Reflections 3 by Katherine at Beauty and Utility Arts

Hello there!

So, what’s been happening in the world of Beauty and Utility Arts?

The Artists in Healthcare Settings training is now half way through and we have 12 very talented Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland artists on the course, all of whom are interested in working more within an Arts and Health context. We’ve had a few phone calls and emails from other artists wanting to take part in the next round if we do one, so get in touch if you’re interested – we’d like to open it up to artists from all geographical areas next time.

In other news (I’ve always wanted to say that) I’d like to share two projects with you we’re working on at the moment.

Alcohol misuse animation

We were asked a little while back by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Blaby District Council and Oadby and Wigston Borough Council to develop a project about alcohol misuse. The aim was to work with local people accessing support services and utilise their personal experiences of alcohol and alcoholism to create a piece of animation for secondary school children around alcohol misuse awareness.

You’ve probably guessed already that the first thing most of our group said was “yeah, but I’m no good at anything Arty!” so we built in a couple of warm up sessions with participatory artists and had a very relaxed go at creating something. Here’s a few of the photos from a paper bird making session:

At the moment the groups are working with Lunchbox Films, developing the animation and I look forward to showing you a few more images as the project progresses!

The other project I’d love to share is ‘Points of Interest’ our Arts and Health walking group which takes place each week in Hinckley. We’re a lovely bunch, always having a giggle and sharing stories. Inbetween all that we go out on walks across Leicestershire and the surrounding counties, exploring and capturing whatever inspires us and then creating pieces of artwork. Here are one of the photos from our travels and our lovely poster:

 

At the moment we’re busy working on three very exciting things: a commission for the Hinckley Times office, an exhibition at The Atkins Building in Hinckley and the release of the book about our project detailing local walks that are good for your mental and physical health, so watch this space.

Until then, we work locally, regionally and nationally, so get in touch if you have an idea for a project or would like to hear more about what we’re up to!

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Katherine

www.beautyandutilityarts.com

Reflections 2 by Katherine at Beauty and Utility Arts

Hello again.

I’ve heard from a few people who read my first blog post so thank-you for your kind words.

This month there are a couple of things I’d like to tell you about, one project and one piece of training, both incredibly exciting and the result of a lot of hard work on behalf of a lot of people.

So, first of all, the training. Beauty and Utility Arts has worked with some fantastic participatory artists since we opened, many of whom have lots of experience around art and healthcare settings. What we’ve found though is that as more work is generated and we need to work with more artists, there are many out there who are interested in working in this area, but don’t feel confident enough. This seems to be the case all across the UK, so I’m very, very proud to say Beauty and Utility Arts will be partnering up with Creative Leicestershire and Willis Newson and offering a training programme for artists working in healthcare settings – now open for applications.

The programme consists of 4 days of tailored training for artists with experience of running participatory arts projects in community or education settings, who wish to extend their practice into health, or for artists with experience of working in health settings who want to improve their skills and extend their knowledge.

Additionally, there will be one sharing day promoting to potential commissioners and collaborators, and one day spent on placement. The course will take place in the Atkins Building in Hinckley and the dates are Thursday 18th April, Thursday 25th April, Thursday 2nd May, Thursday 13th June with a ‘Sharing Day’ on Tuesday 9th July. Mentoring & Placements will take place May – June and artists need to be based in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to qualify.

The cost is £85 per day, £370 in total (50% on booking, 50% at end of April) and there are two free places for recent graduates. More info here. Deadline for booking 11th April.

So … please do get in touch using the contact details below if you have any questions or queries and I hope to see a few new faces there and continue increasing the quality, skills and confidence levels of participatory artists working in healthcare settings.

And the second thing I wanted to share with you is ‘Showcase Smoothie’ a pioneering literature and music based project, predominantly targeting young black men with experience of mental health issues.

The project is patronised and assisted by the internationally acclaimed writer and performer, Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze, MBE. It is championed by Lord Patel of Bradford, OBE; Dr Mohammed Al-Uzri and John Short, CEO of LPT. In 2011, ‘Showcase Smoothie’ was awarded major Arts Council England funding to develop further, via a hugely exciting three year robust pilot, to be fully evaluated by the University of Leicester.

First conceived in 2008, to build on the Department of Health’s ‘Delivering Race Equality’ (DRE) action plan, Showcase Smoothie predominantly focuses on young black men, as this group is statistically more likely to experience inequalities within the mental health system. The intention of the project is to recognise and address mental health inequalities; foster cross-cultural cohesion and understanding; nurture artistic ability; support creative and personal development and challenge the stigma and misunderstanding that can sometimes surround mental health issues.

Participating artists attend a weekly programme of creative workshops, divided over two project sides, Showcase and Smoothie - open to young men, and adult men and women, respectively.

The creative programme includes: writing, dj-ing, mc-ing, music, dance and film, as well as one-ones and group mentoring sessions. Each year, sessions culminate in commissioned performances, publications and recordings, with Showcase Smoothie existing as both an enabler, producer and agency for it’s performers. 

Showcase, consists of The Showcase Collective, a group of young men, from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Participating artists are briefed, supported and commissioned to write and perform, with the support of facilitators, Roy Mcfarlane, former Birmingham Poet Laureate, and in 2013, the project’s key creative and patron, Jean Binta Breeze, MBE.

Showcase Smoothie is championed by John Short, Professor Lord Patel of Bradford, OBE and Dr Mohammed Al-Uzri. It is led by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and partnered by Leicester University, renaissance one (the literature company), BrightSparks (Voluntary Arts in Mental Health Group), Akwaaba Ayeh, Leicester Adult Education College, Sunflower Sessions and Beauty & Utility Arts. Showcase Smoothie is Patronised by Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze, MBE; Directed by Lydia Towsey and Tim Sayers (Creative Arts Coordinators, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust) and Project Managed by Katherine Brown of Beauty and Utility Arts. For a full list of Showcase Smoothie’s key artists, creatives and project facilitators and more project details, please see the Showcase Smoothie website:

Get in touch if you’d like to take part in or find out more about either the above projects or anything else we work on!

 

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Katherine

 

Reflections Art blog no: 1 Feb 2013 Beauty and Utility Arts, Katherine Brown

Well, what an honour.

As someone who hugely enjoys reading through the Reflections magazine and keeping up to date with all the hard work undertaken by their team, I am brimming with pride and enthusiasm at the opportunity to become a regular, monthly writer for the online site.

So, who am I?

I’m Katherine Brown and I own and run Beauty and Utility Arts, a Leicestershire based Arts and Health project management company working all over the UK. We develop and manage arts based projects with a social benefit and regularly work with the following broad groups; older people, men with experience of homelessness and the judicial system, people using mental health and learning disability services and primary school children.

This is the website, if you fancy a look

I absolutely love what I do and every day brings a fresh set of possibilities, new people to meet and be inspired by and hopefully a chance to make a difference, no matter how small.

Over the last twelve months Beauty and Utility Arts has worked with some incredibly talented individuals and one of the things that always amazes me is the number one comment uttered when we first meet people; “I’m no good at Art/poetry/comedy.”

From experience, most people I’ve worked with who have made that initial disclaimer haven’t done any kind of artwork since their school days. That might be because they were told they weren’t very good or just because once they left, life took over and there was never an opportunity to revisit their creativity.

A few weeks later, after spending time with one of the fabulous participatory artists we work with, there is often a transformation. A mosaic flower, a short poem, a new comedy sketch or something bigger and we’ve made a breakthrough. What sits alongside that piece of physical artwork is often a smile, a chance to express feelings and ideas, some new friends and a growing sense of confidence.

Nothing we do is about sticking an Arts and Health plaster on a situation and expecting everything to be better after a few weeks, so we’re constantly learning and tomorrow’s a new day.

This month I really just wanted to say hello, but over the coming months I’m looking forward to sharing with you project news, quotes and photographs.

So … until the next time, here’s a few photographs from an Innovation Challenge intergenerational arts project we ran with East Midlands Housing Association.

Innovation Challenge phase one was  Leicestershire County Council funded, Community Catalyst  managed programme in 2012.

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Katherine

Joanne Cox

My blog follows the process of working on The Electric Cello Diary, a project which uses music to symbolize experiences in my everyday life. It started in March 2012, when I had a huge 3 day reaction to a particularly harsh event.

Featuring electric cello compositions relating to my everyday life and interwoven with reference to Borderline Personality Disorder, how it affects me and how I manage it.  Here is the link

http://www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk/joanne-cox.

Joanne will shortly be one of our new guest bloggers on Reflections Art in Health...