Finding Maindee is coming to a close. Financially, the project closed on 28th February 2019, and we have now entered the final phase of reflection and evaluation.
Finding Maindee: Reflection & Evaluation
Finding Maindee is coming to a close. Financially, the project closed on 28th February 2019, and we have now entered the final phase of reflection and evaluation.
This blog post, and subsequent posts, will be used to formally and professionally evaluate what has happened; to reflect on what went well and what could have been improved, to document lessons learned, and to look to the future role of art, regeneration and place recognition in the lifespan of Maindee Unlimited.
The informal and the personal will inevitably creep into this evaluation, partly because that’s how I think and write, and also because I have become intrinsically intertwined with Finding Maindee, Maindee Unlimited and the library over the last three and half years.
Who am I?
I am all of these things, and some of these things define me (in alphabetical order): adult and community learning tutor, arts educator, cat’s mother, freelance photographer, Maindee resident (I have lived in the area for the last eight years), melophile*, wife.
I have a passion for communication in all its forms: written, verbal, visual and virtual, and an overarching aim is to contribute positively and effectively to the health and wellbeing of my given community.
*Noun. One who loves music.
I became a trustee for Maindee Unlimited in June 2015, at the beginning of Finding Maindee’s second year of funding. There was a call for trustees with an arts background, and as a photographic artist with experience in galleries, community arts spaces and arts education, I vaguely fit the bill.
I became the ‘arty’ trustee and supported the Project Manager at meetings, seminars and conferences for Ideas:People:Places (IPP), alongside the Programme Manager, Communications Manager, and various artists and creative practitioners involved in Finding Maindee.
In July 2018, I became the Project Manager.
Reflection & Evaluation
The previous project manager had been a prolific blogger, using this blog to document and record the journey, and communicate progress to the outside world (to internal and external stakeholders alike). But I couldn’t keep up!
My final resolution, as I draw the project to a close, is to return to the blog: to use it as a tool for reflection and evaluation; to revisit stages of the project, blog posts, images and decisions; and to report on lessons learnt on an individual level, and lessons learnt on an organisational level.