Who Makes All Change

A portrait of us, of who we are, of what we do, of what matters to us and to the communities we know, of our ambition for the artists and communities we work with, of the difference we make when we come together. This is a portrait of what it means to belong and what involvement in the arts can do.

Made by Associate Artists Sarah Butler and Marysa Dowling, this is a portrait expressed through beautiful text and photography, emerging from creative encounters and conversations between the artists and people who are part of our story.

Photos by Marysa Dowling Words by Sarah Butler

Welcome Home

Welcome home. You never really left, or if you did, you always knew you could come back. Someone would be waiting up for you. The kettle on. Food in the fridge. They would be ready to listen – if that’s what you wanted – or just leave you be.

This is a place you can stay, if you need to, for as long as you want to. On your own terms. This is a place you can belong. This is home.

And this is family. We are all related. Connected. One to the other. We all grow together. We all change together. We all learn together. We tell each other difficult truths and then laugh and eat and make plans for the future.

We are family. A community in the heart of this city they call unfriendly, but what do they know, of time and trust and respect, of the things that matter?

 Welcome. Home. Family. We are pleased to see you.  Do not stand on ceremony. This is your place as much as ours. All we want is to sit alongside you, eat together, speak together, listen, laugh.

 Welcome. Family. Welcome. Home. Welcome. Family. Welcome. Home.

Ours is a continuing story of connection, collaboration, care and celebration, of ambition and activism, of listening and learning, of change and transformation for individuals and communities.

Thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds have been part of our journey, from here and from all around the world. This is a portrait of some of those people, artists, trustees, partners and staff members who have made
and continue to make All Change.

How to matter
– a meditation on All Change

1. Consider the nature of air: Know that it is invisible. Know that it matters. Know that it will keep you alive. Air is process. Air is the work we do that nobody sees. Call your participants. Ask if they are OK. Do what needs to be done to get this person to this space at this time. Do not treat them as numbers on a record sheet. Treat them as the individuals they are – filled with stories and dreams. Think about your staff – their happiness, their growth, their passions. If you don’t take care of them, how can they take care of everyone else?

Air is breath. Air is voice. If we are about anything, we are about voice. Amplifying those that don’t get heard. Saying the things that matter. Shouting from our city rooftops – we are here, together, listen. We think about the words we use. They matter too. We don’t talk about disadvantage. We don’t patronise the people we work with. We talk about story and care and passion and art. We talk about quality and commitment, vision and value. We listen – to what is said and what is not said, to the quietest of voices.

Air is surprise. You didn’t know you could write a poem, but you did. You didn’t know you could take a photo like that but you did. You didn’t know you could stand on stage and sing, but you did. To be taken by surprise, by yourself – that is pure air.

Air is energy.  Air is exchange.  We give. You give. We meet somewhere in the space between us to make something extraordinary.

2. Find a place on the earth: Settle. Commit. Keep on walking the streets, taking new turns, looking up as well as down. Keep on meeting the same people and having different conversations. Keep on opening your heart to the new. Keep on being here. Build up the layers. Year on year. Person on person. Project on project. Keep on digging down, to what was here before you came. Keep in mind what will happen when you’re gone. Do not denigrate the local. Think big. Think wide. Think here.

From roots come growth. From belonging comes community. From action comes hope. What happens here can change what happens there.

Make spaces – for change, connection, experimentation. Keep them safe.

Make paths – the right path for the right person, a matter of guidance not direction.

Remember the word grounded.

Be a home to the people who work for you and with you. A place they can leave when they need to, knowing they can always come back. A place to rest. A place to be themselves. A place they will always feel welcome.

With home comes family – in whatever shape. Grow your family. Keep them close. Let them fly. Never leave anyone behind.

3. Learn how to light a fire: Fire in the belly. Fire in the eyes. Fire in the heart. It is a matter of ignition. A spark thrown, just so. It doesn’t always work first time. It isn’t always easy. That is no reason not to try again. And again. Because once it’s lit, anything can happen. Watch this woman, walking onto a stage, holding a piece of paper scrawled with her words. Watch what happens – the fire flickering beneath her skin.

In the light of the fire, things look different. New paths. New shadows. New ways of seeing. It keeps away the demons. It brings us together, warms our faces and our hands. We look into the flames and see new worlds, know that we can reach for them if we choose to.

Fire is risk. Take it.

Fire can burn. Destroy. Sometimes things must go for other things to grow.

Don’t be afraid to cause a conflagration, to disrupt how things have always been.  It isn’t always easy. That is no reason not to try.

4. Think about water: Water lifts us, keeps us going, connects us together, moves us forward. Water helps us wash things clean and start anew.

Water isn’t interested in invisible lines. It doesn’t respect hierarchy. We care about equality. Of experience, of attention, of care. We insist on it, always. Everyone matters; we want them to feel that for themselves.

Water will find its way through holes. Break down walls. There are as many walls inside of us as there are outside. We help dismantle them when we can.

Nothing stays the same – know that. Know that you are working on water – it is a matter of balance, flexibility, finding ways to stay afloat and keep on moving.

Think about tides. The going out and the coming in. The steadiness. The repetition. The constancy.

Look into water and see yourself reflected. We are not afraid to see ourselves – we are not afraid to change.

5. Take your time:  We have been here over thirty years already. We are going nowhere. Work like this takes time and patience. A lot of time and a lot of patience. We know the power of a long relationship, the knowledge and trust and history of time spent together. We have time for things going wrong, enough time so we can find a way to make them go right. We don’t do fast fixes, because there aren’t any. Our work doesn’t finish with the applause, but wraps itself around it. We are here, in the messiness of now with all the messiness of before and after. In this rush-about world, we have realised there is no hurry after all. We are here for the long term, taking our time.