We had a meeting in the Southend Resource Centre yesterday it was a feedback session as to how we felt the project went, from a personal point of view I really enjoyed the experience, it was different, interesting and fun. The community welcomed us in and the sense of community is very evident at Southend. I think I wrote about this in an early posting that sometimes when your relocate a sense of community is somehow lost unless you really make a huge effort to get involved in someway and this can be difficult.
This project has certainly reignited a sense of wanting to be involved in a community again and being part of something no matter how small. Even though this project is coming to an end, community development is something that continues and grows and I would imagine get better and better. I have a greater understanding of what being an artist is, in the community, something that I didn't quite think of before even though, I know there are great people doing great work all over the country.
Maybe somehow being in college the last three years and being in a developmental process myself, I didn't fully think or appreciate that through the process I was becoming an artist and how in someway I can fit into the greater scheme of a community. The college (I.T. Carlow) Wexford Campus of Art and Design has facilitated this for us and I really never thought I would dip my toe back into community again, even though I think I'm quite sociable and like to be involved with people from all walks of life, I think my personality plays a part too.
On reflection I don't think community work is for everyone...and some people are drawn to it for many reasons. I would hope that I would have something to contribute to a community even if that is as simple as having a chat with someone.
The people in the community do great work and the co-ordinators/supervisors do great work too. I kind of think of it as the front of house and the back house and it all comes together as a successful project. Not everyone can be at the front of house and not everyone can be at that back either. Somehow I now think that the artist is somewhere in the middle adding something light to the community. The lads worked very hard on the boat giving 100% commitment and the co-ordinators have a very difficult task, that of getting the money to run the projects..
Like everything money to fund such projects entails a enormous amount of hard work and commitment and breaking through a lot of red tape, rules, regulations, different departments and knocking on doors. But the co-ordinators still keep fighting for the overall good of the community.
The benefits are enormous I think and sometimes are not always quantifiable, as some of the goodness is invisible, but benifical at the same time. Sometimes it's not one thing but a collabortation of things and many of the benefits are not even seen in this generation but something that is fostered for future generations as a sense of pride is fostered about a place.
I think no matter the size of a project it is all worthwhile because if no one cared, what would the future be like really pretty dismal I expect. So vision is required ....
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