Art Unites: Our Stories - Project Update
By now, all of our Art Unites venues have had their first Artist Workshop. The project is officially up and running, and it is shaping up to be an excellent celebration of local history through a broad range of visual arts.
Buckinghamshire Libraries are working with artists Kremena Dimitrova, Maura Hawkes and Emily Cooling on this project. Art Unites: Our Stories will culminate in an exhibition of artwork that connects local people to local history through visual arts. The workshops are designed to generate material and directly contribute to the final exhibition. The art produced will have a permanent home in the community.
Maura Hawkes is working in Bourne End, and focusing on the connection to the River Thames and the creatures you might find in, or on, the river. Emily Cooling is based in Marlow, and has turned to the town’s architecture, and is using sculpture and gelli printing as the medium. Finally, Princes Risborough and Amersham are working with Kremena Dimitrova, who has brought a range of artistic forms to help generate material; from monoprinting to erasure poetry to watercolour (with a twist)!
Participants getting creative at Bourne End!
Alongside workshops happening in Libraries, the artists have also partnered with local schools and community centres, to ensure that the final piece is influenced by as many people as possible. Kremena joined Chesham Bois CofE school for a monoprinting workshop, with loads of success!
Kremena introducing pupils at Chesham Bois CofE school to monoprinting
The feedback we’ve received from the project so far has been overwhelmingly positive. All our attendees have really enjoyed trying new mediums of art and exploring their local history. Many of them have felt more of a connection to their local area following one of our artist workshops.
There is still time to get involved! You can find all of the details for our upcoming library workshops below. We look forward to seeing you!