Community projects - Auchinlech

Not all community projects have a fully completed outcome. The project at Auchinlech, an ex-mining community in Ayrshire, was great fun. The people were enthusiastic. They learned a skill, and taught me a lot too. The project combined developing their skills through preparing a small panel for themselves (after the big project was finished), and designing and making a large panel for the centre. The photo below shows one of the early sessions when I was demonstrating the cutting of glass.

After a number of sessions where the community workers assisted ideas development, a plan was devised. The advantage of the pit wheel design was that it could be broken into a number of small panels that each person in the group could work on. Those who were faster, could tackle more than one panel. This photograph shows the elements drawn onto cut pieces of paper to arrange within the overall constraints of the pit wheel design.

There were many discussions on how the elements should be arranged. As you can see, some people engaged with this portion of the 13 week project differently from others.

Some people tended to be watchers at this stage, and others just drove the whole project forward.

Within a few weeks, the design phase was complete and the cartooning done. The glass selection followed and was governed by an overall background with the narrative elements fitting into this. Panels began to be completed relatively quickly.

People of all ages and abilities took part. As with the best of cooperative projects, those who were quicker or better at some elements helped others.

The project was nearing completion in the late Spring and a whole day of cementing was completed outdoors in brilliant sunshine. The downside was that a lot of us got sunburned!

This was a warm and friendly group of people who worked with determination toward the goal of having the panel established in the cafe area of the centre. However, the funding for the steel framework and the lighting was not forthcoming from the local authority. So the individual panels remain packed in a case waiting for funding to complete the project.

Community projects - Kirkintilloch

Among the community projects I have completed was one for the Hillhead Community Centre, Kirkintilloch just outside Glasgow. This picture shows the bleak setting for the work in the entry just the left of the wood clad structure.

The view from the inside is barely any better. It is not used as an access point to the paved area outside, but as a relaxing area outside the Relay area, as well as the creche to the right. It did not present a welcoming appearance, so a number of the group from Relay, consisting of people from 12-20 years old, prepared a number of ideas and came to me to help them realise the project of making this area much more welcoming and depict some of what the community centre does.

I took their ideas and worked them up into a unified theme on a large piece of photographic backdrop paper at full size. The picture below shows many of the ideas worked into a unified structure for the whole area. The astragals and door frame are represented here, so a flow can be obtained for the area as a whole.

The day of the presentation to the Hillhead Community Centre proved to be sunny. So the colours were vibrant for the community's first view of the glass. The central theme is the winged relay symbol spreading over the activities of the people of the area. A number of symbols are used to indicate some of these. The canal was an important part of the economic life of Kirkintilloch and still has a recreational use today. The houses of Hillhead overlook the canal. People of various ages and races live in the area and their relationships are indicated by the ribbons spread throughout the window. Among other images is one representing the musical interests of the people. The tune is represented on the amber ribbon and when played reveals the tune. There are a number of other symbols used to represent other activities also.

The completed glass on the day of presentation.

Community Projects - Queens Cross Housing Association

One of the community projects that I became involved with was for Queens Cross Housing association http://www.queenscrossha.org.uk/ where a number of groups provided ideas for the entryways to the houses shown below:

A vew of the houses on Maryhill Road, Glasgow

There were a variety of themes from the various groups which ranged from school children's groups to adult groups of various kinds. The suggestions were arranged according to themes and styles. Some of these are illustrated below:

This entry has a transport theme

This entry has a theme relating to children and is done in a simpler style

For this entry a theme of buildings was used

For the final entry, the QCHA wanted a Mackintosh theme, so one of the banners he and his wife designed, was used to fill the sidelights of this entry.