Leeds Creative Timebank

Leeds

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Meet Sue Johnson

Sue Johnson is a timebank member and timebroker whose creative practice revolves around website design.

Originally a freelance graphic designer and artworker, she began designing and developing websites ten years ago.

She mainly develops websites based on the popular and easy to use platform WordPress. She designs and creates custom themes for the websites. Her clients include non profit groups and small businesses.

Her recent work includes a website for Urban Angels Circus featuring a system to book and pay for classes: https://urbanangelscircus.com/ She has also created a website for The Human Aquarium: https://humanaquarium.co.uk/ featuring an activities section built with WordPress custom posts.

You can see more examples of her work at: https://suesdesign.co.uk/

Twitter: @suesdesign https://twitter.com/suesdesign

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Guess what’s happening here ?

Here are a few images of some of the amazing transactions that have taken place through the Timebank. So can you remember or guess when these pictures were taken and/ or by whom and/or which members were involved, or even what year it was ? Or do you remember other brilliant projects that have used the Timebank? Do let us know by emailing leedscreativetimebank@gmail.com or via our Instagram, twitter or Facebook accounts.

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Whats Your Bright Idea?

New in the Timebank – Lightbulb Moment Workshops!

For our 10th anniversary we want to begin to change how the Timebank works and move towards a new era of supporting your creativity. Creativity lies at the core of the LCTB reason for being. Events at our recent social ‘Light Bulb Moments’ have highlighted that we can foster creative invention by offering members the opportunity to run workshops in relation to their members’ ideas. 

‘Light Bulb Moment’ Workshops
This is how we see this working:

Any member can propose a workshop, all you have to do is identify a time and place to hold the workshop, outline your idea, say how long the workshop would last and give an idea of the numbers and sorts of other people  you would ideally like to be part of the workshop. Then email this proposal to leedscreativetimebank@gmail.com

The LCT via its timebrokers will then send out a call for participants and put you in contact with those that come forward, so that you can deal with arrangement details. Every workshop can be structured differently, but if you are unsure about how to structure one, the LCT has examples. LCT also has suggestions for where to approach for spaces to hold workshops if you have nowhere. The actual time credited will depend on how much time you put into developing the workshop and how long the workshop takes, but for instance you as a workshop proposer, developer and host would get hours for doing these activities and your participants would get hours for attending the workshop. 

We consider the key to developing new ideas is people. How will a musician think about a visual artist’s concepts, how does a performing artist think about a practical craft discipline? In bringing together the many and various backgrounds and experiences of members, we feel we can energise possibilities both in terms of opening out conceptual thinking and in terms of practical resolutions. 

We also strongly believe that workshops will foster new relationships between members and that these relationships will lead to a stronger and more vital arts community. 

First workshop for up to 5 members April 9th 2019.

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Meet Lucy Meredith

Lucy is a Leeds-based performer, eco-artist, director and professional  mermaid. She joined the Timebank in 2013 and has used members skills on many projects that she’s been involved in.

She is co-director of Yorkshire Life Aquatic C.I.C. who promote health and wellbeing, and environmental and animal welfare issues, through art and performance. The company takes inspiration from 1950’s film star Esther Williams ( and other iconic female swimmers) performing in and out of water creating immersive site specific work that merges theatre, dance and synchronised swimming. Her latest project was the Human Aquarium which exhibited in Leeds February 2019.

Lucy is also one of the directors of Tea & Tolerance, a Participatory Live Art Project for social change promoting kindness and peace through conversation. T&T have just created a conversation game – Being Human, and used Timebank members time to test the design concept of the game.

She is also a member of the World Cetacean Alliance’s campaigns working group who work internationally to protect whales & dolphins from harm.

Tweet Lucy: @Lulovesglitter @YorkslifeAqua @Teaandtolerance @HumanAquariumUK. More info here – Lucy’s website

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Four Ways to Spend your Time Credits!

So you have given some time to one or two projects and have saved up some hours, but you are not sure how to spend those hours. Here are four ideas of ways to spend your time…

1.Make a film just for fun. Yorkshire Life Aquatic spent time credits making a this film in a fountain in Doncaster: Maria Spadafora filmed it, Annabeth Robinson edited and gave it the 1950’s film reel look/ background music, and Ivor Tymchak did the voice over. A total of 12 hours

What small project could you put together on time credits?

2. Spend time with another member. This is a photo from an exhibition Wave by artist and Timebank member Jo Lee. In asking her to photograph some objects, I found out lots of things about her work and how she works with small objects. Spending a couple of hours to meet someone or see their approach to a creative task is very interesting.

3. Participatory Art Cycle -Walk – Member Caleb, (now time banking in Bristol), paid members time credits to cycle in shared pedestrian-cycle walk spaces across the city. Maybe you have an idea you want to test with members or have them help out with public workshops.

4. Moving Premises – Members helped Live Art Bistro move into their new building. This included de-rigging lighting/sound and a whole lot of general moving and lifting.

Don’t have enough credits? Maybe another member will gift you some?

That is just a few to be thinking about. Over the next few months, we will share more ideas from members about how they use the Timebank and about their work as we’ll as ideas of how to spend and earn time credits.

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Open Data Project

Timebank exchange

Members Sue Ball and Edafe Onerhime have been collaborating through Leeds Creative Time Bank around ‘Open Data’. With 5 hours of timebank credits, Sue Ball requested Edafe Onerhime to use her skills as an Open Data Specialist to investigate empty commercial property and land in Leeds South Bank. Edafe has produced an online map using business rates data from Leeds Data Mill to which Sue is ‘pinning’ images of each unit via twitter ( see image above). This map will be developed through public participative walks and other forms of public interface to consider the wider regeneration of this area of the city. Sue will be putting more requests through the timebank network.

What is Open Data?

[Read more…] about Open Data Project