Exciting times......

The site is really starting to take shape ready for completion at the end of this year. The Chy an Bobel, community building pictures above has been progressing rapidly. The ground floor will accommodate the children's centre and meeting spaces, the ceiling was put in to place last week which will create the first floor apartments.

The restaurant, cafe and bar above has had its floor laid as seen below.

The entrance building (steel structure below) to the exhibition/museum space is also in place and currently being worked on.

Work on the artist studios and apartments outlines the space that will accommodate the Plan an Gwarry events space, which will have a capacity of 200.

The space where the market square will occupy can be seen below with the second block of artist studios and apartments to the left of the picture and the Chy an Bobel in the background.

Landscaping to the park, gardens and playground is also in full swing, with the site being levelled as seen below.

Creative Conversations

From the beginning Heartlands has been a community focused project with an emphasis on inclusive design. Considerable public consultation has been undertaken to ensure the needs and aspirations of the local community have been heard and incorporated into the design. Local schools have contributed very generously to the project in terms of time, talent and goodwill all of which will undoubtedly benefit Heartlands.

Creative Conversations was a one day event with the aim to describe the creative context for Heartlands and share the project's widely recognised socially inclusive co-creation work achieved over the past four and a half years.

Creative Conversation heard from local, national and international arts practises who have engaged directly with the Heartlands community, creating contexts for debate and animating the dialogue in challenging ways.

The themes for the event were:

Can art & culture tackle inequalities, create stronger communities and invite different people to the table?

Could and should, art & culture continue to make an active and forceful contribution to Heartlands in the future? What are/will be Heartlands core 'creative' activities?

Podcasts from Creative Conversations

Go to our podcasts page and listen to the days events at Creative Conversations to find out what went on.

Seams and Veins

Artist David Mackie is working on the art feature in the Diaspora Gardens at Heartlands. Working with local schools and community groups David has designed a series of symbols that will depict the Cornish Diaspora regions - New Zealand, Australia, South America, North America and South America. Each of these regions where the Cornish travelled will have its own garden at Heartlands with flowers and plants from these countries.

The Diaspora images and symbols will be reproduced in bronze and fixed on to granite boulders sourced from Delank quarry in Bodmin.

David is currently creating the patterns of the symbols in clay (as seen in the photo above which shows a Mexican coin) that will then be covered in rubber to produce a mould. The mould will be sent to a foundry who will cast the symbols in bronze.

Take a look at David's blog to see his patterns of just some of the symbols that will be fixed to the granite boulders.

Inspirational People Wanted

The following roles are now being recruited to deliver the Heartlands vision and to ensure the long-term success of Heartlands. We require experienced, effective and inspirational individuals who are as motivated and excited by this opportunity as we are.

• Chief Executive: To lead, inspire and deliver the vision for Heartlands through maximising business opportunities and developing future strategies to enhance the development. You will have proven leadership ability, with the capacity to conceive and articulate a strategy for the future, and the skill and passion to inspire the Heartlands team to fulfil it. Experience of social enterprise, working with communities and with local regional stakeholders across multiple sectors is essential.
  
• Marketing Manager: To promote and develop the brand for Heartlands to a local, national and international audience. You will have a background in destination marketing through traditional channels and in using web-based and event strategies to maximise the audiences for mixed-use sites. Heartlands is within a World Heritage Site and the role requires a balanced understanding of the tourism, commercial and education sectors.
  
• Enterprises & Operations Manager: To lead the enterprises team through developing retail, catering, corporate and commercial income opportunities and provide overall management for the facilities and site team. You will be commercially focused with a background in leading catering and/or retail from launch to operation.
  
• Business & Finance Manager: To manage the smooth and efficient financial and administrative aspects of Heartlands and its multiple uses. You will be an experienced manager with proven financial and administrative experience, supported by an understanding of policies and procedures relating to site management, human resources and running effective financial management systems.

The closing date for the roles is Wednesday 16th February. Interviews for the Chief Executive post will be held on February 28th and March 1st. All roles to be employed by the Heartlands Trust.

For details on the project, the roles and any further background information, please contact Kelly Gray on 01209 722320 or kgray@cornwall.gov.uk

Unique gateway size and scale revealed

Artist Walter Jack is working on a unique gateway in the form of a crushed wall, that will take visitors from Pool Village to the Heartlands site.

The crushed wall is inspired by Cornish geology and is a representation of crushed rock in liquid form.

The 24 metre long wall will be cast in concrete using the mould pictured in the above photo, this shows the exact scale and size of the wall.

Walter Jack worked with local concrete suppliers Ladds to develop innovative casting techniques that will create the waves in the concrete.

Above photo courtesy of Walter Jack

Our community building has got walls!