Friday 14 August '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

Youtube uploads

Re-live on video - or catch if you didn't first time - Sir Nicholas Serota's praise for Lawson Park, given in his launch speech in June.

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 14/08/09 at 14:57 0 Comments

Tuesday 28 July '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

Matt & Ross do the Penguin Donkey

Dog Elephant Castle

Matt (currently at Lawson Park) and Ross are doing a show at Elephant and Castle, it's called 'Together at the Junction', well that's the name the curators jottaCONTEMPORARY have given it. it brings together a group of artists to do stuff about the old shopping precinct in the run up to it's demolition, the once cool modernist building having fallen into 'varied' use and had the indignity of being painted pink may want to be put out of it's misery but there's a few years more to go and I suspect some further indignities to suffer.

Matt and Ross have run with the idea of the journey and the transformations that we go through in making them. They have taken the various versions of the Penguin Donkey - originally design in 1936 subsequently reworked in the 60's and further transformed more recently for Lawson Park. The artists have added further additions layering the original yet further and presented the beasts as a parade. They've also made a vast amount of Kendal Mint Cake.

Go and see/taste it at Unit 316 Lower Ground Floor, Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre 30th July to 2nd August, 12 - 6pm the opening is on Wednesday night 6 - 9pm for a more party feel

for more information try www.jotta.com 

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 28/07/09 at 02:02 4 Comments

Topics: 'corsica studios' 'Elephant Rooms' 'Penguin Donkey'

Monday 27 July '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

NGS Open Garden - Phew!

A swathe of annuals and wildflowers frames Lawson Park

A big thanks to all who braved the rain to work at or visit the charity open garden held yesterday for the National Garden Scheme - especially Julie, Meg, Matt, Sophie, Alison & Joe & family, David and Chris.

Sadly the weather had a big impact on visitor numbers compared to last year's 200-odd, but as the third launch we've done here this summer the odds were against us for three sunny days on demand.....

One of the garden's star performers was a very simple but stunning carpet of annuals flowering just 8 weeks after sowing, right outside the hostel. By popular demand, here's  a link to the Pictorial Meadows online shop, where the 'Candy' flower seed mix we used (see pic) can be bought.

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 27/07/09 at 11:14 0 Comments

Saturday 25 July '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

NGS Open Garden Day at Lawson Park - Sunday 26th July 12- 6pm

The gardens are again open under the NGS scheme, Karen's sister Alison has arrived to make her unbelievably good cakes and the masses of children are weeding the garden to death. We are also happy to have Chris Cavalier from Somewhere's What Will the Harvest Be? project at Abbey Gardens in London working with us over the weekend.

Visit the NGS website here 

NB No visitor car access to site, please walk or use our shuttle minibus from Machell's Coppice on East of Lake road.

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 25/07/09 at 12:40 0 Comments

Tuesday 14 July '09
(from Lawson Park Blog)

Sir Nick Serota launches Lawson Park

The Director of Tate pictured here with local dignitaries at our opening on July 10th.

Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1717/ on 14/07/09 at 17:34 0 Comments

Saturday 4 July '09
(from Lawson Park Blog)

Launch-e-rama

Adam with Eric Robson, uber-Cumbrian and broadcaster at the local launch

Friday 10th July from 1pm sees Launch No. 2 at Lawson Park with fantasy art guest Nick Serota kicking off!

Info from / RSVP to Alistair on alistair@grizedale.org / 015394 41050

Transport (no visitor cars on site, 'fraid) cakes, sausages, horse milk and an afterparty at the Coniston Institute - how can you say no?

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 04/07/09 at 23:37

Sunday 28 June '09
(from Lawson Park Blog)

The mothership relaunches

The hostel dining room at Lawson Park

Eric Robson opens Lawson Park

Wapke Feenstra & Fernando Dory at the new Honesty Stall

One of the new artist's bedrooms

Apologies for an extended blog hiatus due to various webby issues plus the distractions of a final massive push on finishing the Lawson Park buildings - but as if by magic (not) the new Grizedale Arts HQ at Lawson Park was opened to the public on June 25th 09, with an opening speech from broadcaster and Cumbria Tourism Chair Eric Robson.

Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1715/ on 28/06/09 at 19:21 0 Comments

Saturday 27 June '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

The Big Day!

Eric Robson's opening speech

The broadcaster & Cumbria Tourism chair launches the new HQ at Lawson Park June 25th 2009

Director Adam Sutherland with guest Eric Robson

Intern Matt tries the delicious nosh

What a day - many hands made light work! Great food c/o Alistair's mother-in-law, great flowers c/o Meg and a very good speech from Mr Robson, bringing together Ruskin, Grizedale and land use very neatly indeed.

And saying the gardens were "superb" too (!)

Phew - now onto the 10th and the art crowd....

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 27/06/09 at 21:28 0 Comments

Topics: 'celebration' 'launch' 'lawson park'

Thursday 25 June '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

24 hrs to go!

Matt wrestles with light

Meg, high on housework

Web guy Dorian in the library

The scene at Lawson Park as we ready it for its local launch today, many thanks to volunteer Meg Falconer who really put in the hours, as did web guru Dorian Moore and interns Sophie Perry and Matt Do...

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 25/06/09 at 12:42 0 Comments

Friday 19 June '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

No sleep till Coniston

Escapism on Hackney's No.25 bus

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 19/06/09 at 22:34 0 Comments

Wednesday 17 June '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

Len's Gift

Len and some of his work

Len is the grandfather of artist Matt Do (of Matt & Ross fame), he recently visited Lawson Park along with a goodly sector of the Matt clan  - Matt is currently working (very hard) with us in the lead up to the opening on the 25th. Len who is 86, still works as a gardener not too mention maintaining his other interests, including wood turning. He brought a group of his turned bowls and other items as a gift for the collection. He also took a chunk of wood away with him to make into Lawson Park pens for us - now thats what I call a grandfather.

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 17/06/09 at 19:03 1 Comment

Wednesday 17 June '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

Poppy abuse

Blue Bayou

The brilliant blue Himalayan poppies have been attracting the passing visitors into the garden to take photographs, which we all thought was rather nice, until we discovered that they had also been pulling up the plants for the unripened seed heads and dumping litter and banana and orange skins, it does rather put you off being welcoming.

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 17/06/09 at 08:09 0 Comments

Friday 5 June '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

A storm cloud over the 21st century

1723hrs and a big storm has hit the Vittoriale. Here's hoping the power holds out....

Posted by Alistair Hudson on 05/06/09 at 16:22 0 Comments

Friday 5 June '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

Arriveriaderci

All aboard

Jonathan, banners and bones do Pirates of the Caribbean meets The Great Dictator

Even though the final push at Lawson Park is well underway, projects continue apace, just to try and prove we are not going to be a slave to our building like other art institutions. Though the bags under my eyes reveal why it's a hell of a lot easier just to do one thing at a time.

So I've buggered off for two days to Lake Garda to finally realise our project with Jonathan Meese, to make a performance from Vittoriale degli Italiani, one time home of futurist poet and militarist Gabriel d'Annunzio and now a beautiful and extraordinary visitor attraction. The hanging gardens provide a gentle green backdrop to the monumental stone constructions celebrating dictatorship.

The best gardening touch of all is the battleship Puglia rammed into the hillside and merged with a network of granite paths, the most impressive garden terrace I've ever seen.

On deck, with Garda stretching out behind it, is Jonathan painting flags and fascist memorabilia all the time being filmed by his cameraman Jan. One tourist/culture offianado got a bit steamed up over the imagery and you can see why. Looking forward to the party tonight with all the dignitaries and skeletons with Hitler mustaches.

We seem to be all set up for the webcast, wunderkind webmaster Dorian remains chipper and so too is Jonathan, happy in this balmy enclave of dictatorial splendor.

tune in turn on drop the tiny mustache 

www.dannunzioz.org

Posted by Alistair Hudson on 05/06/09 at 13:28 0 Comments

Monday 25 May '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

We plough the fields and scatter

Ladina Fessler working on Lawson Park's meadow

This Bank Holiday sees us reinstating what was the lawn bit of the wlldflower meadow in front of Lawson Park -underneath this soil is the equivalent of a small house containing the water and drainage for the new hostel. Here's our jolly Swiss intern Ladina weeding....

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 25/05/09 at 10:14 0 Comments

Topics: 'wildflower meadow'

Sunday 17 May '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

Nordic Eightsome

Loose suit Jack

Just back from a most untimely trip to Denmark and Sweden looking at craft and design. A full account of the ins and outs of the world of mid century modernism and other things like, what is craft for? you can look at the trip's own website and blog http://www.formingideas.co.uk/view/blog - it was an Arts Council event to look at how to develop crafts in the UK.

I was interested to see Paul Potts - whom I initially mistook for Jack Dee - plastered very large outside the Danish Crafts Council, the poster promoted the very recently unknown Paul with the fact that he has had 60 million hits on You Tube - interesting no?

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 17/05/09 at 06:24 0 Comments

Wednesday 13 May '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

Holy Trinity

Chair exhibition

Morris, Guille, Lyons, three great UK designers from the 1940's and 50's all ready to move into Lawson Park, barr a little upholstery including Adam Chodzko's Leather jacket intervention

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 13/05/09 at 22:29 0 Comments

Sunday 3 May '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

The Long Goodbye

Lunchtime drinking starts already at Lawson Park

Lisa Stewart has been gamely managing the building project here at Lawson Park for yonks and recently those of us left on site now it's (kinda) finished (a few builders, Adam, me, Lisa & Alistair) cracked open the champagne to christen the building and to thank her in the best way we know how.

Lisa's hands in the photo show she's earned that mug of bubbly.

Lisa will be back and forth for a while yet tying up loose ends and plans to relocate to Ireland in the near future.

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 03/05/09 at 21:25 0 Comments

Tuesday 21 April '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

The poster that never was, (nor should have been?!)

GA director Adam as John Ruskin (Photo: Karen Guthrie)

One of the nicest GA days out recently was onto the hills for a photoshoot with a pony, a prop 'big heid' from one of Pope & Guthrie's old projects, a graffiti-ed truncheon and Adam. Sadly the project for which this memorable image was produced has been aborted - NOT - I must add -  because of this picture...

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 21/04/09 at 11:40 0 Comments

Topics: 'John Ruskin' 'Whitworth Art Gallery'

Tuesday 14 April '09
(from Grizedale Arts Blog)

Wildflower Survey

We've received a fascinating detailed examination of the beautiful 1 hectare meadow that Lawson Park overlooks, from the Cumbria Hay Meadows project. There are 30 native plant species present apparently, but its steepness makes it unsuited as a formal seed-donor site for others trying to establish native meadows unfortunately, as equipment struggles on the slopes.

It's all a far cry from the downright ignorant complaint we had about the meadow after last year's NGS charity open day: "There were no wildflowers to be seen". Clearly a blindfolded visitor.

Anyhow, the report recommends:

• Manage the whole parcel for its floristic and habitat interest, focussing on the species rich neutral grassland , tall herb vegetation and small parcel of oak woodland.
• Re-instate a cutting and preferably grazing regime over the area.
• Sow the area of disturbed ground below the building with a suitable seed mix and manage with the rest of the herb rich neutral grassland sward.

You can read more about the Cumbria Hay Meadows Project here. Email us if you'd like to receive a copy of the whole report or if indeed you'd like some hand-harvested seed this summer, to start your own meadow.

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 14/04/09 at 14:51 0 Comments

Topics: 'biodiversity' 'seed' 'uplands' 'wildflower meadow'