In a month’s time over 10 months work on a project in central Northumberland children’s centres will be complete.
‘Voice of the Child’ is an artist residency project which connects artists with a variety of specialisms and practise to children and families in children’s centre environments. In short, it celebrates children’s curiosity and creativity and seeks to improve speech and language in young children and grow cultural confidence in their parents.
We have engaged with over 700 participants, we’ve created textiles, clay tiles, recorded voices, painted hands, played outside, crawled the floor, made marks, woven threads together – it’s been varied and beautiful.
What I want to share on this platform right now, is a thank-you. It’s all been possible because of the incredible team I’ve worked alongside. Yes I’ve managed the project, the artists, the budget, the strategy and held space for creativity to flourish but the support for that is down to the entire team I’m connected to;
Lisa, Sarah, Rebecca, Lindsey, Aimee, Sharron, Daniel, Judith, Yvette, Stevie, Lindsay, Marek, Rosanna, Denise, Alison, Dan, Emma, Gary and so so many more people who’ve played a part too. Thankyou for committing whole-heartedly to Voice of the Child.
I tend to find it quite difficult to say goodbye to projects – it can feel like you have just grasped the workings and depth of detail a project needs and then the timeline dictates it’s finished. A full stop, a set of reports and evaluations and an ending.
But is it? And who decides that?
I started a legacy notebook yesterday. A blank notebook with ideas for the future. A conscious intent to continue to put energy here. Throughout my freelance career I’ve managed the vulnerability of raising funding which then might or might not pay me a salary so a year ago I made a decision to move away from working like that.
I have no idea whether I will continue to work on the next phase of the project – that is dependent on so many things but in committing to a brand new notebook with a set of blank pages I’ve done what I can and set my intent to fill them however that might look.
How do you manage saying goodbye to a project your passionate about when the funding runs out? Do you commit to raise more or move onto the next thing? I’d love to know.