So great to start pottery again. I warmed up making a platter and small leaf plates instead of launching right into a sculpture. I need some time to get my hands used to working the clay. Since I'm having more arthritis in my hands, they require a little coaxing. Making some utilitarian items seems like a useful way to begin. Its been a few months since my last sculpture and my hands have declined somewhat since then. Frigging aging, it's not all parties and lunches.
I'm also on the Market Hall restoration campaign team. I found myself saying yes when I was invited to join the cabinet and I'm not sorry. We are a group a serious arts and culture go-getters in Peterborough and it's exciting to work together to complete such an important and historic project. Market Hall is a wonderful old building in the heart of this city dating back to the early 19th century. It was the brokerage house, commodities exchange and farmers market of its day. CP Rail had offices there and it was the hub of transport and the mercantile trade. It boasts a clock tower and some magnificent carved roof beams. The ground floor is shops and restaurants and the lofted second floor has been a splendidly versatile theatre space since the seventies. It was saved from the wrecking ball by some heritage-conscious citizens when private developers were building a shopping mall where the opera house of the same vintage was torn down. They were moving in on Market Hall when enough citizens said ENOUGH and brought the vandalism to a halt.
The city bought it and turned it over to an arts cooperative to create a gallery and when that failed, a theatre. Market Hall is a perfect venue for smaller, chamber orchestras, jazz and folk music, dance and experimental theatre groups. It was also falling apart, was not easily accessible for the elderly or disabled, improperly insulated etc. Last year Market Hall qualified for the incentive funding both levels of government were offering to stimulate the economy and the reconstruction began. Architects were hired, focus groups met, grants were received and we are well on our way to completion of a brand new state of the arts theatre. Now we need to raise the final three million to match the city's grant. I have complete confidence that we will do it. Peterborough is a really generous town and our campaign director is awesome. It's a positive and forward-looking project that people care about.
So between pottery/sculpture classes, physiotherapy and Market Hall I should be keeping out of trouble for a while.
The city bought it and turned it over to an arts cooperative to create a gallery and when that failed, a theatre. Market Hall is a perfect venue for smaller, chamber orchestras, jazz and folk music, dance and experimental theatre groups. It was also falling apart, was not easily accessible for the elderly or disabled, improperly insulated etc. Last year Market Hall qualified for the incentive funding both levels of government were offering to stimulate the economy and the reconstruction began. Architects were hired, focus groups met, grants were received and we are well on our way to completion of a brand new state of the arts theatre. Now we need to raise the final three million to match the city's grant. I have complete confidence that we will do it. Peterborough is a really generous town and our campaign director is awesome. It's a positive and forward-looking project that people care about.
So between pottery/sculpture classes, physiotherapy and Market Hall I should be keeping out of trouble for a while.
