I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
Influences
Alun Lewis the Poet from Cwmaman has been commemorated this year with an Orrey Sculpture which will be permantently sited on the side of Cwmaman Hall TODAY 15th June!!! and unveiled on Saturday 21st at 1pm.
Alun Lewis poems are the subject of the tracks now on this site, they are part of a 16 track CD.
See the latest image of the giant Alun Lewis Orrery installation here & at Cwmaman Hall CF44 6NY or at the fb group - CWMAMAN ENVIRONMENT FESTIVAL - Thanks to Lee Williams for the excellent photography and volunteering efforts at Cwmaman Sculpture over the last 2 months.
The CD is available from St Josephs and Queen Ti's cafe in Cwmaman for just £5 so please buy one, or listen to a couple of tracks free on www.myspace.com/cwmamansculpturetrail. Thanks to the 16 residents who came together to make this fantastic recording.
Sounds Like
Listen to You and yours radio 2 show about the environmental activities of the St Josephs' project @ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/04/2007_28_mon.shtml
CWMAMAN ENVIRONMENT & SCULPTURE FESTIVAL 2009
Current mood: anxious
Is it that time already ? , Yep is Cwmaman Festival 2009 time .
Cwmaman Environment & Sculpture Festival 2009 is about ready to kick off and shall commence from Monday 15th June though to Saturday 20th June
Cwmaman Community First have again pulled out all the stops to bring another jammed packed festival The only thing we can’t promise is the weather (but we’re working on it ) .
We’re please to say some of the old favourites make a return . With Radio 2 Terry Walton hosting Gardeners Question Time on Tuesday June 16th
Valleys Safari Trip courtesy of Dare Valley Country Park
The Pub Quiz on Thursday 18th, and of course the Sculpture’s will be back too
People who attended last year event , may remember there was a Polish theme , thanks to Robert Koenig and his Odyssey" exhibition
This year we’ll be talking on Shadows tone , thanls tp Rubin Eynon “The Orrery” completing proceedings on Saturday 20th .
The “Orrery” is a wall mounted sculpture inspired by Cwmaman late great poet Alun Lewis , and is to be erected on the side wall of Cwmaman Institute has both a fitting tribute to Aluan Lewis and his works , and also has let another landmark for Cwmaman .
And if that wasn’t enough Steven Nelson will be bringing Cwmaman newest Landmark with Cwmaman very own 35ft tall Climbing Wall on Saturday 20th .
Please come along and show your face All events are free, and all ages are more than welcome . By the Way
This is our newest sculpture - Wheeler's Wing by Rubin Eynon - completed saturday 7th March
Welcome to the Cwmaman Community Woodland and Sculpture Trail Site. This year we will be showing at least 3 new sculptures - QUANTAM WING by Rubin Eynon and The Drover's Rope Bench by Vic Doyle, and a mural at the side of Cwmaman Institute based on the life and times of local poet Alun Lewis. We also hope to commission a further 3 sculptures (Subject to funding), during Environment Week 14-20 June 2009 -Events will be announced nearer the time.
This month (Jan- March) Sees us reviewed on 2 pages of WELSH ART NOW - excerpt
Both these 45 minute long DVDs are available for just £6 each or £10 for the two - just telephone 01685 887120 to order.
2008 News: Cwmaman Community Woodlands won the "Woodland Award" from Keep wales Tidy for its work during 2008 to improve/create a new wooded landscape.
2008 News: The Cwmaman Poet Alun Lewis is being commemorated by the creation of a huge sculpture at Alice Place in Cwmaman. A series of community events are happening to further engage people in the story of his life and his work. See the Facebook Group "The poet Alun Lewis" for more information.
The Sculpture Trail gets involved in all forms of environmental activities and art activities in Cwmaman - see www.myspace.com/cwmamanmusicfestival
Enviro Festival 2008:-
The Events last from Monday 16th - Saturday 21st June inclusive.
Press Release
Subject: Cwmaman Environment Festival
Headline: GMTV Gardener Terry Walton to open a garden of Eden in Cwmaman
Terry Walton will be trading his trowel for a chainsaw and chisel for a week of wood sculpting and ECO events at Cwmaman’s new “Heritage & Enviro Centre”: St Josephs Church!
Terry will return after a year away with Radio 2 and the world famous Radio 2 Allotment in Llwynypia to cross the valley and rejoin friends and visitors to the 5th and biggest Enviro Festival at Cwmaman.
Also there will be 3 renowned sculptors in residence, Robert Koenig, Dave Lloyd and Tom Harvey, see tham using hand tools to carve 3 extra large sculptures. A Giant Roman, A Celtic Warrior, a 12 foot tall Saint Joseph and a crowd of 34 giant sculptures which are touring churches and cathedrals will also be on display to see smell and touch.
Organisers are boasting that visitors will be amazed to see total transformation of the church building and the neighbouring 15 acre ex colliery site.
Visitors will see that the church building is completely refurbished and now has exhibition space, computer access points, a café and a stage as well as the usual church facilities. During Environment week the entries and winners of the current photographic competition will be framed and on display.
Outside there are 12 larger than life oak sculptures permanently sited along new tarmac footpaths and new community woodland plantations/ nurserys, an arboretum and access to walks to Llanwynno, The Roman Camp, and Dare Valley Country Park.
A full programme of events is available from Cwmaman Library, St Josephs, and Aberdare Museum. Enquiries: Telephone Cwmaman Woodlands on 01685 887120
Or visit www.myspace.com/cwmamansculpturetrail
Contact
Vic Doyle
Jo James
Amanda Orrell
Stephen Nelson
On 01685 887120
Cwmaman Environment Week We will hold a Creative Cwmaman Week again 15-21 June this year and we welcome visitors and exhibitors. See the 2007 event on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ8TVxFcbKs
(Part 1 of 4) Cwmaman in Llanwynno Forest is a great base for walking, cycling, live music, real ale and particularly during this week, there will be entertainment, talks, music, and volunteering opportunities too! All our events are FREE admission. (We welcome any enquiries from artists, sculptors, visitors etc and will keep you informed of the itinerary Please note that this year we will be hosting the spectacular "Odyssey" exhibition - further info at www.robertkoenig-sculptor.com If you wish to book bed and breakfast in Cwmaman we have The Falcon Hotel which has it's own microbrewery boasting 6 local ales including the potent "Falcon Flyer" at 6% 01685 873758 Other accomodation see http://www.4hotels.co.uk/uk/aberdare.htmlPlease do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further interest
Vic Doyle
Arts Development Officer
Creative Communities
Cwmaman Communities First
The Library
Cwmaman Hall & Institute
Fforchaman Rd
Cwmaman
Aberdare
Rhondda Cynon Taff
Telephone 01685 887120
Mobile 07752475556
As you can see from the video above, the sculpture trail was recently used as a video shoot for touring jazz rock band "Humble grumble"
2007 News: Community Art and Regeneration in Cwmaman.
"Explore the new community woodland (Site under construction but nearly complete) surrounding +St Joseph's Church+ and Cwrt Alun Lewis and you will find an easily accessible sculpture trail *unique* in that it has been made for everyone to come and enjoy - for free. Come and find out more - we will be launching the site in the spring through this very forum and YOU will be invited - It's free to view and experience all year round so come and experience it whenever you like - It's yours to enjoy."
Creative Cwmaman DVD shows there is life “After the Coal House”
Cwmaman near Aberdare is a village of 4,000 people with a below average 18% of the population under 25 years of age. The town was flooded by the media spotlight in the 1996 when the village band the Stereophonics were signed by Richard Branson’s new V label and quickly joined the ranks of Cool Cymru joining The Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia and Tom Jones with an invasion of the pop charts.
Not long after, the Cwmaman Hall and Institute successfully bid for a total rebuild of the historic hall and it now houses one of the finest community owned cinemas in Wales and hosts an Arts Development worker funded by the Arts Council.
The landscape in the surrounding area has also changed radically with the creation this year of a sculpture trail and a completely renovated church project at St Josephs which has seen a healthy congregation battle against the buildings decay by re-inventing the church as a multi use building with arts, heritage and environment built into the fabric of the building.
Visitors have been overwhelmed by the impact of the sculptures which currently stand in the grounds of the church awaiting permanent relocation into the newly constituted “Cwmaman Community Woodland and Sculpture Park” which surrounds the church.
Organisers of the environment & sculpture festival held in June and July this year have also worked with local film makers to document the progress of the sculptures and also show other communities how to engage in public art and to inspire community regeneration at the same time. The 45 minute DVD which is available for just £5 also shows a host of other surprises, like the recording of a Radio 4 programme, a circus event and workshops, an HTV Grassroots programme being recorded and even a self styled “Gardener’s Question Time” event hosted by the valleys own Percy Thrower – Terry Walton, who wasted no time in maximising the impact of the events by doing book signings as well following his national fame as Jeremy Vine’s Radio 2 Allotment keeper. The sculpture event itself attracted hundreds of visitors and participants to the Churches Environment Festival, and organisers quickly and (Freely) created a myspace site so that all the sculptors and the public could keep abreast of the the future developments.
Pivotal to the sculptures is the fundraising skills of Cwmaman Community First in partnership with the Institute and St Joseph’s Church to create a new venue which is complimentary to local clubs, pubs and sports groups and hosts regular art and craft, health, environmental, and heritage events as well as the usual church diary of services. The building is itself an Eco Centre as it creates more energy than it uses to run, as it has solar panels running along the south face of the roof and has been reported extensively as the world’s first solar church!
Along with the endeavours of Cwmaman to achieve all of this, a complimentary programme called Creative Communities has also been present, and have posted a public arts officer in the community 3 days a week with a remit to fund arts projects that inspire and increase the communities capacity to engage in community art which is self sustaining, this element has been integral to the progress of the work and all participants feel that their artworks will continue after the public art officer post has run its course.
Community inclusion on the sculpture trail has been exemplary, 300 residents attended events earlier this year to agree the brief for the sculptures, and then vote on submissions from 30 sculptors from all over the UK and Wales. Residents used Open Space consultation methods to select the best proposals for the site, and the community are now engaged in further “Planning for Real” consultation in siting the sculptures appropriate to the new footpaths and walkways on the site, and to suitably reflect the heritage and cultural references and challenges made by the sculptures.
These wide ranging activates mean that citizens are central to the process in realizing an ambitious public art programme in an area of multiple deprivation. People have come forward to take part in woodcarving classes and all range of arts and crafts as a result of the work, and participation levels are at an all time high. Residents have been on visits to sculpture trails all over South Wales and the Forest of Dean, Artes Mundi, and they have contributed to art exhibitions in The Welsh Opera House and one is coming up at the V&A in 2008 through local adult education art teacher Su Worlock, who also mentors young graduate art teachers in the Cynon Valley.
This Autumn 2007 the whole community has turned to Tree Week to focus on the 1000 new trees to be planted in the woodland, and the art groups have collaborated professionally to make Christmas Cards, Calendars, and a new sculpture called the Tree of Life which they hope will go on permanent display in the St Joseph’s building. The week kicks off with a film festival showing 5 locally made films including “Creative Cwmaman”.
The sculptors will all be returning to the Community Woodland and Sculpture Park on its completion later this year, and the community is gearing up to make more films, film festivals, and art events in order to keep the whole virtuous circle going in the right direction.
This is the original description - written while the sculptures were being made.
WELCOME TO THE SCULPTURE TRAIL.......
The Cwmaman Sculpture Trail began Life on the 27th June 2007 when 10 highly acclaimed oak and cedar sculptors arrived with their kit to spend the next 11 days carving great oak logs into shape. The sculptors had each submitted designs last year 2006 and the community had chosen 10 out of 30 sculptors from all over the UK. the sculptors exhibited here are Paul Clarke, Robert Jakes, Tom harvey, James Exton, Dai Edwards, Godfrey Phillips, Peter Boyd, Dominic Clare, Robert Koenig and Dave Lloyd. We will be uploading their work in progress as soon as possible.
Cwmaman is situated near Aberdare in the Cynon part of Rhondda Cynon Taff (RCT). It is blessed with some of the most striking and accessible scenery and landscapes in the valleys and has been nicknamed Little Switzerland by the Archbishop of Wales.
The congregation at St Josephs Church have worked hard over the years to build partnerships with other local organisations such as The Cwmaman Hall and Institute and Community First to build a progressive action team in regard to the local environment, and art and heritage associated with the area.
Alun Lewis is a perfect example of this, he was a war poet born in Cwmaman who published several books and many poems which describe the environment here such as :-
THE MOUNTAIN OVER ABERDARE.
From this high quarried ledge I see,
The place for which the Quakers once,
Collected clothes, my fathers’ home,
Our stubborn bankrupt village sprawled,
In jaded dusk beneath its nameless hills;
The drab streets strung across the cwm,
Derelict workings, tips of slag,
The gospellers and gamblers use,
And children scrutting for the coal,
That winter dole cannot purvey;
Allotments where the collier digs,
While engines hack the coal within his brain;
Grey Hebron in a rigid cramp,
White cheap-jack cinema, the church,
Stretched like a sow beside the stream;
And mourners in their Sunday best,
Holding a tiny funeral, singing hymns,
That drift inside us as the rain,
Which rises from the steaming fields,
And swathes about the skyline crags,
Till all the upland gorse is drenched,
And all the creaking mountain gates,
Drip brittle tears of crystal peace;
And in a curtained parlour women hug,
Huge grief, and anger against God.
But now the dusk, more charitable than Quakers,
Veils the cracked cottages with drifting may,
And rubs the hard day off the slate.
The colliers squatting on the ashtip,
Listen to one who holds them still with tales,
While that white frock that floats down the dark alley,
Looks just like Christ; and in the lane,
The clink of coins among the gamblers,
Suggests the thirty pieces of silver.
I watch the clouded years,
Rune the rough foreheads of the moody hills,
This wet evening, in a lost age. Alun Lewis 1915 1944.
The Sculpture trail is incomplete as I write this, the sculptors continue into the night having eaten what they can, sometimes full on 3 meals a day from the Institute, and sometimes they leave a meal out, despite it having rained constantly for 9 days running, they might need the hunger of creativity to finish their works of pain reflection. The sculpture's huge forms are all worked within the church walls, and are spread around the church grounds like sentries. The carvers sleep on the church floor rather than B&B to be nearer their sculptures and to stay close to each other like an artists' in residence, or "Dad's Army" summer camp during a monsoon. A huge blackened "Easter Island" & ebony smooth miners head with closed eyes. draws the attention of visitors as it is quickly finished and then erected by its creator Dominic Clare, Dominic hungry for more fashions a twisted drill bit auger from another spare baulk of oak. Alongside, Godfrey's cylindrical relief of miners at the coalface entangled together in their discomfort and hard work stands like a huge container of all the work of the forgotten miners. A cup and an acorn with an oak sapling protruding are the symbols of regeneration chosen by local boy Dai, and his companion James' Iron tree and acorn set in weathered boards of upright oak are hidden and horizontal, not yet ready to be judged. Tom Harvey makes heavy of the fall of Icarus, reflecting humanities' endless quest to fly to far, too high, and too fast into an uncertain and destabilized future. Roberts huge snail. Dave Lloyd whos Celtic Warrior carving at Caerleon syill dominates the streetscape there, and has provided an official logo to "industrial_harbour", at cwmaman he has made a miners hand grasping a shard of coal with infinite detail. Robert has hewn a tall narrow miner growing and aspiring from a trees tump of coal. Pauls earthly woman with a swollen belly doubling as the planet itself and Peters Goddess in robes. Thankyou all, we'll meet again at a siting event when all thsculptures are in their final places.
For further information on sculpture trails and how to make them, contact :- cwmamansculpuretrail@yahoo.co.uk
Tell us if you like our new layou? Today at 10am a group will be starting work on the geodesic sphere, and a large log will arrive along with Nansi Hemming for some serious carving of a celtic obelisk. Rubin Eynon will be installing a ton of Alun Lewis sculpture onto the wall of Cwmaman Institute. At 7pm there will be an opening event at St Josephs Church Environment and Heritage Centre. The event continues daily until Saturday 20th June when there will be an public opening of the sculpture and then a carnival travelling to St Josephs for the launch of the Alun Lewis CD.
Hello to the Cwmaman Sculture Trail, Thank you for joining The Deans here on myspace. Im glad you enjoy our music. Send a message and we can talk about the festival. All the best for now from The Deans
The Kutt and The Exits AND The Kixx are all playing at Cwmaman Hall downstairs bar FREE FREE FREE on Friday 11th July. The night is now being hosted by Creative Communities who are my lovely employers!!! so we're making it TOTALLY FREE. The 2 main bands are travelling from London and Glasgow for our delictation plus we anticipate that there will be local support from the excellent all girl classic rock band The Kixx.
sorry if its taken me ages to message you, Ive been on holiday!!thanks for accepting my request to be a friend :) come and sign up to my new UK dedicated DIYclothing forum for DIYers and lovers of DIY clothing, jewellery and accessories!!Get new ideas for projects, suppliers, network and chat with likeminded people!!! hope to see you there!!
This poster is our next event, it's at one of our emerging new venues, the Cwmaman Hall and Institute which is home to a FREE acoustic night every Thursday and is awesome, and also is now helping the'arbour to do dates which we can't fit into the Salisbury Hotel. We are also petitioning support from Blaenllechau RADICAL club as a possible venue as it has such an awesome name!!!!
