Flameworks Ignite : Education

How: By using a little imagination and a lot of hard graft Flameworks volunteers will be clearing out a storage space, putting up walls, creating a corridor for access, knocking a doorway through to the kitchen, painting the walls, resin sealing the floor, installing lighting, electrical sockets, heating and a projector. To transform a storage space into an education area for the local community & artists to access for projects, workshops & teaching.

Who for: The local community, Flameworks associate members and studio holders will be able to book to use the area as a clean space for teaching, projects and workshops. There is a huge demand for affordable art classes in Plymouth and this project will help us meet the community's needs by providing them.

Who are Flameworks: Flameworks is a Not for Profit, Community Interest Company managed by a board of directors and volunteers, in an industrial unit with waterfront views in the heart of Devonport, Plymouth. Now one of the largest managed workspaces for Devon and Cornwall.

Flameworks Artist Studios hosts a community of professional artists ranging from painters and illustrators to blacksmiths and sculptors.  

Established in 2000 by former staff and students of Plymouth College of Art, Flameworks provides communal facilities and equipment for artists and recent graduates to continue their professional practice. 

Why: Flameworks has a high number of artists and associate members who want to teach and share their skills. There isn’t the space to accommodate more than a couple of people in artists’ individual studios. Repurposing this storage area will allow artists to offer taught classes, enable associate members and community groups to book the venue for external events and enable Flameworks to continue to run their popular life drawing sessions on site. Flameworks artists and associates have a successful track record of working with community groups and schools, this will create opportunities for a wider audience to engage in arts education.

Rewards:  All of our rewards have been kindly donated by our talented artists. These range from £5 for a glass dangly decoration pictured far right, £10 for seaside themed enamel pendants and ceramic mandala pendants, £25 to create a keepsake of your childrens hands cast into a plaster bowl all the way to £300 for a one off, beautifully distorted Metamorphic Body Pen Drawing by Flameworks Managing Director.

Our other fabulous rewards include a massive 4ft Kraken sculpture for £750 created at flameworks by our workshop director and crowdfunder video star Piers, original mixed media collages from £90 and beautiful bright glass vessels from £130 or you could even opt to have your very own pet portrait sketched for £100.

More pictures of our rewards will be posted to our facebook page!

For more information about us visit www.flameworks.org or find Flameworks on facebook.

Project Start date: 1st November 2016

Proposed Project Completion: 30th December 2016

Where: The new Ignite Education Area location is a former storage space at Flameworks, 7 Richmond Walk, Devonport, Plymouth PL1 7LL.

Little bit of extra info: Associate members benefit from being able to hire specialist equipment such as forges, pottery wheels, kilns and lampworking torches for metalwork, glass, ceramics and jewellery making.  Associate membership starts at £30 a year.

Help us Ignite. A new community and art education area for Plymouth.

Cost breakdown: