The first public workshops - 'The Insect Imaginarium' or 'Stick & Build'.
Gluing squares of tissue paper onto cardboard with pritt stick sounds easy, but cold fingers, a slight breeze and not being able to find the scissors from one second to the next, made this task trickier than anticipated.
Jim arrived with lots of wood, started to saw, drill and screw and during the day, nose to the grindstone, made the framework for our display boxes. He had lots of chats with curious passer-byes and was given advice on how to handle his drill properly.
Rozi went in search for frames and decorative treasures from the market. Her task, to build up our display cases, in those spare moments between documenting the activity, discussing the museum, talking to interested members of the public and directing buyers for teeshirts to the correct stall holder.
At 10.30am Ben and Liz had their first workshop participant, and didn't look up again until 3pm. (Apart from a cup of tea and some chips whilst preparing more plates)
Plasticene, tissue paper and beads were the materials used and were rolled, pressed, shaped, felt-penned and glued into marvelous beasts. Insects with goggly eyes, insects with 6, 4 or 2 legs, multi-coloured creatures, flattened ones, bulky ones, grimacing ones and smiling ones. The exhibits finished were given names such as 'Spotus Bugus' and 'Sparkly Winged Thing', donated to the museum, and pegged up to dry.
Families worked together, shoppers stopped and watched, an art worker came for ideas, all talked about their creations, what we were doing and what they liked to do. Children said that they wanted to come back and join in on other workshops and one family said they would make some insects at home to give to the museum the following Saturday.
By the end of the day the 'Dewsbury Museum of Delights' had its first fantastic exhibits on display, two gloriously framed posters, a wall of papier-mached exhibition cases, and some very happy, if slightly hyperthermic, participants and artists.
The next Saturday workshop on the 21st March will be 'Ink & Stamp'. Liz & Jim will be there on Wednesday to prepare for this and make more objects for the collection.
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