Visual Libraries

Preliminary Visual Libraries: Leave Your Mark Report - July/August 2010 This report will describe the establishment of The Visual Libraries Project, subsequent international visits to the USA and India, outcomes, project extensions and a vision for the future through expansion. This report will be continually updated as the project extends to other libraries and when new initiatives occur. Dr Maureen O’Neill Claire Sambrook Contents j Short Description of the Visual Libraries: Leave Your Mark Project. 1 The Visit to Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA 23rd - 30th of July 2 Forsyth County Public library 2 Wake Forest University 3 Urban Artware Art Gallery 4 Clark Whittington Studio 4 Outcomes From the Visit to the USA 5 The Visit to Chennai, India 13th - 21st of August 5 The British Council 6 Play Clan Design Agency 7 j Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary Group of Schools 53rd anniversary celebrations ‘A Salute to the South’. 7 Individual Visits to all of the Institutions 7 Outcomes from the Trip to Chennai India 9 Visuallibraries.com 10 Personal Staff Research 10 Website URLs 11 General Reflection on the Project 12 Short Description of the Visual Libraries: Leave Your Mark Project. There is currently an increased understanding of the importance of sketchbooks to provide a space which can be used to develop creative and critical thinking skills. This is evidenced through projects such as Sketchbooks in Schools (www.accessart.org.uk/sketchbook) and 1001 Journals (http://1001journals.com), as well as through books written around the subject, websites for schools on how best to integrate sketchbooks into the curriculum, blogs and forums discussing their strengths, and online galleries and shared web spaces enabling all interested parties to generate and co-create a shared platform for learning. A new research project initiated at the University of Portsmouth is providing access to sketchbooks and looking at how these can be used to support, promote and encourage diversity and democracy using the public library system. It aims to explore how sketchbooks can empower people to re-discover their creative potential and examine ways to collaborate with library groups that cover a variety of backgrounds and minority groups. Sketchbooks offer great potential as a medium of expression for all, by means of drawing, note-taking, collecting, and so on. Children do not question that they can be creative, but as we grow older, our confidence in expressing ourselves through writing texts or making objects and images recedes. As lecturers in the Schools of Art, Design and Media and Creative Technology at the University of Portsmouth, Dr Maureen O’Neill and Claire Sambrook promote the importance of sketchbooks as a visually creative way for individuals to express ideas, communicate concepts, provide a space and opportunity to question, reflect and analyse their own work and thoughts, and express their individual voice. Historically, libraries have not been places where people were encouraged to write or draw in books, for good reasons. We were aware that to promote this project to the public we needed the library staff to embrace the project and have a feeling of ownership. Following positive feedback from the Portsmouth Library Service staff, we felt that there could be real benefits from offering these opportunities to a much wider audience, allowing a greater number and variety of participants to experience creativity and interactivity and to view others' ideas. Introducing the sketchbook to library users. . The sketchbooks are made available to all categories of library user, including those who have a temporary ticket and can only borrow two items. A Visual Diary simply counts as a single book loan and can be borrowed for up to 4 weeks and renewed for a further period, like any other library item.The sketchbooks were put into stock so they could be viewed, accessed and reserved through the library catalogue. The books are serviced as loan items and presented to the public on display stands with posters and handouts to explain the project. 1 Currently there are about 200 sketchbooks distributed between Portsmouth Central Library and smaller libraries around the city area. Funding has been approved to facilitate international links with Forsyth County Public Library, who are already using the model, and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. Also the project is linking with The British Council Library and Little Flower Convent for the Blind in Chennai, India. Work already created by the project will be celebrated in a range of ways, including lectures, exhibitions, new publicity material and the creation of a documentary film with the aid of a BBC cameraman. We aim to link all the innovative work done in Portsmouth to our international partners and vice versa. A dedicated website has been created, building on our current Flickr group, to bring relationships closer. In addition, a touring exhibition of sketchbooks from libraries in Portsmouth, India and the US is planned for the future. j The Visit to Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA 23rd - 30th of July Dr Maureen O’Neill, staff member of the School of Art Design and Media and Claire Sambrook, staff member of the School of Creative Technology at the University of Portsmouth undertook a research visit to the USA. This was to build relationships and link with new members of The Visual Libraries Project which was initiated by them in the Portsmouth City Library. Below are short descriptions of the visits, links and extensions that have been gained during the visit. The staff visited Forsyth County Public Library, Wake Forest University, met and interviewed Steve Emig a contributer to the project and conducted an interview about the project for the Winston Salem Journal at Urban Atwater Art Gallery. They were also invited to visited the studio of international artist Clark Whittington. Forsyth County Public library O’Neill and Sambrook met with Candace Brennan the reference librarian who discovered the Visual Libraries project online. They were invited to the public library to view and photograph the sketchbooks that the library are offering to their patrons. They gave two presentation in the library auditorium about the project and then ran two workshops, the first for children and parents and another attended by library staff, management and adults. Staff were introduced to other staff members and taken on a tour of the library provision. A meeting was held to discuss extensions, outcomes and the possibility of a touring exhibition. The project has been very successful and Forsyth County Library has been put forward for an award for The Visual Libraries: leave your mark project. 2 Top image: Examples of sketchbooks in the Forsyth County library. Bottom row: Some pages produced in and patrons at the workshop. Wake Forest University The staff were invited to present the project to librarians, staff and students in the rare books room at the Z Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University. This is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. Their presentation covered: * * * * * * * * Aims and anticipated outcomes of the project Organisation and structure Workshops Ways of creating in the sketchbooks The thematic approach used at Portsmouth Library systems and resources used in the UK Where the project currently stands Promotion and dissemination strategies This was accompanied with images, videos and website demonstrations of other research projects produced by the staff from Portsmouth. Staff from Wake forest University library were then invited to “leave their mark “ in sketchbooks and on paper. These will aggregate towards the project. The staff were given a tour of the library facility, Start, the student art gallery, historic grounds and buildings of the university and the studio of Craig Fansler, Preservation Librarian at Z. Smith Reynolds Library Top Image: Wake Forest University grounds. Bottom row: Presentation in the rare books room, Craig Fanslers preservation room and the library . 3 Urban Atwater Art Gallery, 207 W 6th Street, Winston-Salem, NC This gallery represents over 100 local and regional artists of various media including: painting, sculpture, pottery, turned wood, glass, fibre, and metalwork. It is also home to SEED artist collective. This superb gallery was used for two meetings whilst the staff were in Winston Salem. They interviewed and videoed a contributer, Steve Emig, about his experience of the project. They asked how he had discovered and why he had started to draw in the sketchbooks, what he got from the project and what he felt were its strengths? This interview will be used to contribute to the documentary that is being made of the project and will be placed online. The staff were later interviewed by a journalist from the Winston Salem Journal about the project. A photographer was sent to Wake Forest University presentation and the article was published on Saturday, July 31st. (See attached copy) Top image: Urban Atwater Gallery Bottom row: Steve Emig, the inside of the gallery and Candace Brennan, Maureen O’Neill, Sarah Morayati, Steve Emig and Claire Sambrook. . Clark Whittington Studio Clark Whittington is an artist and the creator of the Art-O-Mat. Art-O-Mat machines are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to vend art. After moving to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Whittington was set to have a solo art show at Penny Universitie.This is when Whittington used a recently-banned cigarette machine to create the first Art-O-Mat. The show opened in June 1997 and the original machine was installed along with 12 of his assemblage paintings.This art show was scheduled to be dismantled in July 1997; however, Cynthia Giles (owner of the Penny Universitie) loved the machine and asked that it stay permanently. Clark felt that the machine would create a conflict in the space unless it was open to artists in the community. Giles then introduced Whittington to a handful of other local artists and Artists in Cellophane was formed. Today, there are 90 machines around the world and over 400 artists involved. Left image: Clark Whittington his studio Right Image: The store when the Artists in Cellophane work is kept.. 4 O’Neill, Sambrook and Brennen were invited to visit Clarks studio and talk with him about his work and outline the Visual Libraries Project to see if there could be any links between students at the university of Portsmouth and the project in Forsyth County Library. They were shown his studio, vending machines that were being renovated and the art store. Whittington showed images of the most recent machine being installed at the Smithsonion Institution and explained how artists are able to place work in the machines. Outcomes From the Visit to the USA Forsyth County Library are going to: * Add more sketchbooks to extend their provision with added themes. * Present details of the Visual libraries: Leave Your Mark Project. for The North Carolina Public Library Director Association Award in the library programming section. * Brennan will present an article for the American equivalent of the British Public Library Journal. (O’Neill has had article published in the UK) * Set in motion the introduction of the project to other county libraries in the area. “And I thank you so much, again, for your eagerness to bring the project to Wake Forest. University. I’ve had an idea to apply for a grant to purchase lots of journals and 16 or 18 small wooden portable book shelves which would hold 8 or 10 journals. The book shelvesmight be painted by students or local artists. Then, we will have ready-to-go displays for our library branches, Z Smith Reynolds, and other locations.” Candace Maire Brennan, Reference Librarian, Forsyth County Central Library * Move the project to engage staff and students at Wake Forest University “Thank you so much for your outstanding presentation to the library staff and students about Visual Libraries. It was a thrill to hear about how your inspirational project has spread throughout Portsmouth and now the world! We here at Wake Forest University are planning to bring the project to the university by collaborating with our friends at Forsyth County Public Library, especially Candace Brennan.” Audra Eagle, Project Archivist, Z. Smith Reynolds Library Candace Brennan, Sambrook and O’Neill will collaborate in planning and approaching Whittington about the concept of placeing the VL project in Art-O-Mat machines. The concept is to produce tiny sketchbooks which will be placed in the machines, bought, filled in and then sent to FCL to be displayed and archived. Whittington expressed interest in University of Portsmouth students producing work to be place in the Art -O- Mat machines. He provided O’Neill with prototypes, boxes and the rules of engagement for the project. A lecture will be produced and students will be briefed and this will act as a professional practice project in 2011. O’Neill and colleagues in the illustration department at the University of Portsmouth will present the Art-O-Mat project to Illustration students encouraging and supporting them to present work to Whittington for inclusion for the Artists in Cellophane International Project. j The Visit to Chennai, India 13th - 21st August 2010 Dr Maureen O’Neill, and Claire Sambrook, undertook another research visit to Chennai in India. This was to extend links with the British Council who have a good working history with the University of Portsmouth. They had provided introductions to five institutions who would become ambassadors of the Visual Libraries Project. Below are short descriptions of the visits to the institutions, links and extensions 5 that have been gained during the visit. The staff visited The British Council offices in Chennai, Loyola College, Little Flower School for the Deaf, Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, KK Nagar (High School), Hindu Senior Secondary School and Ethiraj College. The British Council After months of emails and a tele-conference O’Neill and Sambrook met with Bhuvaneswari Venkataramanand and Asha Balaji, manager of young audiences at The British Council in Chennai. They discussed the lectures, workshops and schedule for the week ahead. They were updated with the progress of the project in the UK and the trip to Forsyth County Library and Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, North Carolina. O’Neill and Sambrook gave a visual presentation and lecture about the project at The British Council Offices to staff from all of the schools and colleges that had agreed to take part. There was an opportunity for a questions and answer session providing a greater understanding of how it may work with consideration of the varying age groups and levels of students involved. Discussions were held covering: * * * * * How the project would begin in Chennai Similarities and differences that may be encountered Timescales Logistics of the movement of the sketchbooks, Outcomes and exhibitions. Staff from the institutions engaging with the project bought student ambassadors to a presentation, specially designed for children and young adults, and a workshop. This provided everyone involved an opportunity to meet and view work produced by the students and gain a greater understanding of the breadth of the project. The students were offered an opportunity to suggest themes for sketchbooks that would travel from institution to institution. The sketchbooks would provide a space for various age groups to explore these themes allowing for review and reflection of similarities and differences. The work produced by the students in the workshop was then exhibited outside in the courtyard of The British Council with an opportunity to photograph all of the staff and students that had attended. The strategie was that these students would go back to their schools and colleges, explain the concept and encourage others to engage with the Visual Libraries Project. On the last day of the trip O’Neill and Sambrook met with Kartar Singh - Director of The British Council, Chennai to debrief him on the successes of the trip, deadlines and future exhibitions planned for the project. They also discussed future funding possibilities with him and the need to source more sketchbooks in India to ensure the continuity of the project. They voiced their passion for this project to extend to The Banyan and other areas of special needs that may match some of the work that they have started in Portsmouth. They provided the staff with copies of the presentations allowing for greater dissemination of this project, by a team, under the guidance of Asha Balaji. 6 Play Clan Design Agency Play Clan is a design agency in Delhi who are multi-talented and have won numerous awards. Through prior email communication with them they provided sponsorship by making avaliable a large amount of sketchbooks from their design range at educational prices for the project. The sketchbooks are wonderful and the images on the front depict a wide range of amazing colours and scenes from around India. These sketchbooks are to be used by the institutions in India and ten will be given to the Library in Portsmouth. The British Council will store the completed sketchbook and facilitate the archiving of these. Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary Group of Schools 53rd anniversary celebrations ‘A Salute to the South’. O’Neill and Sambrook were invited as VIP,s to attend the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary Schools 53rd Anniversary Celebrations at Kamaraj Memorial Hall attended by 2500 people. It was a spectacular event, firstly in the achievements shown by the students of these schools and they were particularly proud when The Visual Libraries Project was mentioned in their special events section for 2010. The celebrations of the various stories of South India through music, dance and narrative was exceptional. It was a privilege to have the project mentioned at this prestigious event. Individual Visits to all of the Institutions O’Neill and Sambrook were accompanied by Asha Balaji, manager of young audiences at the British Council in Chennai on visits to all of the schools and colleges involved with this project. They were particularly lucky to meet personally with all of the principles of the schools (it was explained that it is very rare that they would normally give time) to further explain the project and possible outcomes. The visits were very successful in giving a greater understanding of their school systems, library provision and how the project would be rolled out to the students. Below is a personal account from O’Neill and Sambrook about their visits to the schools. All of this can be viewed on the Visual Libraries Blog. Hindu Senior Secondary School As we arrived at the school we were met by the principal and presented with beautiful flowered garlands and lots of smiles. We were guests of honor at their morning prayer, the children chanted and the head girl made a wonderful speech about our collaborative project and how they were looking forward to ‘leaving their mark’ for the visual libraries project. We were escorted around the school by staff and students and shown a wonderful selection of creative work including, art projects, creative writing, poetry and a presentation on the history of the Ice House in Chennai. On leaving the school we were presented with a plaque to remember our visit by. 7 Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan KK Nagar (High School) A warm welcome was given to us when we arrived by the staff who will be involved with the project. We met the principal in her office along with other staff members to discuss the initiative and explain in greater detail our concept which included showing examples of sketchbooks from Portsmouth. We were also lucky enough to be joined by two students who were being asked to write an article about The Visual Libraries Project for their school magazine. The visit finished with an impressive tour of the school which included the games facilities, swimming pool, language laboratories, dance studio and library. Ethiraj College Our last visit of the day began with us meeting the principal of the college. We were asked to present the project to a large group of students who seemed very enthusiastic and spent time looking at the sketchbooks and the resource books that we use in our workshops. We hope these students will act as ambassadors and disseminate the project to other students. We were also taken to see their impressive library and visual communication staff allowed us to view work including illustration, photography and design produced by students of the college. Little Flower School for the Blind and Deaf This morning we were given such a wonderful welcome at Little Flower School for the Deaf and Blind. We were guests of honor at their morning prayer and were presented with a rose and a handmade card. We then invited to sit in and observe one of the classes. We were enthralled by the little ones excitement and enthusiasm in the conversations between all of the children and the member of staff. No sign language at all is used at Little Flower their method of teaching is to ask all students to lip read and talk preparing them to be integrated into mainstream schools and for the world of work. We saw students producing wonderful drawings, paintings, needlework and decorative work in one of their art classes. Loyola College Our last visit at Loyola College started off with a tour of their impressive library. We then met with staff from the Visual Communication Department and were shown studio spaces used by students and some samples of student work. Loyola College are also eager to get their students involved with the project and hope to extend this further 8 into the community as part of their student outreach work. One particular member of staff had discussions with O’Neill about his concept for a proposal for PhD, possibly at Portsmouth. Outcomes from the Trip to Chennai India How the project will be run: * 50 sketchbooks were purchased and distributed between the schools, colleges and British Council * Library. * Each institution has five or more sketchbooks and will run with one of the five themes suggested: The Moment I Cherish Go Green Narrow Streets of Chennai Dreams Music. * Each School and College will work on agreed themes during the workshop on one sketch book and 4 new themes for the blank sketch books. * These books will rotate from institution to institution every two weeks. The other sketchbooks will be themed by the schools and colleges and used by the students. * * The British Council will take responsibility for moving the sketchbooks from one institution to another * * * * All sketchbooks will eventually be archived in the British Council Library. The project will run for 2 months to begin with. Each institution will be responsible for uploading images from the books to Flickr. An exhibition of sketchbooks completed for this project will be held at the British Council Offices and also hopefully at the schools and colleges. * These sketchbooks will aggregate with those in England and the USA and will be used in a touring exhibition. * Sambrook has set up with a usernames and passwords via wordpress for all schools and colleges giving access to the India Visual Library page and also the blog. This will allow them to use the blog to post and review images of the sketchbooks and post new developments of the project as they happen. * Balaji will be facilitator of this project in Chennai and will liaise with the staff and institutions. She will approach a contact at Landmark (Stationers) to obtain more sketchbooks at discount to help extend this project. * O’Neill and Sambrook will look at funding strands at the British Council to extend the project in India. They will also look at extending this project to the disadvantaged through outreach programmes at Loyola College and contacting The Banyan, an organization which identifies and provides shelter, care and psychiatric and medical services to mentally ill destitute women. They 9 will continue to research into the library systems in Chennai for greater dissemination of this project to adults. Visuallibraries.com A new website has been designed which will allow information and images to be uploaded to a blog updating the project continually. It also offers the participating institutions the opportunity of updating the site with news, information and exciting new developments as they unfold. It contains sections which hold information about this project and how to engage with it. Sections include: * About Us * Aims of the Project * Background and Rationale * Organisation and Structure * Systems and Resources * Gallery * Project Locations Portsmouth United States India * Get Involved * Posters * Contact * Links O’Neill and Sambrook intend to aggregate and upkeep this site with news and images. Personal Staff Research Dr Maureen O’Neill Maureen used the opportunity of this visit to start a sketchbook where she gathered packaging of everyday objects and foodstuff. She hopes to complete another for packaging in India and then complete one using similar product packaging from the UK. We see this sort of ephemera every day in our busy lives and in a package driven world, we stop looking at the images and names used to seduce us into buying, using and eating the products. Grits, Schmuckers Jam and Mini Moo Milk are just some of the charming american packs in her collection. From these collections she intend to produce an artist book. Claire Sambrook Claire Sambrook will document the project by photographing and filming the workshops, people and places. These will then be edited and used on the Visual Libraries blog, produced into a hard-backed book and film footage will be given to BBC Cameraman Stephan Casper to be used in the overall project documentary. Claire will also be keeping a sketchbook of images, drawings and observations based on 'Connections' and cultural identities. A series of photographs will also be taken looking into the vibrant culture and graphical identity of Chennai which will form part of future exhibition of work. 10 Websites and links for USA www.visuallibraries.com www.forsyth.cc/library www.wfu.edu www.urbanartware.com www.seedgallery.org www.artomat.org/ Websites and links for Chennai www.britishcouncil.org.in/ www.facebook.com/britishcouncil - Facebook www.twitter.com/ibritishcouncil -Twitter www.theplayclan.com/store/index.html Dr Maureen O’Neill Research Projects Artists books and personal projects - www.mappassion.com/ Website to support practical Phd. Completed 2007 - www.mappassion.com/phd/index.htm The Ministry of Books Artists’ Books Website - www.envf.port.ac.uk/illustration/minweb/index.htm The ImageXchange Research Website - www.envf.port.ac.uk/illustration/IMAGES The Visual Language of Number Research Website - www.envf.port.ac.uk/illustration/number.htm Illustration Course Website - www.envf.port.ac.uk/illustration/index.htm Visual Libraries : leave your mark project - http://www.visuallibraries.com Claire Sambrook Research Projects Love Your Bike Portsmouth - http://www.loveyourbikeportsmouth.co.uk Southsea Deck Your Chairs - own an original Southsea Deckchair designed by local artists: http://www.southseadeckyourchairs.tk/ Sign out a Sketchbook at your local Library : http://www.visuallibraries.com Bike Stand Project with Portsmouth City Council and Wayne Hemingway http://www.flickr.com/groups/bikestands/ Flickr Website - http://www.flickr.com/create_up/ Website with current projects can be viewed at: http://www.clairesambrook.tk 11 General reflection on the project Interestingly the project has happened through two different routes, in the USA they set it up and ran it on their own using our model. We visited the USA to find the project running really successfully with staff desperate to extend it with more sketchbooks, better workshops and the inclusion of other libraries. In India we needed to outline the project repeatedly underpinning how important creativity and freedom of expression was. There appeared to be a need for structured timetables, rules and outcomes and a completion date. The two presentations prepared, the need for face-to-face debates and discussions about how the project works and its successes and workshop input appear to be very important. In the USA the project followed the format set up by O’Neill and Sambrook using all of the support documents and concepts. The project is lead by librarians and centred in the library supported by their systems. It is running with interaction from a range of age groups and appears to have a large take-up by adults with a need to involve themselves with creativity in a very experimental way. Patrons return to reuse the sketchbooks and like to view what has been placed after their pages. Interestingly there were debates amongst the library staff in the USA about our proposition that there should be no rules set. The conclusion was that they would request that no three dimensional objects be placed in the sketchbooks. After our visit and the staff viewing British sketchbook examples and accepting how exciting this addition could be, this rule was to be removed. Winston Salem has a very healthy gallery and art and design culture with creativity, in all its forms, accepted as a very valuable form of expression. Wake Forest University has a large Art and Design School, its own gallery and a collection of rare books and artists’ books. This may be why this project has been embraced so readily there and is so successful. In Chennai there was an initial feeling of confusion about the merits of the project. Art is seen as extracurricular. The staff invited to become involved came from very diverse subjects including psychology, English, visual communication and those who specialised in teaching deaf children. O’Neill and Sambrook were asked questions about its educational and academic value, “why use time for creativity” and “what will people get from the project”. It was only after the lecture and presentations that it was felt that there was an understanding of the passion for the concept of providing a place and space for people of all ages to be creative. Very quickly the staff embraced the aims of the project and became animated about how it could best run in Chennai. There was a feeling of competitiveness between institutions and a feeling that to be the best and produce ‘the best sketchbook’ was important, which is part of their strong academic culture. The director of The British Council explained that he was very positive about the project as he felt there was “not enough emphasis on the creative because of the academic push in India”. There seemed to be a general reluctance for older people to become involved especially in the workshops. with a feeling that it was for young people. The staff involved were quite determined that there should be a rigid set of rules and that those taking part must adhere to them. There was a strong regard for the hierarchy of the schools and a responsibility to their superiors. Interestingly even those from the higher education institutions with visual communication courses requested a rigid set of rules. “Seventeen year olds rebel” was one reason. After the success of the workshop, which tended to provide freedom for the students to suggest themes and produce really creative work, a trust that students would respect the project and the sketchbooks seemed 12 to build. Rules were not discussed again with the understanding that this must be left to each individual institution. The logistics in India mean that the project has to be carefully controlled, as there was a real desire for a deadline and structured outcome. O’Neill and Sambrook expressed their support and understanding for the need for ownership of the project by the institutional staff. Extending the original aims of the project, The British Council will have some sketchbooks in their library for patrons to book out. Themes suggested for the sketchbooks were surprisingly similar in both countries which is very useful if the project expands to move sketchbooks between institutions in the three different countries. Shared themes will allow for an exciting exchange of diverse cultural creativity. Interestingly students in India had no hesitation in suggesting academic subjects for example, maths and creative writing as a sketchbook theme. O’Neill and Sambrook have become much more aware of the need for those involved having to satisfy the institutional hierarchies demands for control and rules. That there must be a feeling of ownership of the project and a need to manipulate it to fit the creative and cultural differences that will lead to its success. There is awareness that in the UK and India there is a general hesitation for adults to become involved. What has been evidenced in the UK and the USA is a real respect for the sketchbooks with a feeling that this will also be reflected in India. 15