The history of the parish of St Martins, just outside Oswestry is essentially a history of mining. A bustling community lived, went to school, married and worked around the area's coal pits and numerous farms. The mine at Ifton finally closed in 1968, although the landscape still reflected the area's heavy industry as recently as 1977. | "This is a project aimed at getting those people who don't like to go to meetings to... talk about their hopes for the future of the community." | | Artist, Mark Wood |
While mining remains an important part of St Martins' heritage, the present community is more concerned with its future, rather than its past. And it's the community's future, its children, who are particularly expressing their vision for St Martins. Funded by Shropshire Community Council and the Countryside Agency, Arts in Rural Consultation uses art to stimulate debate and allow people to talk openly and without boundaries about their community.
The project leader, artist Mark Wood explains more about its reasoning: 'This is a project aimed at getting those people who don't like to go to meetings to come out and talk about their hopes for the future of the community.'
 | | Playing in St Martins |
Using a multimedia approach, combining video shot in the parish with drawings made by children at Ifton Heath Primary School, Mark Wood has engaged with groups that might have been alienated by a more traditional consultation exercise. Culminating in The Big Event, the project has produced a DVD, which will be shown at venues throughout the parish. Drawings made by children at Ifton Heath Primary School have been turned into a digital mural depicting their hopes for the future of the area - everything from a chemist and supermarket to a playground, beauty spa and garden.
 | | Part of the St Martins mural |
The art work was not intended to represent a practical approach to parish planning, but rather to inspire an open debate as Mark Wood explains: 'The great thing about children is that they don't mind what they're going to draw. So a zoo, a mono-rail, there's an earth centre... all kinds of things that they really want to have in the project.' If St Martins is to change and be developed, a more focussed, pragmatic stance will inevitably be necessary. In the meantime, this approach seems to be an effective way of stimulating people's imaginations and encouraging local debate. | 
