Clare has shamed me into creating a new post. Her comprehensive yet compelling blog narrative, charting her navigation through Groundwork's murky waters as its first artist-in-residence, leaves me little to add except 'that's right, that's what we're doing and yes I was there that day'.
So, I guess I need to be the pizza dough to Clare's many toppings.
Do I step back to the past and recount the journey so far? Or travel off into the future of possible outcomes? Maybe neither, shall I linger here a while in the present and pick over some musings on what contemporary art can do for Groundwork? Ignoring that word 'do' for a second, I feel my role as Strategic Arts Coordinator (no, really) has a couple of important elements. One thing that is paramount is engaging with high quality contemporary art and artists, and making sure that is always a focus of why we are doing this at all. Beyond that, I feel that on occassion I will want to focus on a particular project at Groundwork and develop a project/programme around that. Other times, it may be a focus on one of our thematic interests (community, business, youth, land, employment, education), beyond any particular project taking place. One may be to promote/support an initiative, one to explore and raise wider issues for discussion.
So, what's in the pipeline? Clare and I are currently working with a social enterprise in Paignton to hopefully produce a limited edition artwork. We have plans for how this will be launched, but we're keeping mum til we know what's what.
Hopefully, a new joint residency between Groundwork and ZEST (an NHS run initiative) will be finalised soon. Again, more when the selection etc. has been finalised.
Thirdly, along with Dave Johns, I hope to open an artist-led space in Plymouth. To be called Outlet.
Outlet:
is a project space
is artist-led
is just the beginning
is socially-engaged
will provide a platform for dissemination
will host events, residencies and exhibitions
will punch above its weight
will have more questions than answers
knows that size doesn't matter and that small is beautiful

Once again, none of this is finalised so we will just have to wait and see.
I've just started to read (again - I always get sidetracked) Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard. So, what does it mean to be a socially-engaged when ther's no 'real' left to be engaged with?
Well, for a start, we won't be kicking off with a series of Brazilian residencies at Outlet. Beyond that, we'll have to wait and see...