GARDEN LANE : COMMUNITY RESPONSES The Ridge, Backlands Development
“A space to grow a cornucopia of fruits and flowers. ~ People meeting, making, learning, relaxing.” - Community Member
THE BACKLANDS The Backlands, run by The Ridge, is a landscaping and horticultural training centre in Dunbar, where monthly local markets will be held. Garden Lane is a participatory arts project delivered by Kathy Beckett in collaboration with The Ridge, North Light Arts and East Lothian Council. The project gathered ideas from the local community for the site.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT Throughout North Light Arts and East Lothian Council’s John Muir Artist Residency, artist/designer/facilitator, Kathy Beckett engaged with a variety of groups to gauge what the community would like to see in the Backlands space, along Garden Lane. The following are list of events which occurred to facilitate the consultation process, the bracketed numbers signify number of attendees. 23rd April - John Muir Day (20) 4th May - The Ridge: Staff Session (5) 12th May - The Ridge: Volunteers Session (4) 14th May - Dunbar Friday Cubs workshop(20) 15th May - Dunbar Science Club workshop (19) 1st June / 8th June - Cherry Tree Nursery visit (15) 3rd June - Dunbar Grammar visit (11) 23rd June - New Thing Discussions (9) GARDEN LANE: OPEN STUDIO 21st May- 26th June - (40 +) An ‘exhibition’ was held in Dunbar Townhouse and the results and ideas that follow were created, displayed and added to within this space. The implementation of some of the ideas generated from the process is sponsored by Grow Wild, while other designs may form future funding applications.
FOLDING FLYERS Folding flyers informing folk about the GARDEN LANE:OPEN STUDIO event were distributed to site neighbours, workshop participants and, stationed in the Bleachingfileld Library and Dunbar Townhouse. Eleven people used them to respond.