Creative Commissions Finished Projects

The commission helped with funding spaces, as well as time to meet and explore ideas and thoughts in a relaxed atmosphere. We found Heene Community Centre a friendly central meeting point on four occasions. It has proved especially beneficial to hire and use larger spaces allowing us to be expansive in our ways of working together.

The Mark You Make has realised a need within the local art community to have a space to share our creative lives through the most fundamental of starting places – mark making. The members embraced the idea of the project and made it happen by turning up, joining in and exploring. The freedom to prioritise the value of mark making, to start from this simple idea has led to a renewed understanding of its importance in our practices. Whether in person or via our whatsapp group, members have been able to share observations, ideas and articles that spark dialogue and connections with each other.

The Mark You Make group are eager to carry on and the Adur & Worthing Trust have invested in a project that is making a difference. We anticipate that the group will continue to grow and reflect the core need for creative dialogue in the art community. We recognise going forward that we need to facilitate the group in order for its continued growth, with the development of the project being guided by its members. The project answered a need and thanks to those who listened to the initial idea and joined in, we have more to come.

The funding helped with getting this project actually made! It had been an idea lurking in my mind for a while and it gave me the impetus to get it off the ground, and without it, I’m not sure I would have!

Yes! We completed everything we set out to, and the outcomes were as hoped for. We were welcomed into the cafe by Karl and the customers of the cafe. At the event, people commented on how the stories from the Lido Cafe had impacted them to think differently about the cafe and the places that we should value in our community.

It’s been a great experience in a newer realm of audio making for me. Approaching and involving members of the public was challenging and helpful in overcoming some shyness. The zine challenged our time management skills but made us want to make more of them as companions to audio pieces on future projects.

The funding allowed us to pay for the venue and public liability insurance. It enabled us to pay a fee to our script consultant who also hosted the Q+A after the performance. It also paid a small token towards individuals who volunteered their experience and skills to assist in the delivery of the play and a graphic designer who produced the advertising flyer.

It has encouraged me and my fellow writers to take the project further, and to consider doing another performance in the future if funding were available. It was suggested on the day by someone in the audience that the play would be suitable for Brighton Festival or other similar festivals. It also proved to be a profound and cathartic experience for all involved. The society of authors are also keen to send the play to their writer-carers and to look at all the material such as the recording taken on the day for wider distribution.

The funding has helped me to develop the second phase of my artistic and environmental research project studying synthetic polymers found in nature through photographic techniques. 

This funding has been the perfect opportunity for me to establish relationships with other researchers and artists. The funding has strengthened my skills working with differentcommunities while integrating myself as a new resident of Worthing. Receiving this funding has facilitated contacting a variety of professionals such as artists, community groups,researchers and locals from the Adur and Worthing area who have contributed with theirexpertise, knowledge or materials to this project and wider research. The funding was used for workshop space and materials, PPL & PI insurance, exhibitionmaterials and statement print, staple gun, cyanotype emulsion, workshop assistant, UV lights,and printed publication.

The local community was at the heart ofPlastic Era. The project reached out to the localcommunity in all its different phases: litter picking sessions, workshops, exhibition and publication. 

How the project reached out to the local community: The local community was at the heart ofPlastic Era. The project reached out to the local community in all its different phases: litter picking sessions, workshops, exhibition andpublication. It has helped to raise awareness of plastic use and disposal while developing creative activities and access to art to those who don’t feel included in gallery spaces. A connection between art and observation, art and research or art and the environment has reached different sectors of the Adur and Worthing community. The diversity of participants has been very nourishing for conversation and artistic outcomeswhile creating a sense of true community. Some of the participants professional backgroundsare the following: art school teachers, doctors, personal assistants, artists, English language teachers, retired people, stay–at–home parents, accountants, environmental workers, and lecturers.

Yes, the project wasan absolute success. 

The workshops were also an achievement developed in a collaborative environment. Crew offered their space and support with the first session. The second workshop was delivered in Heene Community Centre as part of Worthing’s festival, this session was also a success and thanks to the festival publicitiy, it was easier to engage with new audiences interested in the intersection between nature and photography. 

I have recieved excellent feedback and was invited to participate in an exhibition for Photo Fringe 2024 with the works exhibited on thisoccasion. After the exhibition for Photo Fringe, I was invited to exhibit at Brighton Fringe 2025 for a duo exhibition of alternative photography, focusing on societal issues. 

Through this experience and collaboration, I have now created a supportive network in the area, not just professionally, but also at a personal level. I believe that participants of Plastic Era project are now more aware of how plastic waste affects our immediate environment. They have also familiarised themselves with cameraless photographic techniques that do not require previous experience or photographic knowledge. In their feedback, they stated that this method was fun and also adequate to analyse residuesfrom our beaches. I have also been made aware that some of the workshop participants have continued the process of collecting rubbish from the beach and subsequently developedcyanotype prints with this rubbish while engaging members of their families.