Encounters Shop Andover Findings and Recommendations Ruth Ben-Tovim Creative Director Encounters Arts
Overview From 15th May - 16th June Encounters Arts set up shop at 91 High Street to engage local residents Commissioned by Test Valley Borough Council as part of the public art programme for the town Worked with a team of local practitioners to offer Invitations to Join in that enabled people to leave memories, stories, images and ideas about the past, present and future of Andover
Project Goals To create a temporary meeting place with an inviting environment where it is possible for people to focus on the place in which they live and to express their thoughts, aspirations and ideas for the town To inspire creativity dialogue and exchange between people of all ages and cultures To train and work with a local creative team to deliver the project and ensure that the shop becomes a central point for local people and communities Create dynamic displays in the shop Collate the results into a full report
Key Achievements � 1040 people of all ages and backgrounds visited the Andover Shop many returning more than once The Shop opened for 24 days including Sunday Market Days The shop hosted group visits from Andover College, Chapel Arts Associate Artists, Andover Trees united, Test Valley Creative Network, Broken Poetz, Transition Town Andover Approx 120 pepole attended the three performance events on the final weekend Over 600 people engaged with Town Interventions Millenium Man visited 10 diverse businesses and sites across Andover
Invitations to Join in A Metnod of Engaging
Key Insights People have a deep attachment to the town People passionately want the town centre to be a destination place for themselves, their families and others and they have ideas to contribute People want more ways to access information about what is going on in the town on a grassroots level as well as a statutory level
Key Insights People were very quick to flip from detachment and a degree of cynicism to full engagement once they realised that the shop space was genuinely focused on ‘them’ and their ideas and experiences People do not feel listened to and there is a strong feeling of disempowerment and disillusionment about the possibility of change A sense of pride in Andover, a town that people love, is buried below the surface. Shop visitors deeply appreciated the celebration on a human scale of Andover people and place and that sense of pride was quick to come to the surface
Key Insights People feel strongly about the development of the new town centre in the 60’ s and its impact on the character of the town and on community connection. To some degree the ‘story’ of Andover is stuck in this moment of change and remains unresolved/unrecognised People working on individual projects, events or issues often feel isolated and alone and want to join up with others and be supported to develop their own ideas.
Key Insights People want more community led spaces that are of high quality, contemporary and accessible Andover holds a very diverse community, with people having come from or travelled to manny parts of the world before settling here. The extent of this diversity is not widely known or celebrated within the town
Key Recommendations people have a clear vision of how they would like their town to be Diversity/flexibility of offer Connecting with Nature Creating a sense of community for all age Developing incentives for local social and business enterprise Overall vision for the future was of a colourful, vibrant place with something for everyone, and at its heart a sense of a caring community
Diversity & Flexibility of offer � There is a need to create an animated and flexible High Street that can be used for a variety of events and daily use Extended Markets, live music & performance, community events, running into the evening enlivens the culture of the town Zoning the Town Centre/High Street by creating ‘Rooms’ using greenery, mosaic or markers dedicated to different types of activity. Zones developed through innovative temporary public art commissions alongside permanent landscaping Innovative Whole Town annually themed events that draw people from across the region and use artists to engage and catalyse different communities of interest. Develop the Carnival and re invent the Mardi Gras as one of the above for contemporary audiences Establish an Annual Andover Sheep Fayre
The Chantry Wall Mount a large digital screen on the wall or project from the Guildhall Commission public art works for projection that invite participation from the community Offer the Screen for home movies of local events and activities Screen artworks by school children Screen data collected in the Encounters Shop - images/ inspirational messages/stories
Andover Flag Bunting Commission an Artist to creating bunting in the shape of luggage labels using imagery and text from the Encounters Shop. Bunting would be hung annually in a celebration of the start of the spring/summer - autumn
Connecting to the the natural environment Create connections through the town with trails and way markers to the river, parks, lakes and the lights. Utilise existing or planned trails Commission artists to work on the heritage trail, involving groups of people Create High Street Green spaces(zones) Create a riverside garden alongside Wilkinsons. Close the road making a grassy bank leading into the town centre Use stories from Encounters Andover Shop to create a new town centre trail in the paving
Imaginative Incentives for Supporting Andover Enterprise Research and Explore models for incentivising independent shops, small business with character unique to Andover & social enterprises � Establish a social enterprise pop up shop Extend small business pop up shops across Town Gather small business/ cultural industries together and showcase
A Sense of community for all ages A permanent community-led Space in the High Street for sharing, meeting, learning and doing Based on the Encounters Andover model of ‘Invitation to Join In’ engagement A hub run by a cross sector community network initial set up led by an established org e.g. Trees United, Chapel arts or a steering group Embedded programme of participatory public art. Funding ring fenced for five years as an alternative to monument public art. Becomes an International exemplar of social arts practice A Place for skills exchange, inter- generational meeting, information about past, present future of Andover, community voice
“A great chance to make a change & raise awareness for the culture of Andover” “Fantastic ideas hope great things grow out of this” “Looks like this little pop up shop should be a big success, councillors please come and take note of who your voters are “ “Great idea, we need more imaginative thinking” “Really enjoyed my visit it was great learning about the old Andover but even better to add our own ideas on a new Andover” “Brilliant idea, it’ s great to step back and look at all that is great about Andover”
Recommendations Diversity/flexibility of town Centre offer ( Zoning/annual events) Connecting with the natural environment Creating a sense of community for all ages ( permanent Hub/shop) Developing imaginative incentives for local social and business enterprise
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