ABSTRACT
Martin Goodrich, Jim Ives and Barbara Wheeler-Early met as students at Walthamstow College of Art in the 1960s. Goodrich nonetheless pinpoints the reading of ‘The Dehumanization of Art’ as a key moment in his intellectual formation that crystallized his understanding of his Charge as an artist. One way of summing up what the Fairlop project taught Goodrich and Ives is that they had been working to an art world Brief. With their energy increasingly going into the organization of neighbourhood-based Fun Festivals, Goodrich, Ives and Wheeler-Early were moving away from art world events, but at this point they were still interested in creating and showing artworks with other artists. After the first Free Form Fun Event, using the positive feedback from their questionnaire, Goodrich, Ives and Wheeler-Early applied to the Visual Arts Panel of the local council, Newham, and managed to secure some minimal funding to organize more neighbourhood events geared towards children in other parts of the borough.
