Project Mayfly was a community art project I designed which invited people to contribute to a large art installation by creating their own mayfly.

The installation was housed at The Rheged Centre in Penrith for over 18 months (2014-2016) in which time over 2000 mayflies were made by individuals.

Mayflies are flying insects found all over the world. They are famed for their short adult life which in some species can be as short as a day, an hour or even a few minutes. Every moment is used wisely and is cherished.

The project encouraged people from all over to decorate a card mayfly. Each person was asked to think of something they cherish, it could be one thing, many things, a place, a person a memory, anything. They were asked to write it on their mayfly and decorate it to be added to the exhibition.

People are guilty of too often letting moments pass without cherishing them. Maybe because we have too much to think about, that we are in a rush or maybe simply just forget to. This project aimed to make people stop for a moment to relax and reflect on important moments and feelings.

Card mayflies where created by people at: Penrith Hospital, MHA Woodlands, Space2Create, Swarthdale Nursing Home, Lanercost House, Age UK Home Care Group – Wasdale Centre, Penrith Museum, Ashfield Primary School, Lakes College, BUPA Winters Park, Penrith Brownies, Carlisle College, with visitors over a week at The Rheged Centre and at Acorn Bank’s Apple Day.