My name is Charlene, I am a part-time primary school teacher and a new staff member at Art4Space. Since joining over the summer, I have had the pleasure of working on some amazing projects. I have enjoyed working in the studio with my fellow staff members and working on outreach programmes all across London with other professionals.
London Loop at the Olympic Stadium
The summer kicked off with me facilitating an art workshop on a fun project called ‘London Loop’. The project gave children from different parts of London the chance to meet people out of their local borough and gave them access to dance, sports and art. It was inspiring to see how the children engaged in the programme and formed strong connections with others outside their borough. I would like to thank Gavin and Claire from Bobby Moore Secondary School for their amazing hospitality and lovely cooking, whilst I led art on the ‘London Loop’ project’. Also I like to say thank Steve, Jot, Gary and the rest of the Surrey team for being accommodating during my two-day workshop.
‘Creative Arts’ in Wandsworth
The next big project I worked on was called ‘Creative Arts’ in Wandsworth. This was a special project aimed at 11 to 18 year olds. It was a SEN friendly space. The space was a motivating, calm and a creative space for young people to feel safe and express their creativity. Gemma and myself facilitated on this special project. This project gave me a chance to learn a lot from Gemma who has been at Art4Space for many years.
Tate Britain – Milbank
The end of Summer saw me run an art workshop at the prestigious Tate Britain. It was a pleasure facilitating Tate Britain’s first community art and coffee morning. The workshop was based on Tate Britain’s current exhibition ‘Grace’ created by Alvaro Barrington who pays homage to black women who shaped him. The public enjoyed creating their own ‘Grace’ pieces by taking part in creating a ‘bust’ (a sculpture of a person’s head, shoulders, and chest) out of clay of people who inspire them in their lives. The event was a hit with the general public who attended. Both workshops on the day ran to full capacity with attendance from some of our own Art4Space volunteers!
Stockwell Festival – Stockwell
To finally wrap up the Summer, I facilitated on the Stockwell Festival which had a big turn out for Art4Space. Many locals were excited to take part in one or more of our four activities we put on for the festival.
Walcot – Art4Space Studio
Currently I am facilitating on Walcot with Daisy. I have taken over from Natti, who has kindly shown me the ropes. Daisy and I have great ideas for the young people joining this term!
Conclusion
I have had such a fun Summer joining Art4Space and seeing how much of an impact the studio has in its local community but also all around London. It’s been great to see how close and important it is for us to work together with other professionals to support and provide a creative and safe space for all types off people in the community young, old, professional, student, vulnerable people and others. I look forward to seeing, and being apart, of how much impact Art4Space can bring to our local community and the rest of London in the coming year!