Crafting Community with the Billy Project (Participation)

Abstract

A cold clear northern Tasmanian morning and there is a hive of busyness within an otherwise quietly humming school. Two children (aged five years) are hammering, chatting, and seriously checking plans with a bunch of adults who are also pretty serious but cannot help hiding their delight. They include parents, a resident from the local aged care home, a helper who’s been long-term unemployed, and a couple of artists and educator artists. They are making billycarts (or go-karts) together and everyone’s got something to do and stories to share. They are participating in the Billy Project, an initiative of the arts company, Creature Tales, that aims to build a more child-friendly, connected and resilient community in the north coast town of Burnie. Following the closure of a paper mill that had been the mainstay of the local economy in Burnie twenty-five years ago, the region experienced large-scale unemployment and associated negative social impacts and challenges. As a response, a number of government and community-based organisations have sought to sustain the region’s economic viability and social vibrancy through initiatives like the Billy Project. Creature Tales’ coordinators, Stephanie Finn and Chris Mead, drew on Burnie’s older population as a resource by enlisting them as mentors and friends to beginning primary school children and their families. An arts-based project bringing seniors and children together to design and build billycarts was born, presenting an opportunity for intergenerational social participation as well as an alternative to individualising screen-based entertainment. The project celebrated a low-tech, high-construction, and very sociable form of childhood play.

The Billy Project has been our way of bringing families and the community into children’s lives at school.

Deb Hutton, Principal