Ordsall Community Arts

By celebrating people’s pride in dog ownership, and appealing to the ease of conversation between dog owners, they hoped to encourage creativity in local adults; particularly those from the Ordsall Estate. The dog show was organised on the nearby park by Ordsall Community Arts, in partnership with the Salford NHS health improvement team, Salford Ranger Service and the Friends of Ordsall Park. They attracted interest early on by talking to dog owners on the street or in the park, and by visiting people’s homes.

Community Groups
The St. Clements’ group had asked Ordsall Contemporary Arts for help programming workshops and events to get them going, and were keen on making things to raise money for their group. Together they ran workshops creating stuffed dogs, as models for the dog show drawing workshops, with textile artist Beth Garland. Group members turned their hand to textile processes like drawing, design, template making and cutting out.

Ordsall Community Arts also worked with three other community groups, making more textile dogs with Beth Garland, as well as ceramic model dogs with artist Marie Cash. They involved two residents groups and a day centre for adults with learning or physical disabilities. The use of textiles and clay developed new skills and, for many participants, this was their first art-making experience as an adult. The workshop with residents of New Barracks Estate produced a large temporary outdoor paper mural on the gable end of Gloucester Street, ’The Gloucester Street Sausage Dog’. The group experimented with conté and pastels before making a giant rubbing of the underlying red brick onto the paper, making a collective image of a dog in a fun way.  The workshop generated a lot of interest from passers by, and a positive impression on the street.

Ordsall Community Arts plan to curate an exhibition at the end of their project, featuring dog portraits, dog stories/histories, clay dogs, stuffed dogs and drawings of live and stuffed dogs.

The Ordsall Dog Show
The Sunday afternoon dog show was a fun event offering drawing activities and competitions. The aim was to engage and support the local dog owners while encouraging them to try-out new skills. Dogs and owners took part in creating a Hollywood Boulevard style pavement of paw prints with the dogs’ names. Visitors were invited to make drawings from large outlines of different dog breeds. There was also advice on good dog-ownership, canine health checks and green living. Free micro-chipping provided by the RSPCA was very popular. The project was a step forward in tackling the low confidence in learning participation among many of the adults attending.