More responses from creative professionals

Go back to the main page here, with all responses from the four nations of the UK; or to the rest of the England responses here.

Emma Saffy Wilson

Introduction

Cornwall Museums Partnership (CMP) has been working with 7 partner museums and galleries and Carefree, a local charity that supports children in care and care leavers, over the last four years to improve access to culture. Supported by ACE and Cornwall Council, we have worked with freelance artist Emma Saffy Wilson who has been instrumental to the success of the project to date. Emma has been able to adapt to the crisis, helping Carefree to combat isolation and loneliness (a very real challenge to the demographic even without current limitations) and continuing to engage young people with culture for the benefit of improved mental health and wellbeing.

Emma's reflections

My practice with groups centres around learning alongside the young people I work with, throwing a material or idea in to the session and see what comes out of it. When Covid 19 hit I was horrified, blank with ideas and numb. Whilst everyone around me appeared to move swiftly to adapt online I felt overwhelmed. Working with computers is not in my skill set and it left me cold.

My focus within any session is about gaining rapport, to respond to small gestures or comments. I can talk with someone who might not be engaging and discover what might interest them. Often these interactions are then brought into the session, ideas going in a different tangent thanks to a participant.

Working online has not been easy. Thankfully with support of the partners on this project we’re slowly finding a way of working. This has started with Zoom meetings, checking in with participants and acknowledging the strange times we are all facing. As meetings have progressed ideas have developed.

The young people all have such incredible stories of their journey through care so I’m recording those stories as podcasts (Thanks to CMP’s great resource on how to record Podcasts!)

I’ve set up an Instagram account for young people to share memories and artwork on, another digital platform that can keep us all connected. Wonderful boxes of art supplies are being delivered to the participants. Usually we’d be visiting museums and creating artwork inspired by the collections, we will now do this digitally. Considerations are space and mess, many young people are in shared houses or bedsits, they talk on Zoom sat on a bed or sofa, not all have a workspace, certainly not one they can get messy. We will need to work on small scale.

I’m hugely grateful for the work continuing with the Culture Card and I’m blown away by the resilience shown by the young people I’m working with, this keeps me grounded.

Biography

I’ve been self employed since I graduated from Falmouth School of Arts in 2000 and have delivered arts projects within gallery, educational and more predominately community settings since.  I’ve mainly used the arts to engage, motivate, inspire children, young people & families who may:

  • Have issues with behaviour
  • Not be in Education or Training
  • Be dealing with substance abuse
  • Have low self esteem
  • Have very basic skills in reading and writing.
  • Live in an area of high social and economic deprivation
  • Be least likely to voluntarily engage in the Arts

The least likely to engage with the arts or have access to the arts is probably my biggest motivating factor in why I do what I do.  Whilst I love being an artist I’m not a fan of the exclusivity of the art world.

emmasaffywilson.com/community-art--education

Verd de Gris (Jeff Turner)

Introduction

Verd de gris arts works creatively with a range of groups in west Yorkshire and into Lancashire. Our work relies on strong bonds of trust, and campaigning on issues that directly affect the communities we work with - through platforming events and film / performance events. During Covid-19 lockdown we have been exploring how our regular participants have experienced the lockdown: the impact on their sense of well-being, but also how we ourselves as artists can adapt and impact on social issues. This has involved video-led creative sessions, and Zoom sessions to facilitate peer support and conversation.

Jeff's reflections

Lockdown has proved very difficult for us personally and professionally. We lost a family member in April and experienced the rawness/ intimacy of burying a close family member during the isolation crisis.

With the collapse into administration of a project partner Square Chapel Arts our company was left with £10K of unpaid invoices for the month of March and the cancellation of a £30K grant from May ’20. Although we are the lead delivery agent on the grant, Square Chapel Arts were the legal lead partner meaning that we have lost a big chunk of this year’s funding.

The corona virus outbreak also meant the loss of around £10K in other work related to our practice for the financial year 2020/1. As we had no reserves and are not revenue funded we had no income and therefore no capacity to follow up any of our developmental work.

An emergency grant from Arts Council has eased the situation and allowed to begin to plan for the next 6/12 months, restarting some of our sessional work to support local people.

Over the last 15 years we have developed award-winning work in a range of community and health care settings. As a development company much of what we do is unpaid - non-arts commissioners are reluctant to pay for indirect costs / project management fees, requiring the majority of funding to be spent on service users. This means that it difficult to generate financial support for project facilitation / support of project development.

Covid-19 has meant that we have had space and time out to reflect on this situation more thoroughly - to explore that fact that many small arts organisations like us have stepped up over the last 12 years of Austerity and cost-cutting. We feel strongly that this practice should not continue - that the sector needs proper financial support and acknowledgement for the sterling work it does.

Biography

The company is committed to a socially-engaged practice, using a combined arts approach to bring ‘unheard voices' (either individual or collective) to the fore. We develop participation and audience, in a bid to share thoughts, issues and concerns, very often through collaboration with a range of commissioned artists. The work is built on a foundation of 20 years of strong community engagement work across the North of England - taking 'difficult' ideas through to successful completion. We have good success in attracting support from a range of non-arts funders.

In 2017 we won a National Dementia Care Award for ACE-funded Soul Journey. In 2019 our 5000Miles project won a National Creative Learning Award, working with young asylum seekers to inspire and educate in our local communities www.verddegris.org/project/5000miles/

This impact of this work has featured in third-sector publications (Journal of Dementia Care), researched by staff at Huddersfield University and UCLAN, and impacted on health and social care agendas.

verddegris.org

Tracy Knight

Introduction

Creative Minds is a social enterprise and community of artists who deliver fun and therapeutic art sessions to care homes, learning disability services, schools and other venues across the country.

Tracy's reflections

I'm a community artist and the majority of my clients are in the care sector. The cancellations of my art sessions came in thick and fast and my last working day was the 12th of March. Shocking and scary is putting things mildly. I started my business early 2018 and was at a point where I was so happy and proud of my work. Then within a few days everything just stopped. No clients, no income. The fact that everyone is affected helps somewhat but it's still a huge worry.

Our artist community quickly brainstormed the idea of art activity boxes to adapt to the quickly changing circumstances. Some of my clients took to this idea and although successful, it was quite stressful (and costly) initially to plan a different style of session. Still, I got into the swing of it. However, unfortunately now two of my four clients are not in a position to receive art boxes, so yet again my (much smaller) income takes a hit.

Luckily, in terms of my own wellbeing I have plenty of hobbies and interests at home to keep me occupied and I've learned to not be hard on myself if I have a particularly unproductive day. Right now, I'm okay but worry about the consequences long term. No one knows how long this may go on for. I do know my clients want me to return but obviously that will be very dependent on safety and I certainly wouldn't want to put anyone at risk.

Biography

I'm a community artist with Creative Minds working in local communities providing art sessions. My clients include residential care homes and mental health services. I'm also a freelance illustrator and designer and sell digital patterns on both Etsy and Spoonflower. I enjoy working on my own creative work and always love to try new projects.

creativeminds.art | traceyknight.com

 

Dan Vo

Introduction

Cornwall Musuems Partnership(CMP) has been working with local queer activist and museum professional Sophie Meyer on a longterm project to shine a light on the queer history of LGBTQIA+ collections in Cornish museums and galleries. Funded by ACE, this project seeks to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment within our institutions, to the benefit of staff, volunteers, local communities and audiences, while celebrating our rich heritage. Dan Vo has been able to develop the project under lockdown in an exciting and engaging way which has helped CMP and Sophie to augment the original plan and maximise the digital output. This project aims to address the previous lack of explicitly labelled LGBTQIA+ items, which can lead to those who identify with this protected characteristic feeling negated or isolated; these feelings could be exacerbated by the current crisis.

Dan's reflections

Formerly a radio and audio producer for over 16 years, I have since turned my attention to my museum work and artistic practice. I have presented several projects that have involved art creations both visual and performance based, usually responding to collections as bespoke site specific creations. I have presented spoken word and choreographed dance performances at two V&A Friday Lates (Out for Revolution as well as Queer and Now), as well as an evening of art and music at the William Morris Art Gallery. I have exhibited my photography and art at Queer Asia (British Museum and SOAS University) as well as Reading Museum.

Since lockdown, on social media I have been hosting a daily interview called #MuseumFromHome which was also presented on BBC Arts as a full day of programming on April 30 and was number one trending in the UK. I have also completed 1000 days of an ongoing #QueerVAM project which interprets objects from the V&A collections with a queer lens. My works often explore LGBTQ+ stories from a museum collection sometimes forgotten, suppressed, obliterated or lost. Space is offered for new contemporary LGBTQ+ narratives to be added - in seeking for plural narratives, I always look for intersections between LGBTQ+ identities and other often marginalised communities such as people of colour, disabled, working class, and so on. I am also a regular speaker and university guest lecturer, presenting at conferences as well as V&A Academy, University of Cambridge, Courtauld Institute, University of Leicester (Museum Studies MA), Solent University, and University of Gothenburg among others.


Biography

Dan Vo FRSA is a museum queer heritage consultant and freelancer. As a V&A ambassador he founded the award-winning volunteer-led LGBTQ+ Tours at the museum in 2015. He has since developed similar tours for Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd National Museum Cardiff and five University of Cambridge Museums (Fitzwilliam Museum, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Museum of Classical Archaeology, Polar Museum and Zoology). He is currently the project coordinator for the Queer Heritage and Collections Network, a partnership between the National Trust, English Heritage, Historic England, Historic Royal Palaces. He is a LGBT History Month patron, a Stonewall BAME Role Model and sits on several museum diversity and inclusion committees.

Social media: @DanNouveau | DanNouveau.co.uk

Katherine Spencer

Introduction

Comfortable Classical at Home are twice weekly, interactive online ‘relaxed’ performances by City of London Sinfonia musicians. Based on our successful Comfortable Classical performances produced with the Albany Theatre, they reach many already socially isolated groups including the under 5s, older children with sensory impairments and SEN, and adults living with dementias. They are also used by many of our partners working with these groups. The performances provide opportunity for those watch to engage direct with our musicians, and always feature simple ways of taking part from movement to drawing or storytelling.

Katherine's reflections

I used to work every day (even Christmas day!) as a performing classical musician. Normal weeks included sessions in care homes, schools and hospitals, chamber and orchestral rehearsals, international tours, and teaching at Britain's leading conservatoires. These activities have stopped overnight.   

I was already part of CLS's Comfortable Classical series and was asked to do the launch episode of Classical at Home back in March. It was very easy to adapt to an online model as the brief was "imagine you are in your front room playing to your whole family, young to old, and present it in that relaxed style". Now we don't need to imagine!

Being part of this project has been an absolute life-line to me. During lockdown I have created online musical content for many of the groups I work for, but this is the only one with LIVE interaction. That is the reason we are musicians, to communicate directly with people live.

On approaching my first episode I wondered how it would feel playing to my phone, just seeing peoples writings and emojis but I soon realised the audience felt very near. I had the same, if not even bigger, post-concert buzz immediately after it was over. I was dancing round the house with the joy of sharing music again, and without these moments in lockdown we might forget why we dedicated our lives to music. The creative process of devising the show ourselves with a close and encouraging helping hand from our participation team was a good challenge, and very empowering. It's not a skill always asked of orchestral musicians but it's been good to be more creative and know we are making real connections with our music making still LIVE! 

Biography

Clarinettist Katherine Spencer made her concerto debut at the age of fourteen at the Royal Festival Hall, and continues to perform as a soloist in major concert halls and on national radio across Europe. As a chamber musician Katherine is a founder member of the Galliard Ensemble. Katherine is principle clarinet with City of London Sinfonia, has been a member of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for 15 years, and as guest principal for the Irish Chamber Orchestra and Gabrieli Consort and Players. 

Matt Roberts

Introduction

All artists and musicians on the Air Arts programme (Derby and Burton Hospitals) were challenged to find new ways to working when we were unable to allow to them to work within the hospital. Whilst many of our musicians responded with online material, our trumpeter Matt Roberts responded through another art form with a suggestion that he could create fun NHS superhero portraits to boost morale. The work is funded by the hospital charity and promoted through the hospitals communications team and social media. Staff nominate colleagues through an online questionnaire and present the work to their nominee.

Matt's reflections

I am a freelance professional musician, photographer and illustrator and during this crisis I’ve found that I’ve needed to shift my workflow. I’m obviously unable to play any live music gigs or undertake any social/ event photography, nor can I teach trumpet or piano in person. As a result I shifted my teaching online via Skype which I do every morning Monday-Friday. My jazz trio have been recording a series of “lockdown” videos (one or two a week) which we share on social media and send into the hospital to be played on their monitors. Each video has words of support and thanks to the wonderful NHS staff.

I’d recently finished 6 months of work putting an exhibition together for the hospital where I photographed staff in the hospital and then illustrated scenery, characters and animals around them, each piece aimed at a particular idea of wellbeing in the workplace. I made 16 pieces in total that spanned 30ft of wall. It was wonderful to see people react to them as they walked past and I thought perhaps I could, in a small way, bring something positive to those people who were putting their health and lives on the line. I pitched the “NHS Superheroes Project” to Laura and she was very supportive of the idea. We devised a questionnaire, workflow documents and other logistical aspects together before Laura launched the project. From that point I’ve received 30 commissions. Each one customised using a photo and the information from the questionnaire to turn the nominated staff member into a superhero. Each one took between 8-10 hours to make and it was wonderful to work hard for them and feel like I was doing something to support those on the front lines and show them how much they were appreciated.

Biography

Matt Roberts was born in Derby and studied trumpet at the Birmingham Conservatoire of Music. Matt is a professional trumpet player and photographer and works with Air Arts musically. His jazz trio; The Tri Tones fundraise each month and play in different areas of the hospital and Matt is part of the Wandering Minstrels program (bringing live music to the wards).

Matt has always loved drawing cartoons with his graphic design work winning awards whilst at school. After the birth of his 2 daughters, through drawing pictures for them, he rediscovered his love for illustration.

facebook.com/Mattdrawsstuff

 

Caroline Schanche and Melanie Young

Introduction

‘Invitations to Create’ was developed in response to the Covid-19 crisis
by Open the Box Arts (freelance artists Melanie Young and Caroline
Schanche) and Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance. Six
‘invitations to create’ are being sent to Gallery volunteers and
participants on the Gallery’s Arts and Health course to maintain
contact and encourage creativity to enhance wellbeing. Each
invitation includes instructions for a creative activity based on an
artwork from the collections and is accompanied by a ‘how to’ video
online. The invitations are being posted out to ensure those who do
not have access to technology are included. Funders: Penzance Council; Arts Council England; FEAST; Cornwall Council

Caroline and Melanie's reflections

We are finding new ways of working which respond to the restrictions
of social isolation. This is further developing our collaborative
practice as we negotiate the distance between us as a space of
opportunity to think differently about how to sustain our work. Long
phone calls, many emails and sharing of images sustain our creativity
and an ongoing, accumulative conversation about our work. We are
individually exploring deeper into our subject matter, painting,
reading, day dreaming and experimenting with film and then sharing
our new found inspirations.

In relation to the Invitations to Create we are honing our skills in
short film making with the the ‘How To’ videos. We are aware that
this project is for people who may not have arts materials at home so
we have developed our invitations to be successfully created with
materials and objects found at home, for example wrappers from tins,
insides of envelopes, kitchen foil and a torch. “What you can with
what you have where you are.” Theodore Roosevelt.

During this time we are also developing a new work called the
Splendid Hut. This is a development of a performance/installation
called ‘We Are Splendid’. This was ACE and Feast funded and has been
performed at Penlee Gallery and other museums and galleries in
Cornwall. The subject that we are interrogating, and has been our
focus for the last 3 years, is grief and loss. This important and
pertinent work enables us to focus on creating and planning for the
future, navigating a clearer path through the story of these uncertain
times. This process supports our health and wellbeing by sustaining
our creativity and because we are looking forward to bringing this
work to life. What we are gaining from this process in turn informs
our Invitations to Create.

Biography

Open the box arts is a collaboration between community dance artist
Caroline Schanche and visual artist and performer Melanie Young.
Open the box arts brings together visual art, film, movement story
telling and song to create bespoke performances and community arts
engagement projects.

The starting premise for these collaborations is ‘un-knowing’. By
creating a space full of possibility, words, song objects and images and
experiences become the material for the particpants’ artworks.
Our practice encompasses choreography, improvisation, making and
curation. These are combined to create high quality and engaging
projects predominantly giving a voice to people often go unheard.

Open the Box Arts | Penlee House YouTube

Su Squire

Introduction

Su Squire is a storyteller and theatre practitioner, and as part of Off the Twig, she collaborates with Zannie Fraser, a theatre shadow practitioner. Su received Norfolk County Council Arts Project Funding for further development of their production, Mortal Yarns, which incorporates elements of storytelling (truth and fable), poetry and shadow theatre interspersed with informal discussion (with tea and cake) around death, dying and grief.

Su and Zannie worked with their director, Charlotte Arculus, to develop the performance for venues across Norfolk and Suffolk during Dying Matters Awareness Week, 11-17 May 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 crisis, they have adapted the performance to be delivered online via Zoom, combining live and pre-recorded elements alongside group discussion.

The aim of the project is to create work that encourages conversations around death, dying and grief, and to develop further networks within the relevant sectors and communities including: health, wellbeing, death awareness, death services and the arts, with the aim of developing new partnerships with other artists and organisations in order to create further work in this important and sensitive arena.

The project received funding from: Rosedale Funeral Home, Arts Council National Lottery Project Fund and Norfolk County Council Arts Project Fund. Read more

Su's reflections

As a storyteller my work is all about the spontaneity of the present moment with an audience, the space where the magic happens. When all my work fell away from mid March onwards I felt a real sense of the loss of this connection. Just a few days into lockdown though and I found myself performing live online, surprised by how it was still possible in some way to experience that immediacy and connection.

The rapid adaption of the creative community to sharing work online made the decision to take Off the Twig’s performance of Mortal Yarns online an easy one. We finally received Arts Council funding for this project on our fourth attempt and our performance was due to take place during Dying Matters Awareness Week which wouldn’t come round again for another year. In light of the global pandemic it felt more important than ever to share work encouraging conversations about death and grief.

Working remotely via Zoom with Zannie and Charlotte we created a number of live and prerecorded pieces which were interwoven throughout the performance with opportunities for discussion in small groups in breakout rooms.

Finally sharing the work on Zoom with an audience, we have been overwhelmed by the positive response from audiences who have joined us from all over the world (an added bonus of performing online) People have felt a strong sense of connection in spite of the physical distance.

Pulling this work together as a single parent during lockdown has been quite a challenge - juggling rehearsal, writing and admin alongside home learning, staying connected with friends, family and community and all the usual stuff of life (my house is a mess!) as well as the unusual stuff of these times we’re living through. I am grateful for our garden and the regular laughter yoga sessions on Zoom, both of which have supported my wellbeing during this time.

I yearn to get back into a room with a live audience but this experience has launched me into using technology that I have previously been resistant to. I’m surprised by the possibilities it brings and will continue to incorporate it in my work to reach out to a wider audience.

Biography

The thread of storytelling has been running through my life and my work for over twenty years, in education, theatre, community and wellbeing. Having worked as a solo artist for much of my life, I am currently embracing the creative possibilities of collaboration with artists in other art forms and wellbeing practitioners, using storytelling as a way into personal development and healing. In 2019 I set up Off the Twig - a performance company specialising in creating work on death and grief. Inspired by my involvement with the Death Cafe movement, an essential element of this work is incorporating opportunities for conversation.