Growing Hearts And Minds - HARVEST 2011 - Growing Hearts and Minds was an arts and green space project funded by the Ecominds scheme and led by B-Arts North Staffordshire to support positive mental health and encourage wellbeing. Rachel was commissioned on the project as Artist in Residence in the Northwood area engaging local people in creative activities that would lead to an installation in the Park during the event 'Harvest'. These included knitting sessions in the Bowling Clubhouse creating a 'tree cosy' and workshops with adults and children to create one hundred handmade 'bulbs'. The participants visualised themselves as a plant bulb with many hidden layers containing their ideas, dreams, hopes, fears and aspirations. These paper bulbs were then encased within a protective globe and hung on the tree within the installation.
100 Stories 2011-100 Stories wasa digitally guided theatrical walk through the city streets of Stoke-on-Trent, offering glimpses of the hidden stories of local people, unseen worlds of memory, imagination and lives lived elsewhere. Commissioned by B Arts to work within the community to collect stories and animate two spaces along the walk. Rachel worked with T.W.O.C.O., an asylum seeker and refugee support group, and students from Newcastle-under-Lyme College of Further Education, creating a performance piece with a paper dress and other garments in a high rise flat complex and a collection of assemblages installed in the snug of a city centre public house. Her work also contributed to the audio track that accompanied the performance.
Images By Rachel Grant, Tony Jones, Behjat Omer and Richard Redshaw
A Sense Of Place 2010
The Story Behind The Postcard - Commissioned by the Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford for their summer exhibition and permanent collection. One of five artist's commissioned to explore the theme of 'A Sense of Place' in relation to the county of Staffordshire. Using the format of the map and the postcard as a tool to explore people's connections to place. A large map of North Staffordshire was created during artist led workshops with students from Newcastle-under-Lyme College, the map was then taken to a number of local community groups and labelled with their favourite places. Twenty-four mixed media postcards were then produced by Rachel using the completed labels as inspiration.
Longton Plots 2010
Warming Up - A commission as part of the wider Longton Plots programme of interventions in Longton town centre led by Rob Colbourne and The Cultural Sisters. Working in collaboration with local knitting groups creating 'yarn bombing' events to warm up the street furniture.
Longton Buzzes 2009
Under One Roof - A six week artist's residency in a vacant indoor market stall in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent exploring the market's history and importance to the community. The commission was one in a programme of four interventions led by the urban architecture organisation Urban Vision.
Place, Space and Identity 2 2008/2009
Living Room - An exploration of the term 'community' in relation to Fegg Hayes, a small village in Stoke-on-Trent undergoing a period of demolition and regeneration. A period of engagement within the village produced a body of new work that formed an installation in the front room of an empty terraced property awaiting demolition. This was the second year of a programme of artist interventions co-funded by Arts Council England and Renew North Staffordshire.
Place, Space and Identity 1 2007/2008
Inside Out - A collection of mixed media panels inspired by the stories of residents in the Waterside area of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, during a period of demolition as part of the housing market renewal programme. These panels were exhibited on the outside walls of buildings awaiting demolition for a period of two weeks. The overall programme included six individual artist's commissions and was co-funded by Arts Council England and Renew North Staffordshire.
Longhouse Action Research Commission 2006/2007
Lives and Losses - One of five artist-led action research projects commissioned by Longhouse, West Bromwich. Driven by a response to the themes People, Identity and Place this project explored the artist's role in an area experiencing demolition as a result of regeneration.