This case study is part of our project evaluation for 2019/2020.
We’ve worked with Shelby, owner of the lovely Barleycorn Cafe in Mildenhall on creative projects over the last few years. Before the pandemic, we were running a series of taster sessions with local Meet Up Mondays group and creative practitioners from the region. The group enjoyed the activities and the company, feeling less isolated and more connected.
The Covid-19 pandemic changed everything and we had to stop the live programme. To keep something going, we worked with The Barleycorn and artist Marian Savill during the first lockdown to create a series of ‘make along’ videos about Art Journaling.
Find out the difference this project has made and the challenges of delivering online as we all adjusted to doing more things digitally.
Download the full Tea and Tasters and Going Digital case study here.
Read the full 2019/20 evaluation report here.
An excerpt from the case study:
The Barleycorn Cafe in Mildenhall is only three years old, but has become a hub in the community. They decided to start a Meet-up Monday group, hoping to tackle loneliness and isolation by offering a free cuppa and a place to chat and meet people. Working with owner Shelby and a group of regular Meet Up Monday members a taster arts programme was established to reach new audiences, create new art opportunities locally and increase well-being.
Tea and Tasters
A series of taster workshops were delivered with different artists for the group to choose one they would like to work with the longer term.
These workshops included:
- creative journalling
- singing
- printmaking
- ceramics
- expressive drawing
Pictured: Three photos from the taster workshops. Left: For this workshop, the group were trying singing with singing teacher, Sally Rose. Sally is grinning while sat on a chair with a little guitar. Middle: The group were trying pottery. In this photo, Clare the artist is showing a member of the group how to throw a pot on a potters wheel. Right: The group were trying screenprinting. In the photo the group are sitting and standing around a large long table, with rollers, paint and printing stamps scattered on the table.
Graphic showing participation and audience numbers. Participants: 14, Engagements: 50, Artists: 5.
The group decided to pursue additional singing sessions alongside holding a longer creative journaling project using a democratic vote.
The plans for additional journaling workshops were curtailed by the pandemic. This resulted in a commission for mixed media artist Marian Savill to produce four online tutorials to journal from home, using resources you would find around the house.
Extending the commission in this way was a means of continuing to maintain the group’s connectivity. As well as to manage further isolation for this vulnerable group and transition activity into digital outputs in a meaningful way.
Pictured: Two photos from the taster workshops. Left: The group were trying pastels. In this photo, a large piece of paper has been covered in drawings in pastel, including images of coffee cups, flowers and words like “sun” and “hope”. Right: The group were trying art journaling. In this photo, a table is covered in magazines and collages.
Art Journaling with Marian Savill
Pictured: The opening image for Marian’s workshop. It reads “Art Journaling with Marian Savill” in collaged letters.
Initially the commission was developed as an experience for the Meet Up Mondays group to continue their journlling activity with Marian, during the first national lockdown through April – May 2020.
Marian was commissioned to make a series of four workshop tutorials and an introductory promo video. The tutorials cover how to make a book, creating backgrounds, adding text and embellishing your journal.
To mirror in-person experiences, the videos were launched weekly, on a Monday at 10am, within a Facebook event on the CPP MarketPlace account and the Barleycorn Facebook page.
Pictured: Graphic showing participation and audience numbers. Event Attendees: 11, Views: 319, Videos: 5.
Pictured: Two screenshots from Marian Savill’s Art Journalling workshops. In the images Marian experiments on her desk with paint, wax crayons and collaging in colourful handmade books.
Download the full Tea and Tasters and Going Digital case study here.
Read more about one of the online taster sessions Art Journaling with Marian Savill and the Barleycorn cafe here.