Having been stalking Grizedale Arts' website for a while I was excited about the opporuntity of volunteering for a week at their headquarters; Lawson Park Farm in the Grizedale Forest. I wanted to find about more about the organisation and offering my time and labour seemed like a great way to see what they do.

The opportunity to work outside on the grounds and discover how gardens can be creative was fantastic and also sweaty!  The regular tea breaks and communal lunches were a great chance chat to Adam (Director) and Alistair (Lead Officer) and learn about how art can be useful, serve the community and also creative.  During my stay I saw how Grizedale Arts work with a community using the land around them and building relationships with people through useful creative projects.  Some highlights from the visit were: learning to mow the lawn, Monday’s village lunch, making pies and gnochi with Adam and working with Pippa at the Coniston Institute.  This experience has left me with the questions is this useful? What’s the purpose of this? every time I do or make something this is definitely something to think about… no I mean do about!

Check out the Coniston Institute and other Grizedale Arts projects at: http://www.grizedale.org/projects/