The Big Issues Watts Gallery
2009-10
The Big Issues 2009-10 Watts Gallery working in partnership with: HMP Send HMP Bronzefield Surrey Youth Justice Service Street Level Arts The Cellar Art Group
Published by Watts Gallery, 2010 Watts Gallery Down Lane Compton Guildford Surrey GU3 1DQ www.wattsgallery.org.uk 01483 810235 Edition of 1000 copies
Project Co-ordinated by Helen Hienkens-Lewis Head of Learning. Position supported by the Peter Harrison Foundation Design and Editing by Andrew Churchill Marketing Manager. Position supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation With thanks to: Miranda Ash, Amanda Beswick, Lyn Cannon, Janet Crossley, Sandy Curry, Donna Drummond, Leanne Grindal, Anna Hennings, Tom O’Neill, Adrienne Roberts, Nathalie Roset, Kathryn Sole, Sheila Wallis and Mary Wethey. All images and text © the artists Watts Chapel and Archive images © Watts Gallery, Compton All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owners. The Big Issues project are supported by
Foreword Perdita Hunt Director of Watts Gallery Watts’s Victorian England provides an interesting template for our work in the 21st Century. Despite widely held views that Surrey is free from social deprivation, where it exists, there is a serious lack of support, awareness and help. The Big Issues project was inspired by G.F. Watts and Mary Watts’s passion for providing Art for All – manifested through their work in the East End of London, the building of Postman’s Park, the creation of the Watts Chapel, the Compton Potters’ Arts Guild and the founding of Watts Gallery. Reaching out today to excluded groups in prisons, to young offenders, reformed drug users, homeless and recovering alcoholics, the Big Issues project provides the same opportunity for personal transformation, and through art, the development of self worth and new skills. We are particularly lucky that each year our Artist in Residence, appointed from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, engages with groups, shares their skills and draws inspiration from the Watts collection as the starting point. We are delighted that present and past artists in residence at Watts Gallery are continuing to work with the project as they derive the benefit from working in such challenging situations. This unique ingredient of The Big Issues project, where participants work directly with a practising artist, is providing the positive results that you will read about in this catalogue. It is also in part why we are now being asked to replicate The Big Issues project approach in other settings such as our work with HMP Bronzefield and with The Cellar Art Group. This project would not have been possible without the inspiration and determination of the KPMG Foundation, Michael Varah Memorial Fund, MLA Renaissance South East and the Wates Foundation. We are honoured and privileged to revive and refresh the Watts vision of Art for All.
top Interior of Watts Cemetery Chapel Photograph by Anne Purkiss above Archive photograph of the Compton Pottery
Introduction Helen Hienkens-Lewis Head of Learning The Big Issues programme commenced in 2008 and underpins the Watts Gallery community learning programme, providing art workshops, using the themes of G.F. Watts and Mary Watts, the Watts Gallery Collection and Watts Chapel, in Compton, Surrey. The programme began with a series of artistled workshops for women prisoners at HMP Send, young people in partnership with Surrey Youth Justice and adults from Street Level Arts, a Guildford based art group. For all the groups involved, the two exhibitions in London in 2009 at The Belgravia Gallery and the Royal Society of Arts, were well attended and resulted in art work being sold. With the project now in its third year, we are continuing to develop our workshop programme for each group, with the wonderful support of our project partners. We have been able to successfully commence working with two new partners; HMP Bronzefield with workshops for women prisoners and The Cellar Art Group, a group based at a cafĂŠ in Godalming, Surrey. These workshops have been led by Watts Gallery Artists in Residence and supported by volunteers, based on the Big Issues workshop models at HMP Send and Street Level Arts. The workshops have reached more than 65 participants, and I continue to be inspired by the artwork produced by the participants, their dedication and the sense of peer support that all the groups provide each other. In celebration of this, I am incredibly thankful to KPMG Foundation who have offered their Salisbury Square office for The Big Issues exhibition in 2010, the third of its kind.
left Mari Reflections, 2010 HMP Send above Jasmine Hope II, 2010 HMP Send
HMP Send and HMP Bronzefield
Surrey Youth Justice Service
HMP Send is a female training prison, located in Surrey, which provides a supportive environment for prisoners to explore and change behaviours relating to their offending. It has a Resettlement Unit and a Therapeutic Community.
Surrey Youth Justice Service aims to prevent offending by children and young people aged10–17. It works with young people and their families to reduce the risks associated with offending behaviour and works to strengthen protective factors in the lives of young people.
Sandy Curry, The Michael Varah Artist in Residence provides a wide ranging workshop programme at HMP Send, including workshops for families, young people attending the New Leaf project, open studio sessions, master classes, themed workshop programmes and art mentoring for women prisoners leading the Crime Diversion Scheme.
Nathalie Roset, Watts Gallery Artist in Residence 2008-09, leads The Big Issues workshop programme for Surrey Youth Justice Service, working with young people who have been excluded from school. The programme runs on a weekly basis over the period of one term, where the young people develop art skills in different media, including photography, book making and clay work.
HMP Bronzefield is a modern purpose built prison for women which opened in June 2004. It performs the function of a local prison, accepting prisoners direct from the courts and is run by Kalyx.
far left Anon. Terracotta tile with digital transfer, 2010 HMP Bronzefield left Natasha Flight of Freedom, 2010 HMP Send
Nathalie Roset, Watts Gallery Artist in Residence 2008-09, leads The Big Issues workshop programme at HMP Bronzefield. The workshop programme of designing and decorating the terracotta figures fits into a twoweek period set aside by the art tutors to focus on making work for submission to the yearly Koestler Awards.
Street Level Arts
The Cellar Art Group
Street Level Arts Group began in 2001 as a popular activity at a local night shelter. The art group began regular workshops thereafter in a local studio so that residents of hostels in Guildford, rough sleepers and people with drug or alcohol issues or mental health problems could carry on developing their art skills. Street Level is a relaxed group where people are able to explore creative activities in a safe environment.
For over 25 years The Cellar Christian Café in Godalming’s Crown Court has served the local community. The café is open to everyone in the area and also provides a friendly meeting place where people with problems can meet and discuss them amongst themselves and with staff and volunteer helpers. People of all faiths and none are encouraged to visit The Cellar and take part in activities with no strings attached. There is an atmosphere of acceptance, openness, hope, fun and friendship offered to all.
Adrienne Roberts, a Surrey based ceramic artist has been leading the pottery workshop programme since 2008. This year saw Sheila Wallis, Watts Gallery Artist in Residence 2009-10 lead a series of drawing masterclasses for the group and there was a visit to the Watts Chapel and Tate Britain.
Over the years The Cellar has opened it’s doors to many different disadvantaged or misunderstood groups of people in the community: people with drug or alcohol problems, the unemployed, the homeless and people who have suffered breakdowns or serious illness have been helped. A free simple meal is always available to any who come in need.
right James Untitled, 2010 Street Level Arts far right Amanda The Owl, 2010 The Cellar Art Group
Sheila Wallis, Watts Gallery Artist in Residence 2009-10 led a series of drawing and pottery workshops for the group in 2010, which included a visit to the Watts Chapel.
HMP Send Michael Varah Artist in Residence Lyn Cannon Head of Activities and Offender Development HMP Send The women serving custodial sentences at HMP Send have been given an opportunity to express their emotions and feelings through their art, facilitated by The Michael Varah Artist in Residence, Sandy Curry. The benefit of Sandy’s experience has been shared by the women, discussed by the women and challenged by the women, enabling them to produce the art displayed at the exhibition at KPMG Foundation in 2010. It’s been a learning curve for all those who have attended - some new and some past participants, and some who thought they couldn’t ‘do’. It’s had an impact on all the women and I am very proud to be associated with The Big Issues workshops.
Eunice HMP Send My earliest memory of doing artwork goes back to when I was 11 years old and went to the senior school. My timetable told me to report to the art class on a Friday afternoon. I did this with great anticipation and excitement. Thirty minutes later I was told to leave the class as I was, “no good”. I have never painted since, until about two years ago when I came into prison. I desperately wanted to be able to paint and draw. It has been very hard work (although enjoyable). I saw other girls who came to the art class and had not painted or drawn before, or since school, and seemed to display a latent talent. My journey has been a very gradual learning curve, mostly, learning through many mistakes and the unstinting help of Watts Gallery. There is still a long way to go.
opposite page Vanessa Only Love Will Set Me Free, 2010 HMP Send this page top Eunice Voyage of Discovery, 2010 HMP Send above Clare Hope, 2010 HMP Send
Louise HMP Send I joined the Watts Gallery after arriving at HMP Send at the end of June 2010. I was depressed and felt isolated. I found the hours in the cell claustrophobic, with no release to express what I felt. With gentle encouragement and a broad subject matter The Big Issues allowed me to put all the blackness I felt and the lack of compassion and individuality allowed to the women in prison, into black and white monochrome charcoal drawings. The group has allowed me to become a better draughtsman with more confidence. I think this newly acquired confidence and the fact that I can be constructively critical about my images has, and continues to be, enormously beneficial to me. The closeness developed by working with all these other talented artists has created bonds of friendship that will transcend prison and continue for the rest of my life.
“Being introduced to Sandy and the girls doing the Watts Gallery project, quite literally saved my life.” Louise
Sandy Curry Michael Varah Artist in Residence 2009-11 Watts Gallery Artist in Residence 2006-7 We knew this was an ambitious project to embark on, but here we are another year on, with an amazing body of work. The group now has a strong presence at HMP Send, with many women wanting to come and see what we do. This project has demonstrated what a powerful tool art is in engaging people and how their participation in the arts can lead to new skills, high self-esteem, collaboration with others and a feeling of purpose in life. We don’t just do “Art” we talk about life past and present and what the future could hold. It is inspiring to me as an artist how art and the human spirit, can motivate a new sense of self worth and a passion towards a new life. left Balmbi Peace of Life, 2010 HMP Send above Louise Prison Issue, 2010 HMP Send
Matty K Ex-offender artist
Sally Varah Chair of The Michael Varah Memorial Fund
The time which stops behind these walls, gave me time to pause and think. Of course, of why and how I ended up behind bars, but more of where, and what, I will love to do free. My diary and artwork became my way of facing the pain, the distance far away from the one I loved, and the planning of a better future. After the first few months of suffering and loneliness, I find in my art and in the support of The Big Issues project, a positive way to move on, and face the sad reality of prison. Expressing such huge emotions by writing or drawing my thoughts was the most amazing way I find to deal with stress.
With growing recognition of the value of art provision in supporting offenders’ selfdevelopment towards resettlement, there is a natural synergy between the Watts Gallery Art for All outreach learning programme and the aims of our charity.
Most people have got the wrong idea of prison. Picture it as a really rough and violent place. It is not really the most peaceful place ever, but as human beings we get used to everything, and, after a while, this really unusual place becomes a normal lifestyle. I tried to capture this everyday moment as true and honest as I could via my sketchbook, where, I describe using anecdotes the indescribable injustice. Every day looks the same until you tell something about them.
The Michael Varah Memorial Fund commissions and initiates projects that build a safer society by rehabilitating prisoners both before, and after, they are released. It was set up to continue the work of my late husband, Michael Varah, a former Chief Probation Officer who saw first hand the formidable difficulties that can be faced by ex-offenders when they try to rebuild their lives. At HMP Send, it is exciting and invigorating to watch the programme develop under the inspirational Michael Varah Artist in Residence, Sandy Curry. Her relaxed, yet assertive, way of working and motivating the group of women artists who now call themselves Sisters in Art, puts everyone at ease, therapeutically allowing them to explore difficult feelings and often helping them to discover talents they never knew they had.
On May 18th 2010 I was released. It took the first few months to get back to reality. I qualified as a studio instructor to complete my fitness degree I passed while in prison and I started my own company of group exercises training. I am also back at university, starting my first year of an Interior Design BA as I am running my fitness classes freelance!
Importantly, our charity is actively promoting this collaboration outside the prison walls. At two recent MVMF fundraising balls for supporters, artwork by the HMP Send Sisters in Art was exhibited and available for sale.
Today, participating in the Big Issues exhibition and showing my work to you is a great honour, and a dream come true! I will never thank The Big Issues project enough, especially Sandy Curry and Helen Hienkens-Lewis, who gave me support and tenderness when I had nothing else.
opposite page top Jane Mr & Mrs Andrews, 2010 HMP Send bottom Celia Family Tree, 2010 HMP Send
above right Matty K Prison Sketchbook, 2010 Ex-offender artist
Naomi HMP Send This certainly has been an adventure in art. An uplifting, eye-opening experience. A brush with reality in a surreal setting. I feel proud and privileged to have taken part in this Watts Gallery project and have achieved so much more, than I could have foreseen. At times I have doubted, squealed and squirmed, sworn and sweated. Almost given up! Were it not for the encouragement and support from the group as a whole, my “Sisters in Art”, I am certain, I would have given into those doubts. Thanks to them and especially to Sandy Curry and Sally Varah (MVMF, Chair), I feel proud to present these few pictures to the world and to walls who knows where! In the beginning we were asked to produce a body of work centred around a particular theme, “Our Big Issue”. Mine was “conflict” perhaps because throughout my life it is the thing I fear and detest the most and yet, like it or not, there it always is in one form or another. Not only in far away lands but also within our own families and even more tragically, within ourselves. Through this project I have tried to recognise the struggles with conflict and bring them to a peaceful conclusion. I am glad to say it has been a very worthwhile subject. I found myself in places I did not expect to go and through it have realised that love prevails. Courage and compassion are a must, and every day of life is so very precious. We must not lose sight of those things that matter the most to us. Always look on the bright side of life.
left Patricia Love Birds, 2010 HMP Send top right Naomi Dispatched, 2010 HMP Send bottom right Alicia Focus of Attention, 2010 HMP Send
“Were it not for the encouragement and support from the group as a whole, my “Sisters in Art”, I am certain, I would have given in.” Naomi
HMP Send
Michael Varah Memorial Fund Christmas Card Sally Varah Chair of The Michael Varah Memorial Fund Our charity works actively with Helen HienkensLewis, Head of Learning at Watts Gallery, and the Michael Varah Artist in Residence, Sandy Curry, to identify additional ways in which the programme can be widened. It’s vital to give the women who attend the group positive initiatives and attainable aims, and most importantly to demonstrate to them that we all believe their creative output deserves a wider showcase. In the summer of 2009, we briefed the group to create designs for MVMF charity Christmas cards. The resulting art work was extraordinarily powerful and we commissioned two works from the group that year: the cards by Alicia and Jasmine had a real impact on those who sent and received the cards. We sold out! All the artwork was exhibited at our 2009 Candlelit Carol Concert, where Jasmine‘s painting was sold – and she received the money, to save for her family. We have repeated the commissioning process for 2010 and, from an even greater number of high standard work, selected three designs – by Mari, Naomi and, again, Jasmine. The MVMF purchased Naomi’s painting and auctioned it in October: the auction profits go back into the Send programme. A fourth canvas, by Vanessa, has been bought and features on the programme at our MVMF Carol Concert at St Stephen Walbrook on 2nd December 2010, where the painting is being raffled. The camaraderie demonstrated by the group throughout these projects has been incredible: their response to encouraging their peers should be recognised, as should the achievement of Sandy Curry in facilitating the supportive and welcoming atmosphere that pervades the workshops. It is clearly a very good place for the women artists to be, to share – and to regain their identities.
left Naomi A Partridge in a Pear Tree, 2010 HMP Send top Jasmine Christmas Alone, 2010 HMP Send above Mari Angel Delight, 2010 HMP Send
HMP Bronzefield Participant HMP Bronzefield Being able to be part of this project, helped me to express my views on the environment and the divide between Darwin’s theory and space. As prisoners we are never really given the chance to show that we do have a brain. This project gave us that chance. I really enjoyed this project and would love the chance to be part of something like this again. Rachel Flavin, Art Tutor HMP Bronzefield As a tutor and visual artist working in the prison environment, I regularly encounter people who are just filled to bursting point with ideas, thoughts, emotions and loaded pasts, and presents. The visual arts has a long history of helping people to express emotions and ideas which otherwise might remain hidden from others. The Big Issues exhibition provides a vehicle for self-expression by prisoners in the public arena, and the workshops leading to the creation of these terracotta sculptures allowed the women the time, space and facilities to express what is meaningful to them. Many of the women involved in this project entered with little or no self-confidence in their creative abilities, but they left with not only concrete and tangible evidence of their own abilities, but also with renewed self-esteem and a new and truly valuable experience.
left Terracotta Figures, 2010 HMP Bronzefield right Terracotta Tile Samples, 2010 HMP Bronzefield
above Ally Terracotta Figure, 2010 HMP Bronzefield right Natasha Terracotta Figure, 2010 HMP Bronzefield
above Rong Terracotta Figure, 2010 HMP Bronzefield right Anon Terracotta Figure, 2010 HMP Bronzefield
above Anon Terracotta Tiles with digital transfer, 2010 HMP Bronzefield
Natalie Roset Watts Gallery Artist in Residence 2008-09 Workshop Leader, HMP Bronzefield I found the women with whom I worked with very enthusiastic and keen to express their stories in their figures. It was, as if the project gave them an opportunity to escape mentally from their immediate environment, through experience of a completely new form of expression. They appeared to appreciate working in 3D, despite the limitations of not being able to physically work the clay, and took ownership very quickly of their figures. The theme of hope was something that they could grasp and express with a sense of genuine interest and sincerity. I genuinely enjoyed working with the group. I found the sincerity with which they approached the project, the amount of personal commitment they gave to reflect their feelings and the level of intimacy that they were prepared to share with each other, was a surprise to me. The project shows very dramatically how art can be used as a form of focus towards something positive. It was nothing about technique or artistry, it was about their stories and they all found an individual language in which to represent themselves.
above Ally Terracotta Tile with digital transfer (Watts Chapel Archive photograph), 2010 HMP Bronzefield below Anon Terracotta Tile with digital transfer , 2010 HMP Bronzefield
Surrey Youth Justice Service Leanne Grindal Surrey Youth Justice Service This was another successful year as the young people of Surrey Youth Justice Service embarked on a new course at Watts Gallery. The Gallery welcomed young people who are out of education and introduced them to art on both a local and national scale. They were engaged on a course which used the influences of their immediate surroundings, their culture and interests and worked towards the attainment of an Arts Council, ‘Bronze Arts Award’. They had the excellent opportunity to work alongside a local artist to produce individual and inventive works of art. They also took part in a local visit to the Watts Chapel, and then, travelled further afield to Tate Modern in London, the first experience of an art gallery for many of our young people. One young person on the course, Ryan, did especially well, gaining his Bronze Arts Award. To achieve this he researched a variety of personal influences in order to produce a 3D final piece of art, which incorporated collage and the use of mixed media. Ryan continued to attend the course, even though his order with the Youth Justice Service had ended, as he was keen to complete the award. His success on the course had many advantages beyond art. Ryan’s self-esteem was raised, as he worked with new materials, and he gained confidence by working effectively alongside staff and other young people, even planning, running and presenting his own art workshop! Ryan has not re-offended and is now working full-time.
left Ryan Hand-made printed book, 2009 Surrey Youth Justice Service right Shaun untitled, 2009 Surrey Youth Justice Service
“The Big Issues project is very valuable to Surrey Youth Justice Service. Its combination of a welcoming environment and the support of staff and artists continues to enable young people, in Surrey, to identify untapped potential and to develop their skills. We now look forward to taking advantage of the restored Gallery and excellent new education facilities in 2011.“ Leanne Grindal
Street Level Arts
From The Street To The Studio Haydn Street Level Arts I’ve been coming to Street Level Arts regularly for over two years, sometimes to chat or take part in the workshops. To come here and do things is OK as it’s so relaxed. I was at the Watts Chapel last year and thought that it was interesting, all the detail that went into it and the colours. I’m not a painter, but I did a bit of sketching. I quite liked doing the wheel (during the Grayshott Pottery visit, pictured), that was quite good and watching other people doing their own thing. The plates have the letters of my name and circles around the edge, I think it is quite good. I thought that it had come out well. I didn’t have anything in mind, I just had a go, but I like the effect. I never thought I would do anything like this. It’s been a bit of an outlet some weeks, two hours can go really quickly, if I get into something. The highlight is meeting other people and having a laugh.
opposite page top John untitled, 2010 Street Level Arts bottom Haydn Two plates, untitled, 2009 Street Level Arts this page top Louise The Dawn, 2010 Street Level Arts bottom Kathleen untitled, 2010 Street Level Arts top left John Cup, untitled, 2010 Street Level Arts left Street Level Arts visit to Grayshott Pottery
Street Level Arts Adrienne Roberts Ceramics Workshop Leader It is pleasing to see that the Street Level Arts Group has developed skills they have learnt from the two previous annual ceramic projects they have been involved with, in 2008 and 2009. This year, they have moved on to explore glazes and colour in greater detail; the process of working with ceramics is quite technical but the group is willing to try out new things, which has added to the enjoyment of the sessions. One member in particular has certainly built up his confidence and embraces new artistic challenges. This can be seen in a great portfolio of artwork that he has developed and he has been asked to become a volunteer for another Big Issues group, which is another new challenge he seems willing to take on. It has been good to see new members of the group enjoying the challenges of this artform and finding a new interest on which to build.
Miranda Ash Group Manager, Street Level Arts We are extremely grateful for the kind and generous support that The Big Issues project continues to give to groups in the Guildford area. Our service users consider this project the highlight of their year. This year, we have worked on drawing, sculpture, and modelling, as well as, learning new glazing techniques. Everyone has improved their skill levels in these media. More importantly, people have found a renewed sense of confidence and joy in their work. Street Level Arts Group could not continue to provide such high calibre art workshops without the support of Watts Gallery, for which we are very grateful. We look forward to continuing this relationship in the future.
opposite page top left Miranda Tree of Life, 2010 Street Level Arts top right Trevor Flora Pot, 2010 Street Level Arts bottom John The Shapes, 2010 Street Level Arts this page above James Racing Green, 2010 Street Level Arts left Kathleen Untitled, 2010 Street Level Arts
The Cellar Art Group Sheila Wallis Watts Gallery Artist in Residence 2009-10 My work as Watts Gallery Artist in Residence in 2010 has enabled me to meet and work with all kinds of people. A subject very close to my heart and that of G.F. Watts, is the ‘Self Portrait’. This is one of the themes I have been exploring with both The Cellar Art Group and Street Level Arts. The therapeutic benefits of the arts are well documented. Apart form it being an absorbing, engaging activity which stimulates the imagination, it can provide a welcome distraction during difficult times in our lives. My experience as a practicing artist, having worked with artists with learning disabilities at an NHS day centre for over a decade, has enabled me to contribute something I feel is of real value, and in keeping with the Watts’s vision Art for All. Making art can sometimes remind us as adults, that we have forgotten to play. When we lack the words to express complex, profound or difficult emotions, when we feel so awe inspired that words just aren’t adequate, creative expression can become a life affirming process, increasing our self-awareness, reducing stress and anxiety and providing us with a friend who will never judge or criticise. The number of people attending The Cellar Art Group workshops has grown in numbers from two on my first day there, to over 15 participants by the end! The general consensus is that the workshops had been a great success, with several members continuing to attend The Cellar Art Group, and working independently on their own themes and subject matter. I feel proud to have been in a position to share my ideas, and working methods, and I hope the Watts Gallery can continue to make this sort of practical difference to people’s lives.
“Most participants have a great deal of life experience and will bring this to the table if given the opportunity. In general the feedback from participants was very reassuring, with several people discussing how to develop their particular themes and interests, and giving pointers and solutions to others.“ Sheila Wallis
opposite page Susie Mayan Style Plaque, 2010 The Cellar Art Group below Sarah Patterns in Arts & Crafts Style, 2010 The Cellar Art Group
Amanda Beswick Group Leader, The Cellar Art Group We had a slow start for the first two sessions, but we persevered and eventually the group started to grow and we now on average have about eleven people who regularly attend every fortnight. We wanted it very much to be a community project for people of all abilities and ages. The people who attend the Group are from a wide variety of backgrounds, and suffer from various health problems such as learning difficulties, depression, and physical disabilities and some attend the group with their carers. The people in our group who suffer from varying degrees of depression are finding the group sessions very therapeutic. The beauty of the group is that everyone is welcome whatever your ability. We all help each other out and interact with each other and the community spirit is very much evident. We would like to enable the group to expand but also to continue to serve the community that we live in. We have thoroughly enjoyed having Sheila Wallis, Watts Gallery Artist in Residence, lead the workshops and she has been an inspiration to all the group especially to those who have never experienced doing art before, and through Watts Gallery have been given the opportunity.
Workshops at The Cellar, Godalming