agreed to add their own individual comments to the text I had read from and circulated – it will be interesting to see this assemblage in due course…

A lovely dry day, ideal for coppicing.

Cut, collected, sized hazel, ash, oak and beech sticks. Put to dry.

Attachments

for-jaqui-2-1364040708.doc

catching-up, planning and arranging project meetings

minor amends for Watery Landscapes article

Reading for thesis

Unlike the walk on Friday, I did chair the meeting despite grieving.
Directors and activity plans for next year agreed.

Attachments

second-draft-action-plan-2013-201-1363950967.doc

Feeling very distracted and else where. Kel Portman led a circular walk from Bussage.
It was interesting to be a participant.
Made one drawing compiled of layered drawings along the route.

8th til end of month

Dad’s illness, death, funeral and celebration of life

27th to 5th February

meeting about Stroud Nature Consortium organised with Steve Roberts

meeting to develop proposal for ‘Good from Woods’ research into Folly Wood with Seb Buckton, Ali Coles and Jackie Rowanly

First Friday Walk around Chalford

Vision 21 meeting in Cold Aston with Julia Bennett, Alison Parfitt, Sue Porter, Diana Ray and Jaqui Taylor

Thesis synopsis circulated to Tutors

Due to the snow and underlying mud, two walks were needed to plan a route for February’s first Friday walk.
Planning SITE13 events and promotions with Kel Portman.

Meeting with Greg Pilley at Stroud Brewery to discuss holding a ‘River’ exhibition and community discussion at the Brewery

Preparing for Folly Wood AGM and activity day. In the end I couldn’t go to the activity day as I went instead to Denys Hodson’s funeral. Denys had been a visionary director while I was working in Swindon and also vice chair of the Arts Council. In recent years he had fund raised for the medieval windows in Fairford Church. A great ally and mentor.