On Sunday 3rd April, RIG Arts hosted the 3 hour long event ‘Bye to the Bells’ to commemorate the Drumfrochar Square flats before they are demolished.

We had a great turn-out of around 300 people and everyone got involved with the activities. Ceramic bells with messages attached, made in the Kid’s Art Club and on the day, were hung in the stair well, and a free standing wicker bell sculpture was made, which when lit up resembled our mini-igloo sculptures from the Wednesday Kid’s Art Club.

The film below was projected onto the flats, mapping the history of Broomhill, the art work made in the Art Flat, and hopes for the future of the area onto the iconic building.

Photographs from Jason’s Street Photography class were displayed along the street-facing wall of the flat, so that they could be viewed against the backdrop of the area in which they were taken.

We also had free ice-cream, teas and coffees, a disco bounce and music to make sure there was something for everyone.

Unfortunately, the Drummin’ Wummin weren’t able to make the event as we had to reschedule, but they later let us film them playing the building.

RIG Arts learnt from their research trip to the community regeneration project at Fatima Mansions, Dublin, that it is important to ‘festivalise’ your projects in order to bring an atmosphere of celebration and community cohesion. This was our inspiration for ‘Bye to the Bells’, and we believe we achieved a lively and exciting event which brought the community together to mark not only an iconic landmark, but an important stage in the regeneration process of Broomhill, and the wider area of Greenock.

Bye to the Bells, Tom Johnstone, 2016.