AS 2020 comes to an end, people in Melksham have been reflecting on this unprecedented year. And although there were many difficulties, the town has also seen incredible kindness and community spirit, and there is a huge amount to be grateful for in Melksham.
And to bring together everyone’s expressions of gratitude, the town council are creating a ‘Window of Thanks’; a community art project that everyone is invited to participate in.
“The final artwork will be a display of hundreds of little thank you notes or expressions of gratitude from people all around Melksham,” says the council. “These notes can be as simple as a scribble on the back of an envelope, or a newspaper clipping, or as detailed as a small painting, and can be in any colour or material, as long as they are 5cm square and include an image or words expressing gratitude.”
Linda Roberts, town clerk said, “This is a lovely idea that can really share the positivity of our community as we come to the end of this year. Melksham has so much to be proud of, and grateful for, and this is a great way of bringing together that positivity as we start a new year.”
If you would like to join in, simply create a few squares of thanks and drop them in to the Town Hall before Christmas. The guidelines are as follows:
• Squares need to be 5cm square (just smaller than the height of a credit card)
• They can be any colour – bright if possible – or just black and white
• They can include a written thank you to someone (eg, ‘Thank you to Charlotte for doing my shopping during lockdown’) or just something you appreciate (‘I am grateful for sunshine’) or simply an image, a drawing, a newspaper clipping, or anything that you are grateful for in 2020.
• It should contain no advertising, or anything offensive
• It can be on any material (paper, card, fabric) but can’t be thicker than 5mm
• You can do any amount of squares between one and ten
• You can include your name on the front of the square if you like.
• Include a separate piece of paper with your name (and email/ address if you would like to be kept informed about the progress of the project)
• Drop them in to Melksham Town Hall letterbox in an envelope labelled ‘Window of Thanks’
The town council’s community development officer, Miriam Zaccarelli, added, “We are very grateful to Henry King from Kavanaghs who has helped us secure use of the premises, and to Andrew Butcher, the landlord who has given permission.
“We are also really excited to be working with Barry and Frances Franks to use the previous Petstown shop to display art, as well as Kev Beadle who is making space available in Wiltshire Framers, and Malcolm Shipp who has offered the window of the Hiding Place. If there are any other spaces in town that could be filled with art, we would love to continue to expand the project.”
Anyone who is interested can get in touch by calling the Town Hall on 01225 704187 or emailing miriamzaccarelli@melksham-tc.gov.uk.
Photo: Example of the kind of squares that would be suitable:
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