Drawing Out Hilbre Research Project #01 is one of a five-year long-term artist residency with the Hilbre Heritage Centre for Arts, Science and Sustainability. The Heritage Centre is part of the HCLT (Hilbre Community Land Trust) including Volunteer Group Friends of Hilbre, The Hilbre Bird Observatory and BADA (British Art & Design Association with Terry Duffy and Dominic Wilkinson). I joined the BADA board in 2024 and am now Artist and Curator for Drawing Out Hilbre. Drawing Out Hilbre will be part of the Independents Biennial 2025. Initial work is with Tracks Tread and Gaits – Gathering a walking notation of the site, and then a Mapping of movement patterns particularly charting the tidal contours with the feeding grounds of different bird species in drawing out the ecological relationships between birding patterns, tidal patterns and seasons at Hilbre to begin a longer study on Hilbre ecologies of relation with birds and reading the bodies of water that surround Hilbre at the mouth of the River Dee Estuary, the Mersey Estuary and the Irish Sea. This period will be mapping a distinct time capsule of ecologies for the Heritage Archive of Hilbre. Due to climate change, and erosion of the extremely porous bedrock of sandstone, rock falls are now regular. It is anticipated that this wee archipelago may not be here in 150 years. Curating Drawing Out Hilbre has included over twenty artists concerned with the ecologies of Hilbre Archipelago. For further information on the Hilbre project see https://www.badaprojects.com/team-3
