art walk porty

The Art Walk Porty started yesterday. Under the title of ‘Vessel’, it feels like it has  a larger, more ambitious programme than in the past – to get the most from it you need four leaflets. And, as David Calder found out from curator Rosy Naylor, the bounds of this year’s event extend well beyond just Portobello.

The Friends of the Prom was formally set up three years ago as a charity. Its objectives include the organisation of recreational activities on the Prom, helping to promote the arts, heritage, and culture present on the Prom and working to improve and protect the environment of the Promenade itself, the beach and the waters of the Forth. Understandably, its activities have been fairly quiet over the last 15 months; however, it held its AGM by Zoom on Thursday evening to take a look forward, to how it might work as restrictions are eased.

https://www.facebook.com/friendsofportyprom/
https://www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/keep.porty.tidy/
https://www.artwalkporty.co.uk/
https://pskc.org.uk/
https://www.beachwheelchairs.org/portobello
https://www.facebook.com/EDINBURGHBEACHVC/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/wildonesedinburgh/
https://www.facebook.com/walktheforth/

The past year has been hard for so many people and businesses. We have become used to working from home, online meetings on Zoom, Microsoft Teams or one of the other online services, as well as home schooling and not being able to travel far for work of leisure. The Chancellor offered some help through the furlough scheme – but it didn’t apply to everyone, such as the self-employed, artists and musicians. Portobello has a large community of artists and they have struggled because the galleries are closed. Porty Podcast Producer David Calder spoke to one of them, Jenny Martin.
 
Jenny's Instagram Site: https://www.instagram.com/jennymartinart/
Jenny's Website: https://jennymartinartist.co.uk/

When David Calder set up the Porty Podcast back in 2016, he never thought it would last much beyond Christmas, much less 200 episodes four and a half years later. The thing about Portobello is that it has a strong community spirit with a lot of quite strong-minded and determined people wanting to make things happen and to make things better for the community. So in this episode, David looks back through the previous 199 – and starts by reminding us about why the podcast came about in the first place.

It’s Monday the 8th of February and welcome to the 7th edition of Porty News from the Porty Podcast. I’m David Calder

 Art Walk Porty has ambitions to involve more communities than just Portobello, though we’ll remain very much at its heart. One example of this is called ‘Line Walk Mindful Drawing’ which is part of an ongoing residency in Craigmillar and surrounding area. Led by the artist, Jonathan Baxter, and running throughout this year, it involves a monthly walk through Little France Park. The original plan was to hold the walks on the first Saturday of each month but, after lockdown, they have now been adapted to cope with social distancing regulations. Although the aim is to get outside, those who are housebound or restricted by travel can still enjoy the experience by looking at the photographs and reading the reflections posted on its Facebook Page. One example of this was written by Jenny Glover, who wrote about her perspective of the walk held last month. What intrigued me was her comment that “Mindful walking is slow and silent. Instead of just marching along, casting an occasional glance at the Castle or checking that you're not walking on an iced up puddle, mindful walking allows people to actually listen to the sounds of nature, look at the plants, smell, taste and not just walk along, noticing nothing much.” You can read her full description from the 3rd of January on that Facebook Page.

 The walks are free, the route is fully wheel chair accessible, and no drawing expertise needed but you do need to book. There are links to Art Walk Porty and the relevant page of the booking site Eventbrite in the transcript of this bulletin.

Art Walk Porty: http://www.artwalkporty.co.uk/
Project Page: https://www.facebook.com/linewalkmindfuldrawing
Eventbright: https://bit.ly/2OfbhPT

It’s now the second week in February and that marks the mid-term break for local schools. And Portobello High School for example has applauded its young people for the way they have coped over the past 5 weeks of online learning! The school praises them for their resilience, diligence and resourcefulness in the way they have adapted to the current situation. As they point out, they would MUCH rather be together in person but it had been great to connect with the young learners online! The school staff hope that all can enjoy the short break!

 A couple of light hearted items. We mentioned how Portobello Rugby Club were planning to follow Scotland at Twickenham at the weekend – wasn’t that a great match? But I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the video produced by BT called the Scottish Hype Train which featured past Porty Captain Chris Thomas and his daughters. Again you can find the link in the transcript.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1357798997319184385

 And finally, it was lovely to see the photographs people have taken of the otter in the Figgate Burn over the past few days – and also those of the young seal which had come ashore on Porty beach. Some passers-by had worried about it but the SSPCA told them it would be fine – and indeed, it quickly scampered back into the sea.

 That’s it for today. More tomorrow

You may have thought that Art Walk Porty lasted just for two weekends in September. However, it has long been an ambition of curator Rosy Naylor to have events which last much longer. One of those starts this afternoon at the Kilns in Bridge Street. 

It’s a residency lasting through until the end of February in which the artist, Nicky Bird, seeks to commemorate the lives and work of a group of women known as ‘The Decorators’ who worked in the now long gone potteries in the area. She had considerable help identifying the women and finding photographs from that bygone era from Dr Margaret Munro of the Portobello Heritage Trust. 

David Calder went to meet Nicky at the Kilns to find out more.

https://www.artwalkporty.co.uk/2019/nickybird.html
http://www.portobelloheritagetrust.co.uk/

This year’s Art Walk Porty is bigger than ever – and full of surprises. This is ‘art’ in its broadest possible sense. For example, you will be able to walk into someone’s house, sit down by a window and listen to the sounds of a night walk through the Amazon jungle. You’ll be able to take part in walks and cycle rides through parts of the area you may never have visited before. And while it officially lasts just a short time in September, aspects of it will last all though until next year’s Art Walk.

One of the first workshops at Art Walk Porty which starts next weekend is rather unusual. It’s called ‘Drawn to Dance’ and will be held at Bellfield on Saturday morning. It’s part of series of workshops created by the artist Jenny Smith, all of which ask: “What are YOU drawn to?” The aim is to get people to express themselves, letting their imaginations run free. 

The workshop is a collaboration between Jenny and Sarena Wolfaard who has been working with what she describes as 'conscious dance' for 15 years. Between them, they encourage participants to start with dance but then go on to create something visual as well, using chalk and charcoal to produce images on paper scattered across the floor or on tables. David Calder went to meet her.

The workshop costs £35 if booked in advance (£45 on the door) and places are limited. They can be booked online by following the link below

https://tinyurl.com/y2zfbdtd