Time to Dream
Blog by Helen Willmott (Programme Director)
In June, I spent two days at an outdoor art festival in Greenwich with a colleague. To be honest, it’s one of the perks of my job. Every so often I get to visit somewhere new, see how organisations there put together extraordinary arts events and search out great artists that could come to Corby. That weekend, we watched acrobats perform from a giant, hanging chandelier, explored Woolwich town centre guided by noise from a silver orb and sat in the sun admiring a traditional countryside painting brought to life complete with two real cows.
Then yesterday, I spent the afternoon at Fineshade Woods with a group from the Kingswood & Hazel Leys Big Local partnership. We visited the art gallery in the visitor centre, run by Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, and saw an exhibition that explored how ants move and travel. Afterwards, we enjoyed cake in the café and discussed our feelings about the exhibition and what it could inspire us to do locally.
As we’re in the middle of summer holiday season, I’m sure that we can all think of special times when we’ve left our everyday lives to go somewhere different, from beach holidays abroad to day trips closer to home. I have fond memories of childhood holidays by the sea in Clacton, city breaks with friends and days out with my niece and nephew. I firmly believe that sometimes we all need a break from normal life to relax, re-connect with loved ones and rejuvenate the soul. They allow our minds to wander, to think, to dream and to be inspired.
And that’s the exact reason why we regularly run ‘Big Days Out’, simple day trips for local people to explore somewhere new and something different. Over the past few years, we’ve taken coachloads to numerous festivals, performances and art galleries. This autumn we’ll be running more of these, aimed at specific groups of people that might find getting away more difficult, and we’d love for lots of you to join us and enjoy a well-earned break.
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