Flowing Free

An installation created for the second Cultivate Arts Festival (23rd-30th June 2019) celebrating the creative arts in all their forms. The festival's theme this year was generosity. Several locations across the town hosted exhibitions, concerts, installations, poetry and performances during the week-long festival. The installation at St John's church represented a fountain, a powerful, joyous image of generosity. In order to exist, the fountain has to give itself away; it is constantly regenerating itself, and its water provides refreshment and creates new life. The fountain was made from donated and recycled materials, and stood 3m tall and 2m wide. The installation was the setting for a programme of talks, poetry readings and concerts through the week, on the theme of water and generosity. The project involved the help and support of a number of groups from the wider community. A 70-strong team of artists, musicians, poets, guest speakers, bakers, installers and welcomers generously shared their talents to make this a truly collaborative event. Various local groups including Brownies, Rainbows and Faith & Light all helped in the preparation of the materials. 420 children from the local Primary school visited throughout the week to explore the themes of water and generosity through music, games and stories around the installation. Visitors were invited to ‘keep generosity flowing’ by adding droplets to the installation, with their personal thoughts or images about generosity, and over 500 droplets mirrored the fountain as they ‘flowed’ over the arches of the side aisles towards the altar. Visitors’ comments included: ‘Stunning – so uplifting and inspirational’, ‘Magical’, ‘Beautiful choice of colours and textures’, ‘Loved the way the children had been involved’ and ‘Wonderful welcome from the volunteers – thank you.’