461 participants, aged from 2-96, worked with 17 different artists, over 18 months, to explore the elemental and symbolic qualities of air. Art forms included video, painting, textiles, reminiscence, screen-printing, felt-making, creative writing, music and dance. Participants came together to perform and exhibit their work at Square Chapel Centre for the Arts, Halifax.

It was an incredibly moving evening as the performers impressed everyone in the audience with their skills and enthusiasm.

VJ Jon Walters and video artist Jack Lockhart provided digital projections to accompany the show.

Dreamflags

Schools, community groups, individuals and families, made hundreds of Dreamflags, which were displayed at Hebden Bridge Marina.

Children and adults aged from 2 - 86 years, worked with artist Fran Sierevogel and HEADS volunteers, to make their own flag illustrating their hope or dream, for themselves, their friends and families or the world.

Airheadz

A video project in partnership with Halifax Youth Offending Team. Young people worked with David Ball and Cora Glasser of Glassball Arts to create a video that explores: What goes on inside young peoples' heads? What do they think about and what do people think about them? Is there more to young people than the general preconceptions and misconceptions held by others or are they just 'Airheadz'?

Taking Flight

Twelve participants aged from 9 to 14 who attend the Calderdale Young Carers group took part in Taking Flight.

The young people, staying at Hebden Hey on a short residential course, worked with Sheffield-based artist, Jo Salter, to design and make banners and a large 2.5 metre high windmill with dyed and screen-printed fabric sails.  
On the last day everyone took part in a short celebratory procession and with a last minute location change, due to high winds, the banners and windmill were temporarily installed in a woodland glade at Hebden Hey.

Inspire

INSPIRE was an inter-generational arts project, led by artist Angie Rogers and writer Sue Wood and in partnership with Todmorden Together.

HEADS worked with communities in Walsden and Todmorden, combining reminiscence and visioning with creative writing and simple art activities. Participants shared their aspirations and life experiences to explore their past, present and future and by doing this, learned more about each other’s hopes, dreams and realities to build bridges of mutual understanding and inspiration between people from different generations.
Two separate groups took part in the project, one made up of students from Todmorden High School, who live in Walsden and residents from Yew Tree Court, sheltered housing in Walsden, the other made up of young people and adults of different ages from the immigrant communities of Todmorden.

Mural Project

11-14 year old students from Todmorden High School worked with artist Talya Rochester to create a mural. The school selected the students from a mix of talented year 9 artists and pupils who regularly work off timetable due to learning or behavioural issues. The project was hugely successful, motivating all of the children concerned, and Heads and Tod High plan to work together again on a similar project in the near future. The mural was created to help support Todmorden in Bloom and inspired by their theme of bio-diversity and 'the wild'. The project was also in partnership with Todmorden Community Safety Partnership.

Breathe

A large part of Drawing in Air was entitled 'Breathe' and was the idea of Jen Altman, HEADS Trustee, Research Neuro- Scientist, healer and artist. Jen advised and had creative input throughout the project.

Most of the groups involved with 'Breathe' made work that directly contributed to the final performance, whether as lyrics and digital projections or as live performance work.

HEADS worked in partnership with the Artreach service at Square Chapel to make the event possible.

Sabar and Jubilee Childrens’ Centre

Two groups from separate Asian women’s support groups in Halifax came together to work with artist Paula Tod. The women made experimental textile pieces that explored breath and how their breathing was affected by different emotional states. The work was exhibited at Square Chapel and the Ebeneezer Centre and the images used as digital projections for the dance peformance.

Calderdale Dil

Every Monday morning, at the Calderdale Multi-Cultural Activity Centre on Akeds Road, up to twenty men meet to share news, hear talks about health and exercise, have their blood pressure taken and enjoy a 'good for the heart' meal of rice, meat and salad.  Members of the group have had heart operations; some suffer from diabetes, some from high blood pressure or muscular deterioration.  They range in age from the mid fifties to the mid seventies.

Men from the group worked with writer Adam Strickson to compose lyrics and poems about breathing and the breath. They visited People's Park, Halifax and Grasmere, Cumbria for inspiration.

Composer Daniel Bath set the lyrics to music which was performed by Ravenscliffe School.

Participants from Age Concern's Park Road Daycentre and AWRA (Asian Womens' Resource Centre) worked with feltmaker Kirstie Briggs-Bateman and writer Sue Wood. Participants at Park Road visited People's Park, opposite the day centre, and reminisced about the quality of air in Halifax in the days when the mills were still active. The women at AWRA remembered the clean air in the beautiful hills back in Pakistan. They then used imagery from their reminiscing to create beautiful felt wallhangings, learning more about felting techniques each week.

Year five pupils from Mount Pellon School, Halifax, worked with choreographer Gerry Turvey. The children were guided by Research Neuro- scientist and Healer, Jen Altman, who led discussions and movement exercises to explain how our lungs work to enable us to breathe. The children's classmates helped to make costumes depicting the lungs and respiratory system.

Music

Pupils from Ravenscliffe High School worked with composer Daniel Bath to perform lyrics written by the Dil men's group. The pupils, who are all members of Ravenscliffe's Voice Crew choir, were joined by members of Hebden Bridge Junior Brass Band playing an accompanying score composed by Daniel. Adults from St Augustines Family Centre in Halifax also interwove their own songs into the performance and video artist Jack Lockhart programmed digital projections with pre-recorded songs, poems and photos of the Dil group, created by writer Adam Strickson.