Bank Holdiay Message

Hi folks

Happy Bank Holiday

Posters have arrived and are available for distribution in the Print Room at the studios.

Ged should be back from Germany soon and then the catalogue will go off to the printers in Wigan.

Bad news is no word yet from the NAGT re funding for the writings booklet. Good news is it's finished, and we've found a local printers who can do the job for us at a reasonable rate and is willing to look at a run of 50 booklets. Problem is the end of next week (10th June) is the deadline for handing the stuff to them if we want it for the launch. If the funds don't come then it looks like the writers will be funding the printing themselves - self-publishing I suppose 'Squeaky bum time' as Sir Alex Ferguson once called it.

Ros is organising the recording of a scripted piece for the exhibition. Recording will take place from 1.00 p.m. on June 2nd at the studios. She's sending scripts to those who've said they'll take part.

Allotted Writers

Two of the "allotted" writers (David Jackson and Robert Eldon) appear on the Emryst Press blogsite - www.emrystpress.blogspot.co.uk

The third writer Ros Davis has her own website -  rosdavis.vpweb.co.uk

Although "allotted" contributions are not (yet?) posted to these sites, other work has been. Emrystpress however is very much a work-in-progress although the body of work should build rapidly in the coming weeks.

POSTERS

The posters should be with us in the next week. Then we can get them distributed. The poster chosen was option 4.

Publicity for Allotted

The current issue of "Kitchen Garden" carries a short piece about the "Allotted" exhibition - see below

Update 17/05/2016

Hi

Much has been happening behind the scenes.

The Catalogue
The exhibition catalogue is now in the final processes of being prepared for our printers. All the images and text are with Ged. The 'master' needs to be with the printers by mid June. The posters went some time ago. The catalogue will feature only the artists, with each having their own section and set of images. The catalogue has been funded by a grant from the Bolton Arts Forum.

The Writers
There will be a separate "booklet" ("Allotted: the back of the seed packet") which will contain the essays, prose and poems that have been written about the allotment experience by Ros Davis, Robert Eldon and David Jackson. The booklet will be A5, with 24 pages of content. The layout and order has been finalised and final editing and proof-reading is under way.

Funding for the booklet has still not been secured. A bid by Abas for funds is being considered by the National Allotments Gardens Trust (NAGT). The Trust hope to come back to Abas with some clarifying questions after the 20th May and they should then be able to make a decision. It's really going to the wire, and is somewhat stressful for the writers, who are still not yet certain that their work will be printed. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that the decision will be positive and will come in time to get to the printers.

Some of the writers' work will appear as part of the exhibition, both Ros and David are producing short pieces which will be wall-mounted.

Publicity
A short piece about the Exhibition / Slug Society has appeared in the current issue of 'Allotment and Leisure Gardener' (issue 2 2016 page 41).

Ros has been informed that a piece about the exhibition will appear in the 'News' section of the next issue of 'Kitchen Garden'.

Conversations with Allotment Gardeners

'ALLOTTED' - Conversations with Allotment Gardeners,

by Ros Davis

I've been visiting Bolton allotments and talking to allotment gardeners since December 2015. It's been an overwhelmingly positive and fascinating experience - even in the rain!

This is one of the areas we covered: What having a plot means to people.

Plots have transformed lives, provided relief from pressures, kept people going. Here are the things people said:

'it's my little piece of heaven', 'my peaceful place', 'it's so peaceful', 'a sanctuary', 'a release', 'thereapeutic', 'healing', 'it's somewhere to escape to', 'where I can be alone', 'lose myself', your own domain', I feel at home', I just like being there', 'there's lovely views', 'it's my own', 'I come every day', 'it's really rewarding, friends always ask about the allotment'.

Press Coverage

News about the "Allotted" exhibition appeared in the Bolton News on Monday 2nd May.

We will also appear in the 'News' section of 'Kitchen Garden' - the June edition which comes out on May 25th / 26th

We should also appear in the next issue of 'Allotment and Leisure Gardener' which should be distributed to members of the National Allotment Society in late May / early June

About the Catalogue

At last Friday's gathering we decided 

1. The catalogue is solely for the artists – the writers are creating their own pamphlet – they are seeking separate funding

2. That means we have 40 pages and 9 artists

3. Each artist will get 4 pages – the first page will have the artist's name down the leading edge (vertical) and will also have a short (50-100 words) statement by the artists about their work. Artists' could also give a contact point 

4. The remaining 3 pages for each artist will contain their chosen images - with each image give -title, medium, size - these details will appear below the image - maybe in the footnotes section

5. Since the catalogue will have 40 pages that leaves 4 pages remaining  - I am proposing that the first RH page be a frontispiece based on a design David and I have come up with – it has “Allotted” and mentions the “Slug Society” - I've attached the first draft.

We'll lose the 'Fork and Scythe' motif for the frontispiece

 I am assuming that the front cover will be fairly plain (as most neo catalogues – just the exhibition title) – but if others want something different please make your suggestions

6. Other spare pages  can be used to thank funders and neo etc.- if preferred we can give all artists' contact details on the inside back cover

Margaret Jackson