Serendipity

At my studio, early 2022, I was busy with a long-term body of work exploring age and fragility and researching on my laptop. A notification pinged about a new stream of grant funding from Wakefield Council.

Interesting.

Could I apply for a Culture Grant to help me bring this work to exhibition?

First task: find a venue. I looked and looked again but couldn’t find anything that seemed suitable for the work. One suggestion made was the newly refurbished Visitor’s Centre at Anglers Country Park. I was intrigued, but on reflection decided it didn’t match the work. Nonetheless, I made an appointment to visit the space a week later, just with a view to keeping it in mind for future projects.

A couple of days later, another notification on a friend’s Facebook about a new group – The Friends of Waterton’s Wall. I scrolled down. Something started to fizz in my head. I spent some time looking at the group’s posts and thinking about the wall. A germ of an idea.

The visit to Anglers Country Park came around quickly. Like many people, I had visited ACP many times to enjoy a walk round the lake, grab a coffee at the café terrace and maybe use the loo but I did think of it as an outside venue, so I was surprised and delighted to discover the lovely, airy inside space, housing both permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Abby King, the Visitor Experiences Manager showed me round. Tentatively I suggested an exhibition about Waterton’s wall and possibly linking up with the Friends’ group.

What did she think?

Yes, that would be good!

From the carpark, I phoned my friend, John, whose Facebook post about the FoWW group I’d seen. His house was on my way home.

Could I call in with an idea?

Yes!

Over impromptu coffee I explained my very sketchy plans. Would the Friends Group be interested in a collaboration? Would it be of use to them? John welcomed the idea with his usual infectious enthusiasm. “We’re having a launch event at the village hall tonight for the Friends’ Group. Why don’t you come along?”