UNITY ENTERPRISE

Unity Enterprise was established in 1989 as an inter-church initiative offering a range of services in training and personal development to young unemployed people.

The service at Barrhead, based in Robertson Street, focuses on 14 – 16 year olds with school attendance problems or who have been excluded from school.

WORKSHOPS

Artist, Jonathan Owen, has developed a series of workshops combining projection and wall painting. This process encourages the group to work on a large scale, and provides quick results with strong visual impact.

“I intend to set up a studio practice with the group which encourages spontaneity and regular discussion of work, whether collaborative or individual. I also want the group to feel comfortable moving between media as appropriate, and finding specialists to show us new processes etc.”

Early workshops were designed to establish rules and procedures for working in the work-space and show how to use the equipment which includes video camera, SLR camera and overhead projection. They included showing the group how to make images for stencils (drawing and photography) and practising the stencil process, in preparation for later workshops.

Spray-paint/stencil artist Dermid Scott was invited to undertake some of the workshops. He focused on the formal elements of spray-painting and stencils to produce a wall painting. This process was filmed and photographed to act as a reference for future work.

"The project was a resounding success for Unity and the young people as it encouraged participation in a new field, encouraged the participants to open their mind to the various techniques deployed by the artist, instilled in them not only the desire to do well but also the belief that they could do well and finally the desire to share this with others.”   Heather Jackson, Unity Enterprise