Project grants/Public art in the City of Westminster

Overview

I would like to travel from Cardiff to London to spend three days photographing approximately 65 public artworks, in order to complete the en:List of public art in the City of Westminster and submit it at FLC. I have drawn up a schedule for the three days which I can produce on request. I would use my own camera, a Panasonic DMC-FZ18, for the purpose; see here for an example of image quality.

Budget

I would be looking to stay in a youth hostel for two nights, at a cost of £66. The other main expenses are the coach tickets to London and back (about £17 at current prices) and entry to London Zoo (£24). Most of the travel between sites would be on foot but a few bus or tube journeys might be necessary. Before these are taken into account the total is £107, but ticket and accommodation prices might rise closer to the date.

Timeline

The trip would be from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 March 2014. I am aiming for the list to be featured by late July, so that there is a Today's Featured List on a London topic just ahead of Wikimania 2014 in August.

Expected outcomes

The outcome will be illustrations of every work on the List of public art in the City of Westminster bar the lost works, and the page being Featured.

Who I am

en:User:Ham, an active editor on the English and Welsh Wikipedias, Commons and other Wikimedia projects, and a Co-ordinator on the Llwybrau Byw! – Living Paths! project. I have edited extensively on art-historical topics; my two most major pieces of work on WP are the List of public art in Westminster and en:National Gallery, a Good Article.

Discussion

Hi Ham, thank you for your application. I have let the other members of the Grants Committee know about the application. Thanks -- Katie Chan (WMUK) (talk) 14:44, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Thank you! Ham (talk) 12:39, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Hi Ham. Can you confirm that you are a member of WMUK please? --MichaelMaggs (talk) 19:41, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Yes, I joined on 29 January 2014. Ham (talk) 12:39, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Just to comment as a passing volunteer: this seems like a great use of a microgrant to me. It might be worth thinking about borrowing the office's Canon EOS 60D to take the photos (see Volunteer equipment). Also, as WMUK has some sort of relationship with the London Zoo (see ZSL Editathon) it might be worth seeing if free entry could be arranged. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 21:01, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for that offer. Unfortunately I will have to postpone this for a later date as another commitment has just come up which is rather too close to the previous dates for comfort. I'm now thinking of Friday 16 to Monday 19 May (one extra day, to give me some leeway in the event of bad weather). The timetable for getting the page featured would not be affected as there is still late May, June and July for it to go through the review process. The budget is now £115 at current prices, not including entry to London Zoo or travel between sites. I could pick the equipment up on the Friday and return it on the Monday, which presumably would be better than leaving on a Sunday as I had previously planned. Ham (talk) 14:45, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

From what I've seen so far, I'm inclined to recommend that this request be granted. You (Ham) are a trusted contributor and this clearly fits in with the aims of the chapter. The expenses for two nights in a youth hostel and for the coach trip seem reasonable to me. If you can get into London Zoo at a discount or for free then great, though the price is still £24 in May so it's not going to blow-up the budget if you can't. On the issue of changing prices, I think it would be easiest to deal with this request on a "worst case scenario" basis, with each cost where the price could rise being slightly inflated, while remaining reasonable. You can then simply not claim or pay back anything which isn't spent. The main risk here seems to be weather, but there is little anybody can do about that, though I think moving it to May does at least slightly reduces the chances of bad weather ruining your plans. On the camera issue, it's up to you whether you stick to your own camera or try out the office one – I would personally feel better sticking to equipment I'm familiar with even if it's a little inferior, but that's your call. My only query is that you mention travel between sites – how much are you expecting that to cost and will you claim for that too? CT Cooper · talk 12:24, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

I think you're right about the equipment; I'm going to be quite pressed for time as it is and travelling to the office and figuring out how to use an unfamiliar camera might not be the best idea, but I'm grateful for the offer and might take it up on a future trip when I'm not trying to pack as much in. I've calculated the tube travel costs over the four days and it comes to £23.40, which may sound like a lot, but I am still covering as much ground as possible by foot. Ham (talk) 21:32, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

I think we can cover those tube travel costs as well without issue, since at £5.85 a day, that's not unreasonable. CT Cooper · talk 13:40, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Hi Ham, this looks fine to me. I agree with all the comments above. Other than those I'd just note two probably obvious things, 1) re: using the appropriate template (which Katie can advise on), and 2) it'd probably be useful if the photos were geotagged. If someone (probably in the office) could see if we can negotiate discount/free entry to the zoo that'd be great too but as CT Cooper notes it's not going to break the bank. Cheers Sjgknight (talk) 12:09, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Hi, I take it this is the appropriate template? If someone at the office could speak to the Zoo that would be much appreciated. I've scheduled for the trip to the Zoo to be on the Sunday (18 March); this could if necessary be moved to the Saturday but preferably not to the Friday or the Monday, as my plans (and so the costs I've put forward) are based on going on one of the full days I have in London. Cheers, Ham (talk) 21:33, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Okay, so I think we're in agreement to give this request the go ahead, even if there are a few small details to be looked into. CT Cooper · talk 13:40, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! The coach tickets seem to be cheaper than when I last looked, so the total except for the Zoo entry fee is £123.39. Ham (talk) 21:33, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

An aside

The Public Monuments & Sculpture Association link to the Wikipedia list of public art in Westminster from their website. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 14:09, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Approval

Hi Ham, this has been approved by the Chief Executive. I'll work out with you by emails the minor details regarding the Zoo etc. -- Katie Chan (WMUK) (talk) 09:58, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

I don't want to seem ungrateful so I'm posting my thanks again here, though I have already thanked you by email! Many more works at the Zoo have cropped up after further research and I will get back to you shortly with the full details – I'm just waiting for one more reply from the Zoo's librarian about the whereabouts of one work. Ham (talk) 18:46, 25 February 2014 (UTC)