Taking part in ‘take pART' 2026 – a young artist’s perspective, Cara Walker

While the National Slate Museum is temporarily closed for a major redevelopment project, the team has been busy travelling with our ‘pop‑ups’ and attending local and national events. They have been trialling and piloting activities that will be woven into the redevelopment and sharing those plans with our communities.  Read below to see how freelance opportunities were offered to creative practitioners as part of the Amgueddfa Cymru Producers programme during the annual ‘take pART' event at Venue Cymru.

Planning and preparation

I undertook a virtual tour of the collection centre in Bangor. This was very informative and gave me a good scope of possibilities for workshops. Looking at things like a switchboard telephone with etched names by female workers; wagons created by groups of quarrymen that would transport them to and from the quarry - these would be decorated by the groups of men with each wagon having a distinct identity; a plate carefully constructed into strips of slate, each coloured by their diverse environments. Looking beyond the practicalities like machinery and tools, I was interested in the creative pursuits the quarrymen would apply their slate splitting skills. Most notably there were numerous slate carvings created by off-duty quarrymen. Contrastingly these works were intricate and detailed, they felt slower than their traditional slate splitting work. Beautiful structures and slabs carved into delicate designs - using traditional tools.

Initial Individual Ideas

Some initial ideas I had were inspired by the quarrymen wagons- Malwoden Lwyd (grey snail), was painted along the side of one. I liked the idea of customising a collective object- especially one that could be experienced by being sat inside. Ambitiously, I thought about creating a wagon that participants can decorate and sit inside. I realised quickly this wouldn’t be possible due to firstly the space for every participant to have to contribute would be limited, thus raising the question of multiple trolleys- this became a logistical and practical nightmare in my head. However, with the idea of collective contribution still in mind, a banner that participants can add to together – reminiscent of a large-scale quarryman sash. Like the wagons - the idea that this thing is bigger than a take-home element, something that could be hung or displayed together felt exciting.

First meet with Iza

After my initial tour and brainstorm, me and Iza, a movement Artist who I had the pleasure of collaborating on this project with, had our first meeting online. We shared our findings and considered our cross overs - it seemed we had both highlighted the slate carvings, the women who had etched their names into the telephone switchboard and the idea of a banner. Through this we wanted to explore the idea of women and quarry men outside of work, looking more intimately into their lives and what they choose to do in their free time. This was cemented after Iza mentioned a fireplace they had made as a prop for a window display which would create a great living room environment.

The set up of a living room allowed more storytelling and education to happen naturally. We thought about the importance of situation and how this guides people into an activity e.g. being sat around a circle encourages making together rather than in rowed desks which may feel more formal and independent. Additionally, what else can entice people into a space? Pictures on the wall can draw people in (if positioned right) and give them permission to come take a closer look. To further fill the room, we wanted to add rag rugs traditionally made by wives from old rags, hanging pictures of quarrymen as if they were our family portraits, along with pieces from the collection as ornaments on the mantle.

Final Iteration

For the Final iteration we were able to include almost all elements of our design. As you can see below, some beautiful rag rugs were brought down which re-instated the comfort felt from a living room. We had red ribbon hung above the mantle to hang participants printed outcomes. Red ribbon was a reoccurring symbol we encountered in our research found on banners and memberships, so we wanted to include this here too.

Due to the fast-paced environment that the take Part event is – it wasn’t practical to organise a steady flow of designing and printing in a circle format on the floor. Instead, we had two tables parallel to each other, one dry table for etching designs onto. Here we would explain and introduce what slate carvings were traditionally. Referencing the tools brought by Chloe and Lowri that quarrymen would have used. The participants instead used pencils, sticks and mini wooden hammers to emulate the traditional process. We also provided example of slate carving designs that could be used as inspiration.

Participants would then move on to the paint table where they could choose a colour based on the diverse colours of the plate made by different colours of slate. This Slate plate became the basis for the printing, not only for ease of accommodating many people with limited trays. We did this also to educate people who would pass through, many didn’t realise that slate could vary in colour like this. This also created a relatable element as many young people recognised names like Penrhyn as areas they were from.

Outcomes from print workshop

Overall the workshop was a great success, with over 300 participants total! We had some lovely interactions with young people wanting to experiment with the possibilities of print like layering and using multiple colours. We also had a great response from parents who also wanted to get involved and we encouraged them to create their own prints too.  

The redevelopment project of the National Slate Museum is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, UK Government via Gwynedd Council as part of the Llewyrch o’r Llechi project, Welsh Government including the Community Facilities programme, the Wolfson Foundation, The Garfield Weston Foundation, and other funders.