Creative artist appointed

Artist Janetka Platun has been appointed to work as an Artist in Residence in and around Chilmington over the summer. She will spend time exploring the area, its heritage and its communities, at a time when development is creating change and new and existing residents will begin to live as neighbours.

This new contemporary arts commission will help to inform a new Creative Chilmington Strategy being developed by Dallas-Pierce-Quintero on behalf of Ashford Borough Council and will help to guide long-term planning for community creativity in Chilmington, including contemporary arts commissions.

This new arts commission will begin to establish how arts and culture can enhance the area’s redevelopment and to develop positive cultural and community links.

As part of Janetka’s exploration of Chilmington, she is undertaking conversations with people who live locally including at the Singleton Environment Centre and will be running a workshop in July with Chilmington Green Primary School students and their parents and carers. This young group will move into the first new school to be built in Chilmington when it is complete.

The project is funded through Section 106 developer funding specifically allocated for community development. The commission is underway and is expected to be completed by early autumn, when an artwork or creative response will be shared with existing and new local residents.

Cllr Peter Feacey, portfolio holder for culture said: “The council’s aspiration is to create a vibrant neighbourhood at Chilmington which conveys the area’s heritage and links to Ashford and the wider community.

“This project will contribute to a long-term arts strategy for the area that explores the Chilmington regeneration area, captures local heritage and stories, and engages with existing local residents and those who will be the first to move into new homes. We look forward to seeing what ideas and concepts Janetka is able to create with the local community.”

Susie Gray from Dallas-Pierce-Quintero said: “Janetka has a wealth of experience developing creative projects with diverse communities. Themes running through her work include, home, belonging and our relationship to our surroundings.

“She has worked across the UK, including in Wales, London and Kent. Her works include light installations, photography and designing sails for an Olympic flotilla.

“Central to all her work is engagement and collaboration with local communities to inform and influence her ideas and approach and a belief in the transformative power of art.”

If you are a local resident and would like to get involved with or know more about Janetka’s project this summer, please contact [email protected]

For more information about the project and arts commission visit www.d-p-q.uk/projects/creative-chilmington-green

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