The group will meet approximately every two weeks, at least in the initial stages to ensure that the project meets the stated objectives and is developed in accordance with Umthombo’s aims and ethos.
We discussed the initial project proposal. A number of issues and ideas have been highlighted:
Building:
o The drop-in centre was always intended to be a temporary structure which was open to the city
o The drop-in centre is ‘on-loan’ from the municipality, the contract is renewable month by month. It is not permitted to make any permanent changes to the structure.
o We need to think of the drop-in centre as a public space that can be invigorated and give a message to the wider community. Any art projects at the centre could be seen as public art.
Staffing:
o The funding is finite – we need to keep this in mind when raising expectations (particularly with existing Umthombo staff) and planning for longer term continuation of the project
o One Umthombo staff member has already been identified and briefed about the project. He is interested in being involved.
Other possible contacts:
o DUT child and family development centre
o University psychology department
o Drama students
o Fine arts students
o Cascoland
o Municipality contacts
Other things to consider:
o Many of the older young people are interested in income generating projects. There may be additional funding available for entrepreneurial ventures.
o It would be good to combine practical solutions with art e.g. the children currently hang lots of washing on the outer perimeter fences
o We should not be limited to the drop-in centre as a focus for art projects. There needs to be programmes developed on the streets as part of the outreach work as well. The drop-in centre is not necessarily a permanent solution.
Actions:
→ Invite the original centre architect, Richard, to the next meeting in 2 weeks
→ Make contact with the university departments mentioned above
→ Continue to liaise with the municipality around continuation of the contract for the centre
→ Seek advice from contacts in HR about recruitment of an artist
1 comment:
You've got off to a great start - I love the blog page, and photos, and look forward to reading your regular updates. Sounds like your first meeting was interesting - raised some useful questions and came up with some good possible contacts. Its good you've already identified one of the umthombo workers who'se excited by the project. I think seeing the work as street-art would fit with the temporary nature of the centre and of the kids themselves. I look forward to reading what happens next.
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