The plan
It’s Fun Palaces weekend, where communities across the country run hundreds of creativity events to show that ‘everyone’s an artists, everyone’s a scientist’.
And we did this:
A creative day for all the family
10 - 11am Briefing Session Live Stream from Mars
12 - 5pm Cardboard Creativity Workshops in a community tennis club in NW North London - free but strictly ticket only - bring your own cardboard - or make things at home and share them
INFO LIVE STREAMS
9.30am LIVE ON BBC RADIO LONDON
We had a lovely chat with David and Carrie Grant on BBC Radio London to kick off the day and tell them and the city what were all up to.
10 - 11am: Briefing Session Live Stream from Mars
An hour long live streamed briefing from beside a 50 foot tall Starship on a base camp on Mars (well one we've made from cardboard on some tennis courts in North West London actually but don't tell anyone!)
We had a great chat with Kirsty and Lewis from Fun Palaces too.
12 - 5pm: Cardboard Creativity Workshops
Folk popped along to the tennis club for a free cardboard modelling workshop with our cardboard artist using the epic MakeDo cardboard construction kits and design and print #ILoveArt T-shirts to send a message to the universe
Others were invited to make models at home where ever you are and share them on line and be sure to tag it so we can find it among all the space junk out there:
#FunPalaceOnMars
#MissionToMars21
#ArtOfCardboard
#ArtConnects
If you fancy trying MakeDo and can’t get along, don’t go and buy it off Amazon, buy some off us, for the same price in our store and help a Community Enterprise (yeah this one 🤩🤩🤩)
MAKEDO FROM STEAM Co.
We have three killer sets:
A MILLION AND COUNTING
Elon Musk has said he wants to take a million people to Mars in 30 years and has already built and tested the first of a thousand 150 foot high Starships to take them there on top of 300 foot high boosters.
Yes he’s aiming high. A dad took one of his rockets to space on the Inspiration4 mission just the other week, with three other civilians.
They’ve inspired our mission to inspire those millions kids today to aim that high, no higher than high, powered by their creativity and community.
To find their art and send a message to the universe that it’s our art that makes us human and our creativity that will be needed to solve the problems we face here on earth as well as Mars.
And today is the latest chapter in that recruitment process.
Fun Palaces
Every year in the first weekend of October, local people come together with their community to celebrate their culture, talents and passions in Fun Palaces. Designed to provide culture by, for, and with everyone, 2021 marks the eighth free annual Fun Palaces weekend of action, connecting people through arts, science, craft, tech, digital, and heritage activities.
Keynote from the founder of Fun Palaces, Stella Duffy at our Liverpool regional launch event 6 years ago.
All Fun Palaces are free to visit, made in and by each community. Celebrating richly diverse communities across the UK and worldwide, this year’s Fun Palaces range from Rap Battles in Manchester’s iconic indoor market, Afflecks, to a tiny Fun Palace inviting people to share words of love about their area for a window display in Redruth. Returning international Fun Palaces include Athens Comic Library, which once again will be throwing open their doors as a safe and creative space for refugee and migrant children and their caregivers.
Meanwhile online, pop-ups will include Grand Constructions Fun Palace: where participants can build the Sydney Harbour Bridge out of paper. At its heart, Fun Palaces is about communities sharing and doing what they love, whilst blasting open access to culture of all kinds.
Fun Palaces is supported by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest founder of community activity in the UK.