Artist drawn to Gambian school with Dumbarton links

Nov 14 2008 by Tina Kemp, Lennox Herald (main ed)

AN internationally renowned artist is travelling to Gambia next month to work with children and women in a poor community with close links to Dumbarton.

Ashley Cook will spend six months teaching arts and crafts to pupils at Dumbarton London Corner Nursery School in Serrekunda.

She will also spend time with women in the area, equipping them with skills to help boost their family’s income.

Her trip has been welcomed by the Rev Kenny Macaulay, of St Augustine’s Church, Dumbarton, whose charity, the Gambia Education Association, funds the running of the 90-pupil school at London Corner.

He believes youngsters at the school, as well as those who attend adult literacy classes, will benefit greatly from her input.

He said: “The prospect of Ashley going out there, with the incredible talent and wonderful resources she will take with her, is something that excites and encourages us.

“The school, and especially the adult education class, are going to benefit greatly, and she brings a freshness and a lot of hope into the hopelessness and helplessness of a Gambian community.

“She is a rare treasure that we've found, and we know that the school, and other community projects, will benefit from her infectious enthusiasm."

Ashley, a graduate of and former lecturer at Glasgow School of Art, will travel to Gambia later this month through the Joint Undertaking in Community Education (JUICE) project.

She will be teaching papier-mache and hand-cut paper stencil screen-printing, mediums which are virtually unknown in the area.

Her main remit is to offer skills which will enable women to produce goods they can sell to tourists and to manufacture new crafts giving them an independent trade.

Ashley will also be working with Faye Suso, just returned to Gambia from Dumbarton, who is behind the JUICE initiative.

The widely recognised artist, who features in collections at Kelvingrove Art Gallery, the BBC and the Scottish Arts Council, has carried out similar residencies in Mexico, Iceland, Los Angeles, the Basque country and Canada.

To help raise money for her residency in Gambia, Ashley staged a charity night to coincide with her new exhibition, World of Paper, at the Brunswick Hotel in Glasgow.