Art Unites: Our Stories - The Final Exhibition
For the last few months, the Art Unites: Our Stories has been winding down. I’m taking a look back at the project and its impacts in this final Art Unites blog post.
Art Unites: Our Stories was delivered across four libraries (Princes Risborough, Marlow, Bourne End and Amersham) and connected over 650 participants with their local history. We delivered a total of 28 workshops in libraries, community centres and schools. The workshops were hosted by our artist team of Kremena Dimitrova, Emily Cooling and Maura Hawkes, local museums and the county archives. 100% of the participants rated the workshops either Very High or High Quality. Although most participants had a high level of interest in visual arts prior to attending an Art Unites event, 79% of them went away feeling more connected to their local area afterwards. Engaging with art is good for your wellbeing, and the project had a positive impact on those involved, as one participant mentioned:
“spending time creating art with no right or wrong was really calming and it was nice working with others to make a collaborative piece. I'd love to do something like this on a more regular basis!”
We can't believe the positive impact Art Unites has made on our local communities. From connecting generations to their history, to providing a networking space for local artists, Art Unites has truly achieved more than it set out to do. It just proves the power of art, and the power of libraries as cultural institutions.
The exhibition all set up!
Once the workshops were complete, Kremena took all the art generated and turned it into one large piece that captured Art Unites as a whole. It used elements from the four individual pieces, which are now located in their respective libraries. Kremena created a canvas print of this piece, that has just completed a tour of the Princes Risborough, Marlow, Bourne End and Amersham Libraries. The tour enabled participants to see how their work was connected to the wider project and has been a great way to wrap up Art Unites.
Cllr Catherine Oliver (Deputy Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure) and Emma Large presenting the artwork.
On the 9th September, I was joined by Cllr Catherine Oliver (Deputy Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure) to present this final canvas to Chesham Bois CofE school in Amersham. Chesham Bois had participated in the project and contributed to the Amersham piece. We gifted the final piece to the school to inspire them not just artistically, but historically as well. It was a lovely way to complete the project.
Thank you to all the organisations who got involved, to the artists and core team for making it all happen, and Arts Council England for funding the work.