Paul Bradley : Art : Community Development

Video Poetry

Paul — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:37:24 +0000

I have been working on 2 new short films with the talented Stephanie Christie. These are both ‘video poems’. I’m really excited about this new direction for my animation and I’ll be uploading these new works later this week.

New Upcoming Projects

Paul — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:28:13 +0000

I’m looking forward to some exciting projects coming up. This weekend, our rumpus room will be turned into a hive of sleep-deprived energy as our team puts together our 48 Hours of Film-making entry. We are planning to do it all as animation which will certainly be a good challenge.

Also coming up, is the Hamilton Fringe Festival. I am involved in a couple of projects I am really excited about, so watch this space!

The Waikato Show

Paul — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:19:08 +0000

As part of the team at Arts Waikato, we ran kids arts activities as part of The Waikato Show. We had hundreds of kids come through over the three days, and had a blast. The highlight for me was hosting ‘Velvet’, the giant eel tapestry. We were able to hang over 40 metres of her in the hall, and made our own stunning section for this project with the kids.

Mangaohoi Stream Care Group Youth Art Project

Paul — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:09:52 +0000

I was honoured to spend a morning helping out with this wonderful project in Te Awamutu. This fabric-based art project was combined with education about the flora and fauna of the stream, a history overview by Jenny, and some planting afterwards. What a great day out for the kids and young people. The kids were full of awesome energy!

The Legends Project

Paul — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:15:21 +0000

A collaborative community art project, made almost entirely out of cardboard!

A group of creative people from the Hutt Valley have been working with artist and facilitator Paul Bradley to create artworks on the theme of personal and cultural legends and heroes. With Sharmila Pillay, Yasanthi Subasinghe, Rowel Madrisa, Helen Williamson, Jojo Garcia Jowett, Mecca Garcia Bowman, Maxine Edwards, Catherine Green, Steve Burroughs and Graham Wolf.

Celebrating love, strength and courage.

Please check www.hvca.org.nz or call 04 5683488 for weekly
opening times or check the door sign.

Prison Art Tutoring

Paul — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:09:54 +0000

Since 2007 I have been working as a prison art tutor in Rimutaka and Wellington Prisons teaching drawing and painting to adult men on a weekly basis. The prison community is a very specific one with unique needs. Understanding and working with these needs is crucial to the success of my work. Prisoners lives usually involve very little initiative or creativity so I see it as important to the mental health and rehabilitation of these men to foster these attributes. I believe that connecting with creativity can be a key part of rehabilitation. I aim to empower these men by working with them to set and achieve goals – however big or small. I often see significant shifts in self esteem amongst the inmates, which is immensely encouraging.

Read more about my work in prison here, or watch the TVNZ7 documentary.

Catchment Community

Paul — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:55:55 +0000

I am the arts facilitator for Catchment Community. This is a community lead art project based in Happy Valley in Wellington. The site is next to the old Bagel Factory on Happy Valley Road next to the Owhiro Bay Stream. The project is open to whoever wants to be involved. We aim to complete the creative process by the end of 2011, and to have the artwork(s) built and installed by February 2012. We are running this project to strengthen the local community, provide an opportunity to connect with an important piece of land and stream, and to create a destination - a place for people to enjoy and spend time.

We believe that community lead projects are important as the outcome will benefit from the diversity of people involved. The artwork will be relevant to the site, to local communities, and to those involved in the process.

What will we make? At this stage we don’t know! This is because the artwork will come out of a facilitated process. In other words, the people involved will decide.

We are in the beginning stages of this project, so please feel free get in touch with us if you would like to be involved.

For more information, and the most recent news regarding this project, please visit the blog.

Crossing Lines

Paul — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:43:25 +0000

More than 400 people involved in the Māori, Somali and artistic communities of South Wellington worked together on this project to find common threads and ways of examining some of the challenges they face. This process culminated in Crossing Lines - a professional theatre show backed by an exhibition.

My role in this project was video installation designer and exhibition designer. Working with members of the community and the material produced over the 3 years of this project was an interesting, challenging, and rewarding process.

Read more about the project here and read a review of the performance here.

Live Drawing with The Mamaku Project

Paul — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 06:10:33 +0000

mamakuvj.mp4

This summer I have been performing live drawing visuals with The Mamaku Project. I make one drawing per song, layering it up with textural loops and projecting it onto a big screen. Here’s a little sample for you.
(takes a little while to start playing after you click on it depending on your connection)

Flourishing for everyBODY

Paul — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:12:49 +0000

Poster illustration for Mental Health Awareness Week.