We have been asked by the guys at Cardiff Arts Institute to write a small article about what we have been up to over the last year or so. In particular the Empty Shop project and our up and coming project the mini games festival which should be with us this October. So to everyone who has been to thinkark we want to know what brought you to visit?
Why you stayed and even if you didn't come back why not? any help with developing our wednesday club and making it more inclusive would be fantastic to hear about. Thanks again. If anyone would like to help out please comment below. The deadline is pretty soon i.e. next week so anything you can do would be greatly appreciated.
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I come for the social aspect, thinkark attracts people of different ages and backgrounds and it's a great place to meet new people and learn something new.
ReplyDeleteThe ARKade project was brilliant and I would love to spend more time getting involved with different aspect of ARK. (especially the games)
ReplyDeleteFor me personally there are a combination of reasons I don't do that. It is hard to escape from home in the evenings/weekends (as I have two small children) - perhaps the odd lunch would be great?
I'm just getting a business off the ground so this takes a lot of time/effort and I am also involved in a couple of other community projects so time just slips away.
Just comes down to not enough hours in the day!
See what is happening for me at the moment is really valuable as I can see a time where I hope to be more involved.
Hope this helps
thanks for the comments. Keep them coming it would be great to write the article entirely out of peoples thoughts.
ReplyDelete@kevmoss
I think we would love to extend our days/social groups etc and think in someways people have started that already there is a group that has come from thinkARK and set up a freelance friday.
Hopefully in the future there will be more of these developments which will allow for as many people to get involved as possible.
Cheers
Julian
I started by getting involved the ARK Empty Shop project, as I got to practice my skills very differently than usual and work with like minded people with similar passion and drive to do good. I also believe there is a future for this collaborative setup to grow into making a difference and enable people to learn new skills etc...
ReplyDeleteI don't come to the meet ups every week, lately just because I have been exhausted from my full time work or been ill - bad luck really!
As I'm deaf in one ear I always find it hard work to keep up with conversations in echoey, hard surfaced rooms and if I can't sit so I can clearly see everyone's face. CAI is not ideal for acoustics especially when they have bands on. Even a couple of hours in that kind of environment (even with the hearing aid on) can make me feel like it's ll a bit too much. But that's just a personal thing really. :)
I am interested in ARK, but Wednesdays is a bad night for me as I run my own project that evening
ReplyDeleteMy initial involvement was about stretching my mind and contributing to community work that was waaaay more interesting than some of my other voluntary stuff.
ReplyDeleteAlong with food for thought, you also interact with some incredible people at ARK, and by now it's the social aspect that keeps me coming. I couldn't/wouldn't turn up week after week if the people involved didn't interest me.
Communities are about people, and the ARK community has attracted some bloody great people. Everyone involved is inspirational, intelligent, fun and interesting. That, for me, is what makes ARK, and that's what generates such interesting socially beneficial projects.
I'll have a proper think about this, but broadly speaking I think what you guys are doing is fantastic for the creative community.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my involvement with CAI, since coming to ARK there etc I've had more meetings there, recommended it as a potential space for events etc.
Ark is a great way to meet people with different bacground but a common energy to think and do things. My work this year has often been away from cardiff so i have found it difficult to maintain the regularity required to push projects forward but others have so hurray!
ReplyDeleteI work as a designer outside of Cardiff and on hearing about ARK thought it would be a great way of getting to know the creative scene there as well as doing something useful with my spare time. You feel a great sense of adventure when you have a group of interesting people from diverse backgrounds bouncing ideas of each other and you always come away from the evening feeling hugely inspired. I'm still very new to ARK but over time I'm planning to increase my involvement and hopefully form some good friendships along the way.
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