Allotments

Sustainable Production Award Announced for 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

LOS ANGELS/EDINBURGH — The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA) has awarded the second CSPA Fringe Award for Sustainable Production at the Edinburgh Fringe to Allotment by Jules Horne and directed by Kate Nelson. The world premiere of Allotment was produced by nutshell at the Inverleith Allotments in this co-production with Assembly.

Allotment is a dark and physical tragicomedy that takes place in a real allotment. It follows green-fingered sisters Dora and Maddy as they live out their rivalry among the plants. When the unexpected rocks their uneasy balance, it’s time to do something radical.

“We chose Allotment because its successful incorporation of its location into the drama.” comments Ian Garrett, Executive Director of the CSPA.  “The show’s honesty and heart is revealed in choosing to set it in a garden, and not build a facsimile on stage. Kudos to nutshell and Assembly for serving an already fantastic play so brilliantly ”

The award is determined by the submission of a questionnaire about how the show was produced along with audience response. Amongst dozens of entries, Allotment stood out in it’s minimal environmental impact, very much a result of it’s setting in the Inverlieth Allotments, requiring very little scenic construction and no additional show technology. Additionally the venue was easily accessible by public transportation, refreshments created little waste, themes of one’s relationship to the natural world were evident and it received excellent audience response. Allotment was also awarded a fringe first award by the Scotsman.

The CSPA Directors, Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright adjudicated the award, along with select CSPA affiliates. For the Edinburgh Fringe, Mhora Samuel and Tim Atkinson from The Theatres Trust’s European Regional Development Fund-backed Ecovenue project have helped the CSPA adapt the criteria for a UK audience, providing guidance on UK equivalents to US name brands, as well as providing insight on measuring conventions and policy. The award simply would not have been complete with out their assistance.

“The CSPA is not just another ‘go green’ organization,” says Wright.  “We hope to gather and distribute information that aids in the sustainability of the earth, the sustainability of our communities, and the sustainability of our art.  And so, the purpose of this award is not to recognize the greenest production.  Our objective in offering this award is to ask questions of ourselves, as theater artists, about the greater impact of our work on the world around us. The fringe model provides an ideal platform to introduce these ideas and the award due to the expectations and scale of the shows.”

“Even more so than we want someone to score perfectly on the questionnaire we use to evaluate shows, we want theater artists to look at the questions and think about how it helps to guide their thinking about sustainability in the their art. There may be questions asked in ways they hadn’t thought, and we hope they ask these questions of their next project and the project after that,” adds Garrett.

Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright founded the CSPA in early 2008 after individually working on each of the programs that now make up the multi-faceted approach to sustainability separately. The organization provides a network of resources to arts organizations, which enables them to be ecologically and economically sustainable while maintaining artistic excellence. Past and Present partnerships have included the University of Oregon, Ashden Directory, Arcola Theater, Diverseworks Artspace, Indy Convergence, York University, LA Stage Alliance and others.

 

Funded PhD opportunity

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

On The Edge Research and Woodend Barn Banchory have created a wonderful opportunity to undertake a funded PhD.

Woodend Barn is a multi-arts centre outside Aberdeen with a strong environmental programme including an organic cafe, allotments, etc.  On The Edge Research is a practice-led programme focused on artists working in public.

Supported through the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Collaborative Doctoral Awards Scheme, they are looking for someone interested in understanding how

“creativity is channeled and provoked by the presence of an artist and in what ways this presence stimulates critical, socially and aesthetic understanding and action. It draws on a recent history of artists’ constructs and protocols for critiquing the institutional and organizational. It also draws in entrepreneurship studies, in particular approaches to understanding community as a dynamic.”

This could be undertaken by an artist as a practice-led, self-reflective, programme, or through other approaches.

ecoartscotland is a resource focused on art and ecology for artists, curators, critics, commissioners as well as scientists and policy makers. It includes ecoartscotland papers, a mix of discussions of works by artists and critical theoretical texts, and serves as a curatorial platform.

It has been established by Chris Fremantle, producer and research associate with On The Edge Research, Gray’s School of Art, The Robert Gordon University. Fremantle is a member of a number of international networks of artists, curators and others focused on art and ecology.
Go to EcoArtScotland

Volunteers and Gardeners needed. Get your hands dirty!

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

images links to Flickr CCA Westhorn Allotments stream

CCA Summer Volunteer Days at Westthorn Allotments

Help us develop land at Westthorn Allotments into a fun and workable garden site as part of the CCA education and outreach programme which supports the wider Glasgow growing network and specific local communities.

Each day will involve a workshop from an artist or gardener on a particular topic, as well as a variety of activities to be involved in including planting and harvesting food and flowers, digging and weeding, and other fun and practical projects.

Saturday June 25th INVASIVE SPECIES
weed workshop and introduction to project
Please note: there is Japanese Giant Hogweed on site. If you plan on digging, strong boots are required – protective suits can be provided.

Saturday July 23rd TEMPORARY SHELTERS
workshop with artists Alex Wilde and James McLardy

Saturday August 20th BIODIVERSITY
gardener workshop/discussion with a permaculture expert

12-4 pm
Meet at CCA at 11:15 to take the city bus together

Open to all!
tea and refreshments provided
Gloves and tools provided
Bring your own boots!

Email education@cca-glasgow.com for more information

Westthorn Allotments (G31 4QA) are located in Parkhead off of London Road next to Celtics Supporter’s Club, accessible via the Clyde Cycleway or by bus.

ecoartscotland is a resource focused on art and ecology for artists, curators, critics, commissioners as well as scientists and policy makers. It includes ecoartscotland papers, a mix of discussions of works by artists and critical theoretical texts, and serves as a curatorial platform.

It has been established by Chris Fremantle, producer and research associate with On The Edge Research, Gray’s School of Art, The Robert Gordon University. Fremantle is a member of a number of international networks of artists, curators and others focused on art and ecology.

Go to EcoArtScotland