Birmingham IKON Gallery

The IKON Gallery is just as I remember it. I enjoyed going back there again and must make more of an effort to visit the exhibitions they show. 

My main aim of the visit was to pick up some of their family activity sheets (which I did), but I couldn't leave without having a browse first. I find contemporary Art fascinating sometimes, but I am not going to start talking about that now. The exhibitions currently on are well worth a look at. One of the Artists, Hamish Fulton is very interesting and I will definitely find out more about him and his work. I consider myself to be a walker and an outdoor soul, so his pieces caught my eye instantly. Fulton considers himself to be a 'walking artist' stating that ‘If I do not walk, I cannot make a work of art’.

Installation, IKON 2012

The exhibition is on until 22nd April 2012.

At the entrance to the gallery, there is a programme which has events advertised, covering February to April. I am considering a small leaflet or booklet or my event. It will provide information on what the event is about, the charity I am supporting and what each task/activity/exhibition within the event consists of. The document can be free, but a suggested donation box will be placed strategically.

Free Programme upon arrival (Optional)

As well as the programme, there were exhibition guides tailored specifically for what is currently on display. It provides a more detailed description of what the pieces are about and the Artists behind them. There isn't any need for me to have two documents because everything can fit in to one, as my material remains constant, unlike a gallery with ever changing pieces.

Current Exhibitions Programme

In the gallery shop, the Artists have provided their own publications on the art pieces displayed. These were books created containing the content of the exhibition; photographs, quotes, paragraphs of writing. As I will have an exhibition within my event, a book is something I have been considering. A hardback book that contains all the photographs and pieces collected from India, as well as quotes from various different people and a brief background on what I have done and the charity. As this isn't a fully formed idea just yet, I haven't thought about prices. 

Before I get to the family guide, a idea I never thought about before is a short evaluation form for all visitors to fill out upon leaving the event. This is generate valuable information to help me assess the success of my events and area of improvement. You can't get any better than the personal opinions of the people taking part of the experience. By knowing what worked well and what didn't, I can develop my ideas for next time and produce a more successful event. Questions such as: Which areas of the event did you take part in/visit today? How would you rate your overall experience? Service of volunteers? How did you find out about the event? What made you want to visit? 

And then some more personal questions to gather information for target audience evaluating: Sex? Age? UK? (Postcode) Outside UK? (Country) Disability? Education? Employed? Ethnicity? 

Finally, Any further comments?

If all of the questions on the evaluation form were multiple choice, people are more likely to complete one and I won't have to sift through sheet after sheet of irrelevant information. 

Front & Back of IKON Gallery's Survey

At first, I couldn't understand why information about the individual was important, but now I realise that it is vital to get statistics on your audience and know who they are. When filling out the form, they need to know how the information will be used and that it will remain confidential. They are more likely to fill it out if a small statement is visible stating this. "The information you supply is strictly confidential. Your answers will help us understand our audience and the information provided will only be used for research purposes."

It would be silly if I didn't take advantage of gaining information from my attendees. 

The family guide for this particular exhibition is an A3 folded sheet with a selection of activities on. The one thing that I did notice is that there wasn't any pencils/pens near the activity sheets, but it does say on the back that there is a resource room where they can be found. I assume this is so the Art pieces are kept safe and the children stay separate when armed with crayons. My event will have a corner for children to be creative and then stick their 'masterpieces' on the wall if they want to. Or alternatively, take them home. If I can, my crayons/pencils will have a mixture of the university logo on them and the Childreach International logo. This gives visitors a freebie to take away with them, which I know everybody loves, and I will be advertising at the same time.

A3 Family Activity Sheet (Side 1)

As you can see from the image above, one of the activities the IKON Gallery have created for this specific exhibition is a 'design your own t-shirt'. The words underneath the shirt outline say: "Artist Sarah Browne asked people in Iceland about their lives (A Model Society) and knitted jumpers for them to wear. The patterns of the jumpers included their thoughts about where they lived. Design your own jumper in the space above with a message about where you live." An activity like this, really gets the imagination running and many thoughts are produced. It is an enjoyable activity, whilst allowing children to voice their opinion through art. It is a brilliant idea and one I will be developing in my own way to include something similar on future activity sheets I create. The activity may be a way of children expressing something they have never voiced before. Children being able to speak freely about how they feel is an area I have great passion in, and if they are able to speak out using Art and their creativity, then even better!

A3 Family Activity Sheet (Side 2)

Trevelyan and Mark both suggested a family guide for the Fringe festival to keep it interactive and interesting for families, hence my trip to gather research at the gallery. It has been an inspiration and I am now able to go away and generate different idea for activities. These will not be stuck in cement until I have more knowledge on the Art piece being displayed in the Degree Show. I am to focus on children's feelings, opinions and creativity as much as possible. At the end of the trail, the sheets could be scanned before being handed back to the families, and then showcased through the Fringe Show Blog/Facebook/Twitter.