In 2006, Liverpool Biennial Festival of Contemporary Art in partnership with Liverpool Housing Action Trust, invited Chrysalis Arts to develop a ‘live’ public art training project for artists from Merseyside and the North West.

The project enabled six artists to undertake paid placements with Chrysalis Arts, combining a collaborative team approach with mentoring support. The main outcome of this ‘live’ training process was the opportunity the placement artists had to engage with local residents in the creation of temporary public art installations at four Liverpool Housing Action Trust sites.

Lead Artists were Rick Faulkner and Leif Strengell, a Finnish artist and lecturer with whom Chrysalis has collaborated on many occasions.

‘The lead artists gave every opportunity for us to contribute; we were constantly encourage to take the initiative, to explore and experiment but gently pulled back into the fold when necessary.’ Susan Leask

‘The project proved a tremendous success, achieving far beyond our expectations; the quantity and quality of work produced in such short space of time was inspiring’ Paul Kelly, Community Development Manager, Liverpool Housing Action Trust

‘I was delighted with the final installations. The work reflected the environments with great understanding.’ Education & Access Co-ordinator, Liverpool Biennial

Training for Real

The concept of Training for Real was developed over a series of projects which offered the artists who were selected the opportunity of undertaking a paid commission whilst being supported by members of Chrysalis and other mentors through each stage of the creative process, from inception to installation and presentation. This programme was developed collaboratively by Rick Faulkner, Christine Keogh and Kate Maddison and predominantly focused on temporary installations in public spaces.

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