Craftspace

Lea Hall is a large social club in Rugeley in Cannock. Many of its 1,500 members are former miners.

Commission

As part of the redevelopment of the entrance area the members and committee raised money to commission a piece of public art for the front of the building. Making Moves contributed to this commission, with the aim of supporting the members to engage with and understand the commissioning process. Arts Development Officer, Lisa Shephard, and the selected maker, Jacqueline Cooley, worked with the staff, committee and members in developing the ideas and commission brief. They have also contributed to the meetings of CHAPS, a local group which supports public art.

Artist Residency

Jackie is an artist from Wolverhampton, who creates kiln based glass forms for commission as well as gallery pieces. She has worked on architectural projects before, but this commission was an opportunity to create a piece on a large scale, involving liaison with engineers, the architect and steel fabricators.

Workshops

As part of this process Jackie ran three open sessions in March 2007, enabling members and staff to discuss her designs, bring photographs of Rugeley that suggest its identity, and to experiment with glass.

The project was supported by the local MP Tony Wright, County Councillors and local business representatives and is part of several local initiatives to involve arts in local regeneration.

'We wanted this piece to be very much owned by the community who use the centre. An excellent way of achieving this was to engage people in having a go at glass works themselves, contributing design ideas and sharing stories to influence the piece. Lea Hall staff worked hard behind the scenes, they really wanted to make a difference.'

Arts Development Officer Lisa Shephard.

Artists

Jaqueline Cooley - Jaqueline's web site