Laura Cooney - Making projects happen

Creative Chit Chat - Dundee

Laura is a community artist and has been for about 16 years now. 12 of those years have been spent at The Corner in Dundee, a health and information service in Dundee, bringing amazing projects to life and influencing the lives of many young people. We go on a journey from where she started as a 20 year old working for the lighthouse in communities like Easterhouse in Glasgow to the amazing projects she has created in Dundee like repainting Reform Street as part of Reformation. We talk about some of the issues facing young people today and the role that the corner plays in that. I wasn't really surprised that mental health is high on the agenda and Laura does see some correlation between the rise in social media use and issues with mental health. We talk about the wider issue and her involvement with the Shpeel project, an interactive installation created by Biome Collective for the London Design Beinnale. What really impressed me about Laura is her ability to just make things happen and to learn the skills needed to make other people's dreams become a reality. As a city, we need those people as much as the creatives themselves. I've had a few guests like Gillian Easson, Claire Dow and Annie Marrs who I feel all do this amazingly well in Dundee. Liveable/Loveable - http://dundeedesignfestival.com Writing to Reach You book - https://www.thecorner.co.uk/116_Writingtoreachyou.html The Corner Website - https://www.thecorner.co.uk/index.php Shpeel - https://creativedundee.com/2018/09/shpeel-week-1/