Read the overview of how this project has developed over on the blog post - Introduction to Runcorn Street Art Stories.
Now it is time to test the stories and the overall concept of the project with people beyond the steering board, trying to reach a broad spectrum of the public. At this point, the booklet was still in the development stage as we wanted to gather more feedback from the stories before committing to the final themes in the booklet. So, the version in the previous blog post is more developed than the one used during the following public engagement sessions. We appreciate the generous feedback we received in these sessions.
The College Sessions
Riverside College generously allowed us access to three sessions with their Textiles, Fine Art, and Graphic Students, led by Rachael Prime and Millie Chesters. The students created diverse responses, drawing inspiration from a combination of the stories and the illustrations.
The workshops took the form of 1-minute, 5-minute, and 20-minute sketches, producing a prolific amount of work, after a brief introduction to the project and the booklet.
- Textiles Class on June 12th: Generated 120 images
- Art Class on June 19th: Generated 69 images
- Graphic Class on June 26th: Generated 100 images
Overall, 65 young people were engaged, with 289 images generated. The artwork will be collated into a hand bound booklet, some for exhibition, and to inspire the final brief for street art mural.
Studio Artist Lauren Quayle attended the final session to capture some of the students in action, which you can see below.
The Print Sessions
During Halton Heritage Open Days in September, we hosted three separate practical hands-on sessions, allowing people to play with the ideas and be inspired to create their own responses.
Artists involved during these sessions were Rachael Prime, Toni Louise Carter, and Millie Chesters.
The participants were introduced to the project and the stories that have inspired the booklet and illustrations so far. They were then invited to have a go at mono printing, with the task of creating mono prints around the stories that intrigued them the most.
What is Mono Printing?
Mono printing is an engaging art technique where ink or paint is applied to a smooth surface, such as a plate, and then transferred onto a sheet of paper, creating a unique print. What sets mono prints apart is their individuality—each print is distinct from the others. This gave the artists and participants the opportunity to discuss stories, the project, and techniques.
Onto the Print Press
Once the participants had mastered monoprinting, it was time to introduce them to the print press, with some pre-carved Lino cuts, each representing a story. Again, the participants were asked to think about what story they responded to the most as they learned to ink up a lino.
What is a Linocut?
A linocut plate is a printmaking tool used in the linocut technique. It involves carving a design into a sheet of linoleum, which is a soft rubber-like material mounted on a block or backing. The areas that are carved away do not receive ink, while the raised areas that remain after carving make up the printing surface. Once the plate is carved, ink is applied to the surface, and then a piece of paper is pressed onto the plate to transfer the ink and create the final print. In our case, we allowed the participants to run theirs through our A1 print press.
The Map
Prior to the session, Toni created a map of the area in which the stories were based, and then Rachael and Toni hand-carved out stamps that represented each story. At the end of each printing session, participants were invited to stamp on the map their favorite story. So that we could start to visually see which stories people were responding to. It will be interesting to see how this changes as more people become aware of the project and populate the survey with their own favourites.
