The pristine white box has begum to transform! Blow-ups of the photos I've been collecting from people in SW Burnley arrived - ready for the collage. I took photos of doors and windows, and scaled them to the size of the house - the photos were taken at an angle to give the illusion of depth - these architectural features are the starting point - images of people and skylines of the area will be added. Then, throughout the coming week, residents are invited to respond to the Butterfly House, add to it - leave notes, images, objects - make it their own!
I was apprehensive - what would the residents make of the space and the structure? Annette and Bernie from The Cabin came up to have a look. Their response was more than I could have hoped for - they loved it! We were all busy talking about what could happen in the space, what could be added to the house. We're going to work on the collage this Sunday - before groups start to use the space throughout the week. Bernie made some lovely comments: "This is right up my street (literally)" ... .."This is ours". Annette and Bernie said they didn't want it to be dismantled at the end of the week - they want to keep it. This turned into a conversation about the lack of a 'space' in SW Burnley. We have real community assets like The Cabin (with its shop selling everything from second hand clothes to household goods) and The Stoops & Hargher Clough Community Centre (which is in constant use by numerous groups, and all overseen by Chris, a much respected community worker of thirty years). But The Butterfly House needed a dedicated space - it couldn't have impinged on the existing community spaces which already meet a multitude of needs.
From 9th-13th of September The Butterfly House plays host to a number of events. Community commissioning for Ground Up's next public art project (on Monday), The Fold Craft Group (Tuesday), Calico Community Choir (Tuesday), photo walk and performances by actors (Thursday) ... open sessions where people can view the exhibition and contribute their memories to the house (Wednesday and Friday).
It's gonna be a busy, crazy week - can't wait to see what the house looks like by Friday!
Kelly
