YARMOUTH SPRINGS ETERNAL

Image credit: Becky Demmen/Supporting Your Art

Yarmouth Springs Eternal is an arts, nature and walking project based in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The programme has taken place during two consecutive Spring seasons in 2021 and 2022

The overall ethos of the Yarmouth Springs Eternal project is about connecting with nature and seasons, with a particular focus on overlooked spaces and everyday interactions. The project explores the importance of this relationship on our wellbeing, the feeling of wholeness connecting with nature can bring, and the “awe” of being part of something bigger. Yarmouth Springs Eternal is also underpinned by research outlining the inequality of access to green or natural space in the UK, whilst challenging definitions of what “nature” means and how we can engage with it in meaningful ways

In 2021, Yarmouth Springs Eternal was shortlisted for the IPSE Freelancer Award: Freelancing Project Award. In 2022, the project received a Highly Commended award in the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance ‘Climate’ category. The judging panel said: “We felt this work was strongly rooted in community, yet with space to allow for constant evolution, responding in a meaningful and timely way to need. It was underpinned by a very strong sense of the links between climate, culture, nature, wellbeing and inequalities, and embraced a broad understanding of lived experience that shaped the growth of the work.”

Through the project activities and ethos, we aim to address the three of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals:

The 2021 programme was led by Genevieve Rudd, in partnership with Great Yarmouth-based arts charity originalprojects;. This was made possible with generous funding and support from Norfolk & Norwich Festival’s Creative Individuals Norfolk fund, Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants, East Anglia Art Fund, Norfolk County Council’s Arts Project Fund and Better Together Norfolk

In 2022, Genevieve was funded by Creative Practices for Transformational Futures (CreaTures), an EU Horizon 2020 research project. This commission, entitled ‘On the Ground’, supported Genevieve to work with academics at the University of Sussex, feeding back on the project processes and outcomes, which in turn informed research into long-term creative practices, sustainability, citizen-led action and equality

Follow Yarmouth Springs Eternal on InstagramTwitter and Facebook, and read more about the project activities in my blog. When the project is ‘live’, we send out a project newsletter.

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS IN 2022

  • March-April | Community workshops, with visiting arts & ecology practitioners to design public programme of events
  • Tuesday 3rd May CreaTures Seminar #18 – This online seminar is an opportunity for the creative practitioners that have recently joined the CreaTures family to present their practice and ongoing work, including Genevieve Rudd
  • Thursday 19th May, 10am-12pm | Public event: Creative Walk and Writing Workshop with Henrik Kedves & Ligia Macedo
  • Friday 20th May, 1pm-3pm | Public event: Found Object Sculpture Bundles Workshop with Catarina Pimenta & Jacques Nimki
  • Saturday 21st May, 10am-12pm | Public event: Mindful Eating and Walking Workshop with Sara Moreira & Jacques Nimki
  • Saturday 21st May, 1pm-3pm | Public event: Finding Order and Patterns in Nature Workshop with Kerri Taylor & Russell Hughes
  • Wednesday 29th June-Friday 1st July | The CreaTures Festival in Sevilla, Spain – Bringing the project’s people and outcomes to share and reflect on the project learnings, their future, and their impact on eco-social transformations

All community workshops and public events were based at PRIMEYARC, Market Gates Shopping Centre, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2BG

YARMOUTH SPRINGS ETERNAL IN 2022

In the second year of Yarmouth Springs Eternal, the focus of the programme was to amplify and empower our community group to develop, design and lead their own programme of arts, walking and nature-inspired events

The community group include adults connected to Herring House Trust homelessness charity and GYROS migration support agency, supported by Project Assistant Moyses Gomes. The group had lived experience of homelessness and migration, as well as self-reporting experiences of addiction, mental illness and social isolation

Over a series of workshops in March-April, the group worked with 4 visiting arts and ecology practitioners – Ligia Macedo, Holly Sandiford, Jacques Nimki and Tiffany Wallace – to develop their ideas for events they can lead

In May 2022, the participant group led a free public programme in pairs, which focused on a different aspect of creativity and nature from their own curiosities, experiences and personalities. These were programmed during Creativity & Wellbeing Week, a week long national event, in 2022 themed around ‘Get Creative, Get Outdoors’

As the project has been funded by CreaTures, the processes and outcomes inputted into EU research on arts-based participatory community engagement around sustainability

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS IN 2021

In 2021, the programme happened in two phases: a community programme (April-May) and a public programme (May-June)

The community programme was a series of walks/workshops led by visiting artists, with adults connected to Herring House Trust homelessness and GYROS migration support charities, supported by Project Assistant Moyses Gomes. The public programme was open to all and centred on the exhibition from 19th May to 20th June 2021, with free events, a one day conference, walks/workshops and a resource booklet:

  • April-May | Community walks/workshops led by Genevieve Rudd, Georgie Manly, Ligia Macedo, Mark Cator and Kaavous Clayton
  • Wednesday 19th May to Sunday 20th June | Exhibition, featuring Yarmouth Springs Eternal community walks/workshops artwork, alongside Bill Vine, Company Drinks, Jacques Nimki, James Aldridge and Jason Evans, plus Climate Museum UK and living & fermenting evolving displays
  • Saturday 22nd May | Conference (see recordings of the presentations on Vimeo, made by Supporting Your Art)
  • Tuesday 8th June | Sonic Landscapes with Bill Vine – sound walks through Great Yarmouth
  • Wednesday 9th June | Wandering Viewpoints with Jacques Nimki – plant walks, including a walk for primary educators/artists
  • Saturday June 12th | #MyJam Culture Sharing Lab – fermenting, preserving and swapping food cultures
  • Wednesday June 16th | Cyanotype Photography with Genevieve Rudd – blue print photography at the park
  • Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th June | Photowalk with Jason Evans – gentle photography walk
  • June | Launch of the Yarmouth Springs Eternal Play Book (download link below)

To help these events to happen, Yarmouth Springs Eternal was also supported by Supporting Your Art, Norwici Print and Red Herring Press with online and print marketing

All events were based at PRIMEYARC, Market Gates Shopping Centre, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2BG

YARMOUTH SPRINGS ETERNAL PLAY BOOK, 2021

 The Yarmouth Springs Eternal Play Book features creative activities, prompts and ideas for all ages to discover ways to connect with the natural world, especially whilst walking around town centres like Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast. The Play Book is a useful companion to take on a walk for playful inspiration

The Play Book features ideas from Georgie Manly, Genevieve Rudd, Gia Leboeuf Mawusi, Kaavous Clayton and Mark Cator. These artists led the initial community walks/workshops programme from April 2021 in partnership with local members of the community. It was designed and printed by Norwici Print, and made possible with funds from Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants

You can pick up a printed copy from PRIMEYARC in Market Gates Shopping Centre, Great Yarmouth or download a version to print at home