The Empowering Melanie Ezra



Art of Caring 2016 - Melanie Ezra

The first entries have started to arrive at the Art Of Caring this year. We would like to shine our modest spotlight on some of the artists who dedicate their time to art and make our exhibitions such a success.

Melanie Ezra (left) and Rose Davies (right)

We've exhibited the work of Melanie Ezra since our magnet Rarities exhibition along the Hastings and St Leonards' seafront in 2011. She is not only a regular contributor but also supports a network of international artists who use her as a conduit to the UK art scene. Ezra continues to be the poster girl for the Swansea art world, her photography based work is often spliced and cut using her trusty scalpel but inside you can still find the beauty of the Gower Peninsula. Last year she published a map, Swansea: On the Map: An Artist's Walk with Rose Davies that continues to this day to be a bestseller for publishers Sampson Low Ltd.

Unfortunately last year Melanie Ezra wasn't able to submit her work to the Art Of Caring so we are very pleased to welcome her into the fold in 2016. Ezra's Art of Caring artworks are based on photographs taken during her mindful photography workshops. The workshops explore self-improvement and empowerment through the use of the camera. They are often delivered through community organisations to aid people who have suffered life-changing events. She works with blind charities, drugs agencies, and other community and hospital based groups. Ezra's participants have shown great resilience in overcoming their problems and her workshops often inspire them to learn other new skills and tackle other obstacles in their lives from a new position of strength.

From left to right: Céline Pellerin,

Esperanza Tielbaard, Melanie Ezra in Manhattan, 2014

 (Photograph: Esperanza Tielbaard)

I and others from CollectConnect have written before about Melanie Ezra and her personal resilience in the Art world. No distance is too great to traverse so that she can meet and help fellow artists, or share her artwork with the public. It has been truly inspiring to watch her work spread throughout he world and feel the glow from her growing reputation.

If you would like to submit your artwork to the Art Of Caring this year then visit the Submit page of this website.

AL.

Art of Caring Submissions Open 2016

Now more than ever we have to celebrate and support the nurses and carers who make such a difference to our lives. Please join the Art of Caring exhibition this year by submitting your artwork on the theme of Caring or Care. It is Free to enter and very straight forward to get involved. Just send up to 3 jpeg images in an A6 size to collectconnect4@gmail.com



Rumen Deshev at the
Art of Caring 2015

You'll receive a confirmation email within 7 days with your catalogue/exhibition numbers. Before the exhibition we will print 2 postcards of each of your artworks. One copy will be sent to you and the other will be exhibited in the Upper Circle Gallery, The Rose Theatre, Kingston-upon-Thames, UK from the 12th to 24th May 2016.

2015 presentation

Like last year we'll be opening the exhibition with a private view on International Nurses Day, Thursday 12th May 2016. So please put it in your diary and come along.
If you would like to see some of last year's submissions and exhibition then have a look in this album of photos - 2015 Art of Caring Images.

This year we've been asked to exhibit a selection of the work at the Arts Project exhibition space in St Pancras Hospital from July - October 2016.
For the full details about how to submit your work visit our SUBMIT page.
Deadline for submissions is Thursday 31st March 2016.
(We may close early if all 250 exhibition spaces are filled)

Alban Low, Bryan Benge, Dean Reddick and Stuart Simler