Crazy Glue

Crazy Glue is Take A Part's family arts group model. Started in 2008 and then developed there have been three iterations of the group running in Efford with High View School. There are currently a further three schools in Plymouth that are delivering Crazy Glue groups

At Prince Rock School the group started part of our Reverberations project; connecting with the themes of history, journeys, belonging and identity. This group worked with commissioned artists as part of the Reverberations public realm programme, have continued to engage via our the Happier Blue Spaces programme and have been commissioned (and published!) by the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park alongside Simon James. These families continue to engage in the ongoing programmes Take A Part delivers in the East End of Plymouth.

Whitleigh Primary and Salisbury Road School's Crazy Glue groups formed as part of the Centre Of Excellence in Creative Education project, worked on developing and shaping the Traveling Museum of Communities and are now part of the Democratising Archives project.

Across the 4 schools Take A Part have worked with families to deliver Plain Speaking Tours for British Art Show 9 in 2022. The groups form a community of 'go to' advocates for arts in Plymouth.

The Crazy Glue group model is bespoke for each context but the basic shape of the programme is largely the same:

• 10 sessions after school with an artist/artists
• A creative project connected to the community
• Connection/involvement in city or region-wide arts projects and exhibitions
• Opportunities for Go & See trips to inspiring/relevant artists, exhibitions, venues and projects.

The History of the work:
In 2008, as a part of High View School’s Change School Project, the school investigated ways to engage hard to reach parents using creativity as a tool.

Following initial sessions with artists in school a core group of parents and children were invited to explore and develop this idea further by attending an art residential over 3 days at Dartington Hall. The group were given dedicated time to work alongside artists with their children, explore a range of mediums and build rapport as a group together. Once back at school the group continued to meet on a regular basis after school further developing their skillset by learning about animation and establishing a firm identity and name for the group;

‘Crazy Glue’ was decided as the name as the group felt they stuck together. They also worked together to create a logo for the group and developed a strong identity and ethos around what the group was interested in.

Following this initial phase Take A Part, which at the time was a newly developed community arts programme for Efford, began to connect with Crazy Glue. Take A Part worked with the group opening opportunities to explore different art forms with new artists, developing creative projects within the community, providing go and see experiences, taking the group to view contemporary art exhibitions and participating in events with other partners.

The group had no prior interest specifically in contemporary art and being based in Efford meant it wasn’t something they often engaged with. Through a programme starting small, with quick win art projects and smaller scale engagement, Take A Part built a trust with the group before beginning to challenge them, pushing boundaries and taking them out to try and see new things. As the rapport with the group developed it became commonplace to see Crazy Glue at city wide exhibition private views, partnering with other art organisations on projects, visiting galleries and taking part in contemporary art exhibitions (even hosting their own) At the same time the group worked with and used creativity to address issues in their community.

One of the most high profile projects undertaken was British Art Show 7, which saw members of the group training as ‘Plain speaking tour’ guides offering peer to peer tours of the exhibition to other community members. In 2018 this aspect of the project was replicated with Plain Speaking Tours of ‘We The People Are The Work’

The longevity and commitment of Crazy Glue is hugely positive; many of the members from the original group, who began with the group aged 7-10, are now in their teens and early twenties and many have continued to engage in creative pursuits. Those parents that have been involved still talk about their involvement today.

The Crazy Glue model is an important part of Take A Part’s programme, enabling connectivity between local schools we are working with, hard to reach families, the community and finding ways to support in connecting those communities to city-wide projects, exhibitions and opportunities.

During 2018 we delivered a year long second iteration of the project in Efford. This was in collaboration with 'Horizon' a city wide visual arts project for Plymouth, during which the group lead again on our plain speaking tours model, as mentioned above. In addition the group worked regularly with artist Soraya Phillips in a series of after school arts sessions hosted a community exhibition and delivered a co-commissioned public art piece for local green space Efford marsh.

• Over its iterations Crazy Glue has worked with and supported 28 families
• Take A Part have supported Crazy Glue in delivering/participating in 30 different projects, workshops, exhibitions and events
• Crazy Glue have worked with galleries and National organisations including: The Hayward Gallery, The National Trust, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Plymouth Arts Centre, Situations
• Crazy Glue have worked on projects including; Lifting The Fog (BAS7) Nowhereisland Radio, Horizon (We The People Are The Work) Sculpting Saltram (National Trust) Plain Speaking Tours 2022
• Since 2005, Efford, the home of the Crazy Glue model, has moved from being the 5th most deprived ward of Plymouth to 12th most deprived according the Index of Multiple Deprivation
• High View School was awarded Arts Mark Gold, a first for a Plymouth School
• High View School has gained Ofsted Outstanding in 2011 for its community engagement and creative work with support from Take A Part CIO

For further information and support, contact Take A Part CIC.

E. gem@effordtakeapart.org.uk

W. www.takeapart.org.uk