Artist Profiles
Lynne Duric
Artist/Designer
This will be the third year Lynne has worked with the Walk the Plank team on the Manchester Day Parade.
She says: “It’s great to be involved in the process that brings the Parade to life and I look forward to seeing the pleasure and joy that it brings to people’s faces. I am a multiskilled visual artist and trained designer with painting and drawing at the core of many of my freelance and commissioned projects. My career includes a catalogue of exhibitions of landscape painting, illustration and, recently, projects in bespoke stained-glass design. I have taken a lead role and been involved in a number of arts projects covering multimedia, computer graphics and costume design.”
Jo Foley and Fiona Smith
Jo Foley and Fiona Smith have over 12 years’ experience of devising and delivering art-based projects throughout the UK. They work with diverse client groups and age ranges in both educational and community settings to create beautiful shows and parades, site-specific artwork and installations.
Encouraging awareness and developing skills, their work is culturally diverse, eco-aware, historical, flamboyant, scientific, decorative and imaginative.
This year Jo and Fiona will be working with Z-Arts in Hulme and Cathedral Primary School to make a fabulous float and costumes!
jofoleyarts.com
fismitharts.com
Brian D Hanlon
Brian is an arts practitioner with specialist skills in design. He has worked in a range of settings, from Community Arts and Youth Theatre to the West End. His work includes the design and production for the spectacular processions of dance, rhythm and music through the streets, incorporating colourful parades, site-specific performances, stilt-walkers, performance promenade and site-specific sculptures.
This will be Brian’s third year of working on the Manchester Day Parade with Walk the Plank.
Naomi Parker
Naomi Parker is a Leeds-based artist, maker and designer with 20 years’ experience working in theatre and education. After studying at Bradford College of Art, she fell into a career as a costume maker by working with companies such as Welfare State International and The David Glass Ensemble.
Since then she has happily zigzagged from costume design to carnival, from set design to prop maker, and lots of other places in between.
Recent projects include an eight-metre long history of the natural world made from textiles, costumes for Red Ladder’s Promised Land and the Leeds City Varieties’ panto.
Pif-Paf
Pif-Paf work in performance and sculpture to create their unique world for parades, small-scale touring theatre and large celebrations. They are based around the collaboration of joint artistic directors Pete Gunson, who trained as an engineer before entering the world of street theatre, and Eleanor Hooper, who has a fine arts and circus background but now focuses on theatre in its many forms. At the moment Pif-Paf are having a lot of fun working hard on shows about travel, balance/the end of the world, bees, and painting.
Spacecadets
Spacecadets visually enhance cultural, visual and arts events nationally and internationally. Their incredible inflatable sculptures can be pushed, pulled, worn, suspended, animated and more.
“We needed to work with a company that was flexible and understood our crazy demands. We were after value for money but also needed to feel secure and confident; that is why we chose Spacecadets. Spacecadets were excellent, from the initial talks right through production and then post-production. We were totally supported and no question was too small or stupid! The advice we received was spot on and the final product exactly what the designer wanted.”
Emma Jones, Technical Manager, Scottish Dance Theatre
“Spacecadets are punctual, professional, and providers of the wow factor – a must for any event!”
Events and Promotions Officer, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Claire Stringer
Claire is a freelance artist based in the north west.
Her work varies from day to day, and includes community art, visual minutes and painting.
She worked with the Indian Association for Manchester Day Parade in 2010, designing and making the peacock and his flowering garden (pictured).
Claire has extensive workshop experience with local community and school groups. She has facilitated workshops that include lantern-making, illustration, costume, puppet-making and circus skills.
She is looking forward to being part of Manchester Day Parade again this year, and the creative energy and buzz that exists for this event. www.clairestringer.com
Thingumajig
“Thingumajig Theatre specialise in innovative puppet plays and making and performing highly interactive giant puppets. Their large stock of processional and walkabout giant puppets have performed in festivals and events throughout the UK, Ireland, USA, Denmark, Korea and Taiwan. In addition to making and operating high-quality giant puppets, Thingumajig Theatre artists are experts at teaching performers how to perform in giant puppets and working with communities to create their own large-scale spectacles.”
Emily Wood
Costume Artist, Artistic Director of Cabasa Carnival Arts, Manchester, UK
Emily Wood’s vision to spread the techniques and traditional methods of costume development and fabrication has already made huge leaps in the quality and appeal of carnival artistry in the north west.
Emily’s introduction to Afro-Brazilian percussion at the tender age of 18 set her on a course which in 2011 saw her become the Artistic Director of Cabasa Carnival Arts, the north west’s leading carnival artist base. As a trained singer, Emily has greatly enjoyed exploring the depth of knowledge surrounding the musical styles of Brazilian song, and has a flair for Afro-Brazilian dance. Her work in the north west is ever-gathering momentum and her portfolio already boasts several large-scale outdoor carnival costume displays. These include ‘Afoxé Manchester’ 2009, ‘Exodus: Movement for the People’ 2011, and ‘Mossley Indoor Carnival’ 2011, along with designing unique costumes for performance outfits ‘Juba do Leão’ and ‘Bloco Novo’.
Emily is currently collaborating with a team of skilled designers and trade specialists to create Junk Jam 2012.
