A Face in the Crowd, A self-portrait of Fulbourn village

Hi, there! Edye, here.

Back in February I received a grant and approval to display an exhibit as part of the first Fulbourn Arts Festival. The project was to create a village self-portrait done by the villagers to be displayed amongst the professional and semi-professional art performances and exhibitions that were happening throughout the weekend. Once I received the 'go ahead', I wandered off to parts unknown to meet with various populations in Fulbourn working with each group to create individual self-portraits to be hung collectively. It was a wonderful experience that offered me far more than I expected. In the end, the faces (which were done on plastic masks) included members of the local government, local clergy, patients in our mental hospital, residents of our nursing home, students from our various nurseries, child care, youth groups, and elementary and high schools, and anyone else I could duct tape to a chair. In the end, we had over 300 participants. The masks were hung on the manor wall, the oldest standing wall in Fulbourn, just off our main street.

The exhibit was called 'A Face in the Crowd: A self-portrait of Fulbourn village.' It went up on Saturday morning at 7am (it took six people four and a half hours) and was removed late that night (that part went much faster). To sum up, I couldn't have begged, borrowed or stolen a better day. The exhibit was well attended and really well received. Nothing like it has happened to Fulbourn before, and the reactions were priceless. People visiting returned with friends and family, and the feedback is they're looking forward to next year... which is a bit daunting as I recover from one.

If you're curious where Alastair was throughout this adventure, he was in the thick of it and helped make the day absolutely worthwhile.