What makes a place distinctive for us?

What makes a place distinctive for us? Lancaster Arts has been working on something called This Place Project, which has spent the last year finding out what the identity of Lancaster and Morecambe District is for those who live and work here. What does it feel like to live or work here? A ‘felt’ identity.

This Place Project has asked questions and listened to a wide range of people here. We’re going to create a Facebook page in the coming summer that shares what we’ve heard and done so far.

We’ve hosted Creative Gatherings in places like the Eco-Hub at Lancaster University, The Hall in Lancaster and Morecambe Fire station. Artists have done creative interventions – Sensory Projects (Invisible Flock), walking projects (Charlie Fox), and Katie Etheridge and Simon Persighetti’s project, Looking for the Heart of Lancaster - in the main photo.

There is a sound installation sited all around Lancaster and Morecambe called The Hum, (by artists, Flexer and Sandiland) that is accessible as a free download application through participants’ smartphones; in the bus station, in the arcade in Morecambe, in shopping centres – have a listen!

And a film has been made called Taking a Reading by artist, Hannah Fox who gathered thoughts from people in Morecambe, Lancaster and Carnforth – all about the place they live in and what they feel about it. Using hand written digital graffiti, Taking a Reading is a 6 minute film that has collected all of these hopes, worries, loves and losses into an animated patchwork of place.