#WeAreRydeArts - Teresa Grimaldi
I was lead artist on a large community-wide Ryde Arts project to create an extended family of life-sized rag dolls called The Ryde Mennyms. The Mennyms is a childrens’ book by Sylvia Waugh, published in 1993, it tells the story of a family of life-size rag dolls who try to live a normal life in a large old house in an English town. The magical and comical story is about secrets, the desire to fit in, relationships and change. Working with several different community groups in workshops we developed and then made the characters.
Rather fittingly, The Ryde Mennyms were ‘born’ in the basement of Ryde library. This project helped me to develop new ways of working in partnership, extending and sharing my own arts practice whilst supporting and facilitating the voices and skills of the community. Creating life-size rag dolls allowed me to scale up my own practice. The Ryde Mennyms were then placed in situations throughout Ryde, integrating them into the fabric of the town and not just gallery spaces. It was also great working alongside Judy Digby, Jo Dodd, Hannah George and Carol Jaye. This project had so many positive outcomes. It gave the town a sense of pride. It promoted skill sharing and provided fun pathways to learning and experiencing the Arts. It was a celebration of Ryde, the community, art and culture and a rewarding experience for me. The Ryde Mennyms were even invited to a major children’s literary conference at the University of Roehampton to showcase the success of a community-wide arts’ and literary project.
“This project had so many positive outcomes. It gave the town a sense of pride.”
About: Teresa Grimaldi is an installation artist. She was born on the Isle of Wight in 1966 into a family of ice cream vendors. She has a degree in theatre design, then worked as a designer before she specialising in puppetry at Central School of Speech and Drama followed by MA in visual performance at Dartington College of Arts. For more information please visit teresagrimaldi.co.uk.
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