Tell us a little about yourself and what drew you to 2up2down?
I am an artist based in Liverpool. I’ve made work about what is happening in Anfield bcause of regeneration. The project was called L5 6QW and it was a sculpture made from the metal that was used to tin up the houses in Anfield. I came along to one of the Monday sessions at Mitchell’s bakery to find more. I didn’t know anything about the project or what was going on but they very kindly went round the room and told me who everyone was and what they were trying to do which I thought was amazing.
What I think makes 2Up 2Down important is that it’s the only project of its kind. It’s taken an outsider to come into Anfield to actually get things done and not get bogged down with the political wrangling that has been going on for years. Jeanne has come in and said ‘I don’t care about all of that, let’s get these properties up and running again’. If it takes off, it would be amazing because it would become a model for future success and other people can come in and see how it works. It would be so good to have a cafe and bakery here, somewhere you can sit, grab a cup of tea whilst you sit with your laptop. It may not seem like anything amazing, but if we manage it, it would be something Anfield could be proud of.
What does it mean to live well to you?
It means being happy, having enough to go to the pub and not having to be surrounded by tinned up homes and empty neighbourhoods. There should at least be people living in the homes. How can you really talk about living well when there aren’t even people living in Anfield? It’s a completely dead space at the moment, a ghost town. So in order to live well, you need people.
Jayne’s work can be seen here
