A Roxby Close Get Together
On June 18th we held ‘A Roxby Close Get Together’ in celebration of Refugee Week and the progress made in the Roxby Close Community Garden.
Photos: Tribe Four Films
Tribe Four Films was there to capture the day, creating this beautiful short film for us.
We were hard at work in the run-up to the event…
Led by Matilya, the Lincoln Greeners gardening group have been designing and planting flower beds and a vegetable garden.
We held a number of ‘Dig Days’ where volunteers helped us to prepare the site for our event. On Tuesday 14th we held a final ‘Dig In’ where around 40 incredible volunteers from Leeds College of Building, The Plant Room and beyond helped us to clear the site and get over 300 plants in the ground.
A few days before the event photographer Emily Ryalls came to the site as we installed ‘Photogreening’, the photography installation she created with Mafwa Members through a series of photowalks and photo development sessions. The installation was available to view in the space for a week and mapped out the gardens and green spaces of Lincoln Green.
Photo: Mahshid Alavizadeh
The bright, playful mural designed by Jenna Coulthard arrived and was installed on-site. Jenna ran drawing workshops with the local community where participants were encouraged to draw inspiration from their surroundings. These drawings were then incorporated into the final mural design which now has a home in the garden.
Our amazing staff and volunteers arrived early on Saturday to help us unpack the vans, set up the stalls and gazebos and prepare the day's activities.
We had a fantastic turnout from the moment the event kicked off. Families from the area and even further afield came along to learn how to sow seeds, make and taste their own herbal teas, have their faces painted, create prints with Lutra studios, tour the garden, explore the ‘Photogreening’ installation and admire the brand new Roxby Close mural.
The day's soundtrack came courtesy of Baile at Sable Radio who treated us to an eclectic mix throughout the day (Including a few rounds of baby shark at the behest of some of our younger attendees).
Photos: Tribe Four Films
It was great to see so many familiar faces, especially those who had previously participated in our community consultations and provided feedback on what they wanted to see in the space. We took their feedback on board and many elements of the garden, designed by Zosia Berkieta-Lewis, drew on inspiration from their suggestions.
It was also rewarding to see the different ways people engaged with the space; kids used chalk to draw around the Photogreening images, turning it into an interactive, collaborative installation that showcased Mafwa members' photos alongside local children's art. We love the creative possibilities that this space has and can’t wait to see the ways in which people enjoy and experience it in the future.
Later in the evening we enjoyed some delicious dahl courtesy of Dal-icious and packed up the stalls to make room for dancing as Shambko took to the stage with some fantastic Eritrean music and dance moves! As the event came to a close some of the local children wrapped up the event perfectly by taking to the mic and declaring that it was the ‘best day’.
Photos: Tribe Four Films
Read our interviews with some of the creative team behind A Roxby Close Get Together
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Jenna is a textiles designer & artist who specialises in bold colourful prints. Over the past few years, Jenna has been running workshops revolving around print. She has worked with different communities to produce lots of work including murals and installations.
Jenna worked as the Mural Artist for Lincoln Greening, working with the local community to create a bright and playful mural for the Roxby Close community garden.
Introduce yourself…
I am Jenna, I am originally from Cumbria but came to Leeds to study printed textiles and surface pattern. This is where my love for colour and pattern was born.
Describe your role on this project
I have been brought onto the project to inject some pattern into the garden by designing a mural with the community.
What is your inspiration going into this project?
I am often inspired by my surroundings, so when we did a drawing workshop within the community I encouraged people to do the same - draw from the surroundings. Also, because this space is going to be blooming with plants and nature, I brought some flowers along to draw!
How do you approach work like this?
When working with communities, I tend to do drawing workshops to generate ideas for a mural. I love seeing how different people respond to themes and let this drive the outcome.
Describe the mural design
The mural design is looking playful and colourful. I am hoping people will be able to spot their drawings in the design!
What do you think the legacy of this project will be?
I think it's the ownership of the space, I really hope it blossoms and becomes a place the community is proud of.
What’s your favourite plant and why?
Hard to choose! Going to go with a popular one, the daffodil because it's always such a signifier that the weather is getting warmer.
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Emily is a Wakefield based artist working with the intersection of photography and performance, using traditional and alternative analogue techniques. Her practice is rooted in blurring the lines between a divided photographer/subject relationship, creating meaningful and collaborative works that explore photography as a means of co-production and connection.
Emily was the lead on Photogreening a photography installation co-created with the Lincoln Green community, mapping out green spaces in the area. Photogreening was launched during A Roxby Close Get Together.
Describe your role on this project
I've had the pleasure of working with the Mafwa community, introducing or reviving a love for analogue photography, capturing local green spaces. As a group we celebrated all kinds of photography, but we chose to work with point and shoot 35mm cameras as a way to really take in our green surroundings and slow down - there's a beautiful mindfulness that comes with knowing you only have 24 shots to capture. We're then working with the photographs produced across two workshops and producing a photo mural, picturing the flourishing plant life across the area.
What is your inspiration going into this project?
I think everyone, as well as me, has a newfound appreciation for access to green spaces and a lot of people have found value in the act of slowing down, so embracing the pace and mindfulness of photography was the perfect starting point.
What is your creative process like?
I like to allow projects like this to feel really responsive, I love being able to guide individuals to realise new ideas but I think it's important for communities to be able to steer the project and the creative outcomes.
What is your plan for the photowalks?
A big part of photography is being reactive to the environment and spaces around you, so as a group we've been exploring new grounds through 24 black and white frames. We're looking forward to compiling the imagery and creating a large-scale photographic mural for Roxby Close, to sit amongst the new vibrant plantlife and other creative works.
How do you think photogreening, and the Lincoln greening project as a whole, serves the community?
I think it's a brilliant opportunity to put such a central space in the hands of the community. There's something really powerful about watching an area being transformed start to finish by the same people who will use and cherish it moving forward and seeing photography sitting alongside other creative artworks and designs is great.
What is your favourite plant and why?
I love birds of paradise. I think it's the transformation that I'm so mesmerised with!
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Carys is a creative producer based in Leeds. She loves getting involved with and supporting creative community projects however she can. She strongly believes that culture plays a really important role in local sustainable development. She has a background in the arts and more recently has been working within the public sector managing a number of public realm and historic property restoration projects. She’s passionate about asset-based development projects that unleash the power and value of community ownership of buildings and places by those who use and value them.
Carys is the Creative Producer for Lincoln Greening.
Describe the work you have been doing on Lincoln Greening
I have been working with Mafwa Theatre in the role of Producer for this project. As producer, I maintain oversight of all the interconnected activities within the project and am also taking a steer on the design and build elements of the Roxby Close garden. It’s a really exciting and ambitious project to be supporting, and I get to work with a brilliant creative team. I can’t wait to see the under-used site transformed into a space for and with local residents for all to use! It’s an exciting job and I enjoy that every day is different.
How do you approach work like this?
I consider myself to be very organised, with an eye for detail. Being a producer requires me to knit together all the various people and activities involved in Lincoln Greening to make sure the project keeps momentum, to time and budget and that stakeholders are involved and kept informed throughout.
Why do you think Lincoln Greening is important and what will its ongoing legacy be?
Lincoln Greening is a really unique and ambitious creative project born out of community conversations about what residents would like to see happen in their local area. Throughout the pandemic especially, it became apparent there was a real desire to be able to access safe green spaces. Hopefully the refurbishments, planting and design ideas for Roxby Close will create a new safe and inviting space for residents of all ages to gather safely and be amongst nature. The Lincoln Greeners gardening group has the exciting possibility of generating a vital legacy for the project. In supporting green-fingered residents to meet weekly and learn to grow together; the sessions provide an opportunity for the group to take ownership of the future use and planting of the site beyond the project. And all this started with drama! The new site will also present a fantastic opportunity for community-led programming as well as a unique venue for hosting a range of events and performances in a light touch, soft and inclusive environment outside of traditional cultural venues. I can’t wait to see the space take on a life of its own.
What’s your favourite plant and why?
I love all herbaceous plants. I love that they can grow pretty much anywhere and add a bright, joyful splattering of colour to roadsides, meadows and beds. If I had to choose one, it would have to be lavender because of its amazing colour and smell.
Learn more about the Lincoln Greening project here.
A huge thanks to everyone who made this event possible, including project funders Arts Council England, Counterpoint Arts and Leeds Inspired.