Retrospective: Until next time

Jill Hedges

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our exhibition at Kensington and Chelsea College gallery last week. It was a unique opportunity for a group such as ours, whose natural environment is usually exhibiting on the streets. It was a mammoth task to collate and organise the 25 exhibitions we have created between 2010 and 2016. Thank you to Matthew Kolakowski and all the staff at KCC for helping us throughout the exhibition.

Peter S Smith reads from Vertical Prose

The exhibition finished with a charming evening of talks and discussions about CollectConnect's impact and future. True to our ideals we didn't hog the floor with our thoughts but opened it up to many of the chapbook authors who have published with us recently. We were treated to insights and reading from Kevin Acott (South), Stella Tripp (Mumurmurations), Peter S Smith (Vertical Prose), Carmel Blackie (Resilience), Maartens Lourens (Poetry WTF?!) and Lucy Furlong (The Seethingographer). Thank you once again, without you we wouldn't have come so far in the past 6 years.

For those of you that couldn't be with us then view all the photos HERE.

Have a wonderful Christmas break and see you again in 2017 for some new adventures.
Bryan, Stuart, Alban and Dean

Artist Talks at the CollectConnect Retrospective

We launched the CollectConnect Retrospective with an opening party last week at Kensington and Chelsea College gallery where artists of all ages joined together to celebrate 6 years of inclusive art. With 25 exhibitions, 1200 artists and a whole gallery full of artworks it was a major effort to prepare this exhibition, and we hope the artists and visitors enjoyed both the art and meeting each other. The nature of our exhibitions and projects mean that many artists never meet each other, they are merely artworks and reputations in cyberspace. There were many London artists in attendance, Sharon Read and Jill Hedges endured the long trek from Northampton but Eskild Beck once again came the furthest from his hometown of Aabenraa in Denmark.

Catherine Wynne-Paton visited the gallery before the opening party to record some footage of the exhibition and to interview Alban, Bryan and Dean about the CollectConnect project. You can find a brief snippet of their conversation here - https://vimeo.com/194180116

Chapbooks

The exhibition isn't over yet!
Join us on Tuesday 6th Dec from 5.30 - 8pm at Kensington and Chelsea College Gallery (Hortensia Rd, London, SW10 0QS) for an evening of Artists Talks. Bryan Benge, Stuart Simler, Alban Low and Dean Reddick will be talking about the CollectConnect projects and their adventures in public art. There will also be an introduction about how to publish a chapbook and readings from published authors Kevin Acott, Peter S Smith, Carmel Blackie, Maartens Lourens (Poetry WTF?!), Lucy Furlong and Stella Tripp.

Look forward to seeing you.

Postcard to My Future Self exhibition

If you could write a postcard to your future self what would it say? Are you having the best time of your life or perhaps you're struggling and need some help? Over 70 people contributed their thoughts, hopes and fears to this project so far and we’ll be sending their postcards back to them in 5 years time on 18th November 2021.

There's still time to get involved, if you visit the exhibition in the Foyer at Knights Park Campus (we're situated on the way to the cafeteria), Kingston University before 3pm on Friday 18th November 2016. Just fill in a postcard and pop it in our special red post box.

Thank you to Holly Duffield and the Union of Kingston Students at Kingston University who are supporting this exhibition to raise awareness for Self Care Week.

AL.

Retrospective Exhibition at Kensington & Chelsea College Gallery

Join us on for the CollectConnect Retrospective launch party.
Thursday 1st December 2016,
5.30 - 8pm
at
Kensington and Chelsea College Gallery (Hortensia Rd, London, SW10 0QS).

The exhibition is open from 30th November until 8th December 2016, daily from 9am to 5pm (Closed Sat & Sun). There will be a special evenings of artist talks and workshops on Tuesday 6th December 5.30 - 8pm.

Freezchester, Arndale Centre, 2010

We'll be displaying a mixture of artwork, photographs and ephemera from these exhibitions - Open Fridge, Fab Fridge 2010, Freezchester, Unblank, Lightbite, Brighton Open, SMartwalks, Rarities 2011, Patternotion, Art Jazzed Up, Jawspring, Cambridge Blue Plaque Walk, Hidebird 2012, MagnetBird,  Freed Book,  Future Bound, Cardboard City, Fab Fridge 2014, Dwell - Book of Nets, On the map, Art of Caring 2015,  Art of Caring 2016,   Relationship Map, Chapbooks, Postcards to My Future Self.

Rarities magnet exhibition, Hastings Pier, 2011.

CollectConnect started with an exhibition in 2010 at Gallery 89, Barnet, London. The exhibition was organised by artists Alban Low and Dean Reddick who were working with people living with and recovering from mental health problems. They devised a simple exhibiting structure that eliminated many of the common stresses and hinderances for those wishing to display their work to the public. This way of exhibiting not only appealed to those with mental health problems but to a huge swathe of the art community who wanted the chance to share their work.

Cambridge Blue Plaque Walk, Nick Belcher, 2014

Following that first exhibition, they joined with fellow artists Bryan Benge and Stuart Simler to share more ideas and events.  Over the last 6 years, the quartet have developed an open and flourishing relationship that is flexible and spontaneous. This means they can take advantage of exhibition spaces or funding that comes available at short notice, as well as current trends in cheap internet printing and the growth of internet and mass communication. Together they have organised 25 exhibitions of more than 1200 people’s work, bringing more than 4000 artworks to the public’s attention.

Thank you for the adventures in art.

Postcard to My Future Self exhibition

*****Submissions Closed*****

If you could write a postcard to your future self what would it say? Are you having the best time of your life or perhaps you're struggling and need some help. Whatever you are thinking, write your pearl of wisdom down on one of our postcards and we'll send it back to you in 5 years time.

We will be displaying all the messages at the Postcard to My Future Self exhibition in the Foyer at Knights Park Campus, Kingston University, UK between 14th-18th November 2016. There will be a special launch day on Tuesday 15th November as part of Self Care Week at Kingston University.

How do I get involved?
Send your message to us by filling out the online form HERE
(or on our SUBMIT page)
Deadline for online entries is 11th November 2016
or
Write your message on one of our special postcards at the Postcard to My Future Self exhibition and place it in our special postbox.
Deadline for posted entries is 3pm, 18th November 2016

What happens next?
As well as your message write down your email address.
In 5 years time we'll send you an email and ask you where you now live.
If you live in the UK we'll send you your postcard in the mail.
If you live abroad we'll send you your postcard via email.

Any questions then email
Holly Duffield - H.Duffield@kingston.ac.uk
or
Alban Low - collectconnect4@gmail.com

Supported by the Union of Kingston Students

Art of Caring closing event

Karin Andrews Jashapara

(Photo: Lesley Cartwright)

Thank you to all who came to the Art of Caring closing event last night. There was an illuminating talk from Karin Andrews Jashapara as well as the screening of two films about AOC by Anna Bowman.

The first reveals the origins of the AOC exhibition as well as the excitement of the Private View at St Pancras Hospital. The second,Falling, documents the performance work of Charlotte CHW.

Art of Caring video

Falling video

Review - Art of Caring at St Pancras Hospital

Review by London City Nights (19/09/2016)

You feel a weird combination of reassurance and worry walking through the doors of an NHS clinic. The staff are busy yet friendly, the walls are festooned with upbeat primary coloured posters and there's a pleasantly paternalistic atmosphere. This is a place designed to make you well, doing its level best to send you out the door in better shape than you walked in.

But then you notice the damp on the walls, the peeling paint and furniture that hasn't been replaced in 20 years. The NHS is suffering the death of a thousand cuts: the victim of a government ideologically opposed to a free at the point of use publicly owned health service. Jeremy Hunt assures us that they're merely 'modernising' the NHS when anyone with a glimmer of sense can see that he's setting it up to fail, its carcass fodder for the circling corporate vultures of the American healthcare industry. I mean, if it's not making investors any money, what's the point of it?


So it's wonderful to see an exhibition like The Art of Caring - a collection of work from nurses, patients and artists depicting their ideas on the theme of caring, specifically nursing. The exhibition is collaboration between Kingston University, The Arts Project and Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust, featuring work that ranges from photography, painting, performance and sculpture. Some of it is professional and polished, some is rough and passionate, but all displays a tenderness and empathy that perfectly suits the surroundings.

(Fractured Memories) Doll Therapy by Aran Illingworth

There's a lot to take in here, but I particularly enjoyed the following. (Fractured Memories) Doll Therapy by Aran Illingworth. It's a quietly devastating canvas piece about Alzheimers, capturing a painful morsel of misery in the eyes of someone whose memory is gradually eroding away. The arts n crafts textile look adds to the emotional wallop, not only looking like something a kindly grandmother might make, but the rough shapes and soft fabric underlining the subjects humanity and increasingly blurry edges.

Comfort and Joy - Susie Mendelsson

On a slightly different wavelength is Susie Mendelsson's Comfort and Joy, a bizarre mixed-media sculpture of a creepily wizened homunculus approaching a baby from behind while a tiny man stares on in horror. It's disturbing stuff, the soft manufactured plastic of the doll contrasting with the hand-carved chaos of the monster. That title has got to be a joke, because there's precious little comfort or joy in this. If I had to pick out a meaning, it seems to speak of a mother's trauma at losing a baby, then feeling guilt that the next one survives. Even as she cares for her healthy baby, she cannot help but imagine the forgotten one, balefully staring on in jealousy.

One Day at a Time - Susie Mendelsson

Also by Mendelsson is One Day at a Time, depicting a worried looking person weighed down by faceless little men. This is a little easier to parse, but no less effective. Here the effect of the paranoias, traumas and miseries of the past is literalised, showing them crawling all over an apparently normal person going about their day to day life. It looks suitably nightmarish, the haunted expression of the central figure conveying a palpable desperation.

Charlotte CHW

Sunday's event was capped off by a live performance from Charlotte CHW, who was also exhibiting photographs. Dressed in a suit that perfectly matched the brickwork of the building, she writhed about against the walls and on the floor accompanied by a soundtrack of breaking glass. Watching this it's difficult not to look up at the gently spooky Victorian brickwork and wonder just how long this hospital is going to last. Generations of Londoners have walked through these halls, each with their own individual ailments and stories to tell.


The performance understands this history, treating the building like a psychological sponge that's sucked up a century of trauma and needs to be squeezed dry.  Charlotte's movements are slow, painful and precise - it's like you can see dust crumbling from her joints as she repeatedly collapses and rises, trapped in some infinite loop of pain, healing and more pain. I dug it.


Anyhow, The Art of Caring is well worth checking out, demonstrating not only the public's affection for the NHS and its nurses, but just how critical its long-term support systems are. Whether you've sprained your ankle, suffered trauma in Blair's oil wars or are watching an elderly relative succumb to dementia, the NHS will always be there. But it also needs us to fight for it.


Art is Caring is at The Conference Centre, St Pancras Hospital, 4 St Pancras Way, London NW1 OPE (9am-5pm) until 13 October 2016.

The Exhibition finishes with a Closing Event on the 13th October 2016, 5.30-7.30pm.

Art of Caring at St Pancras Hospital

Last week the Art of Caring exhibition returned to the gallery walls for the public to view and enjoy. A large section of the artwork that graced the Rose Theatre gallery in May 2016 moved to its new venue in St Pancras Hospital for an extended run until October 2016.

Karin Andrews Jashapara

The exhibition has a different flavour entirely from the one we saw in May. Peter Herbert has overseen the curation of the exhibition alongside his assistants Elaine Harper-Gay and Jane. He has created an exciting and bright new show that utilises 30 original works as well as many of the original postcards, these have been grouped together thematically to great effect. He hasn't included every work from the original show, so check the contributors list below.

The address if you would like to visit is, THE CONFERENCE CENTRE, ST PANCRAS HOSPITAL, 4 ST PANCRAS WAY, LONDON, NW1 OPE. It is open Monday to Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm (TRAVEL/BUS 46/214 TUBE/KINGS CROSS). Free Entry.

The exhibition finishes on Thursday 13th October 2016 with another inventive party. We'll post more details here in due course.

Welcoming guests to the opening event, Caroline Harris-Birtles, C&I’s Deputy Director of Nursing, said: “At Camden and Islington we are very keen to continue our strong support for art generally, but also specifically use this event as inspiration to attract further creativity from our own staff and service users.”

Left to right -

Professor Karen Norman, Peter Herbert and Caroline Harris-Birtles

Karen Norman, Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University and St Georges, part of London University, said the exhibition provided a showcase for what nurses did, but also to share some of their additional hidden talents and celebrate all that was good about the nursing profession.

The opening evening also featured singers and music from Key Changes, a charity that provides music engagement and recovery services in hospitals and the community for people experiencing mental health problems.

Artists exhibiting at the St Pancras Exhibition include -

Adesuwa D Igbinedion Nigie
Alan Carlyon Smith
Alban Low
Alexandra Billingham
Alice Auton
Alicia Bolich
Alison Clare Barrett
Amandeep Kaur Dahele
Amelia Bradley
Amy Bowers
Amy Mack
Andie Rose
Andrew Bolton
Ann Charlesworth
Ann Froggatt
Ann Kopka
Anne Guest
Anny Rice
Aran Illingworth
Aurelia Edmiston
Becky Fawcett
Beth Dodd
Biju Abraham
Bravika Chautan
Bryan Benge
Branko Jovanović
C. Carey
Camilla Afren
Carmel Blackie
Carne Griffiths
Carole Scott
Carolyne Kardia
Chantelle Benjamin
Charlie Osbourn
Charlotte CHW

Cheryl Bell
Çiğdem Menteşoğlu

Claire Leboutet
Crisna Maugi
Cristina Prudente
Dan Waters
Daniel Tejada
Daniella Scantori
David Evans
David Napier
Dean Reddick
Diana Trinca
Ed Arantus
Ekta Shah
Ella Penn
Ellen Haskins
Elliot Inglese
Emma Sackett
Emelia Adjei-Nyamekeh
Emily Davis
Emily Latham
Eskild Beck
Esperanza Tielbaard
Fatima Iqbal
Francine Neal
Friba Sarajzada
Gemma Pumford
George Keal
Georgia Clark
Harvey Wells
Hayley Walke
Helen Carter
Imogen Perkin
Interlany Cabral Phillips
Ire Bademosi
Izzy Prentice
Jackie Bennett
Jacqueline Talbot
Jelena Jovančov
Jenny Meehan
Jessica Adrianna Wayar 
Jill Mercer
Jo Peters
Josef Van den Bergh
Jovana Mitić
Jude Gill
Judith Parry
Julie Edwards
Kajal Shah
Karen Fay
Karin Andrews Jashapara
Kate Ward
Kayliegh Daly
Kisha Rai Limbu
Lauren Clark
Lesley Cartwright
Lisa Lecky
Ljiljana Stevanović
Louise Agyepong
Maisha Mapimhidze
Marchelle Boateng
Margret Emakpose
Mark Carr
Mary-Jane Todd
Matthew Woodward
Melanie Ezra
Michael Bolstridge
Mike Russell
Nargis Begum
Natalie Low
Natalie Snow
Nataliya Zozulya
NATASA MARINKOVIC PETRIC
Nikita Gwung
Nikki Yun
Olubukunola Temidava
Opal Moore
Patience Chejerai
Paula Cannon
Peter S Smith
Peter Turton
R. Bokino
Rachel Donnet
Ray Hobbs
Rebecca Dayalsingh
The Rev’d. Robin Pfaff
Rochell Walker-Collins
Ross Anderson
Ross Godwin
Roz Cran
Rumen Deshev
Sally Ward
Sharon Read
Smith Sinwar
Susie Mendelsson
Stacy Harris
Stella Tripp
Stephanie Selena Powell
Streka Canapi
Susan Farley
Syeda Udelin
Tamara Jelaca
Teresa Hunt
Theresa Nash
Tracy Boness
Tracy Ferriss
Tracey Adjedion
Trudi Levis
Tzedal Tesfamariam
Veronica
Wayne Sleeth
Will Weatherburn
Yvette Douglas
Zoe

Secret Art Sale 2016 - Heath Robinson Museum

Heath Robinson

The Secret Art Sale returns for another year! One of our regular exhibitors, Ann Kopka, is once again helping to organise this fantastic opportunity for artists to exhibit their work and help support the building of a Museum to legendary thinker and artist Heath Robinson. Your art will be sold through a Secret Art Sale in aid of The West House and Heath Robinson Museum Trust in the Upstairs Gallery at West House during the first weekend of November 2016.

Below is an invitation to UK artists, don't forget the organisers will supply the small canvas on which you work on. 

CALLING ALL ARTISTS.

Help raise funds for the Heath Robinson Museum opening in Pinner North West London this year. We invite you to take part in a Secret Art Sale at The Upstairs Gallery West House Pinner Memorial Park, 4-6 November 2016. To register email  sas@heathrobinsonmuseum.org. Deadline 31 August.  We would love you to be part of it.

Relationship Map at Middlesex University



Our exhibition map

Tomorrow (20th May) come and join us at Midday in the Rickett Quadrangle at Middlesex University, Hendon, UK as we launch our Relationship Map as part of the MDX Let's Talk event for Mental Health Awareness Week 2016. We'll be joined by Kevin Acott who has worked on several projects with us as well as being Director of Programmes and Senior Lecturer (Mental Health) at Middx Uni.

Relationship Map (detail)

The Relationship Map is an artwork which charts how different people make connections and relationships between fundamental concepts - like Mum/Dad, Me/You and Heart/Mind. It is inspired by the map and tube lines of the London Underground. The map features submissions from 50 contributors who charted how they felt about each of the concepts.

MDX Let's Talk is a Middlesex University initiative which aims to raise awareness of mental health/illness through collaborative working of University staff, students, public and local/national agencies. Through this we hope to raise awareness of mental health and signpost to any relevant services for support if needed.

Contributors include Tamara Jelača, Iain Inglis, Peter Turton, Peter S Smith, Liz Dolan, Harvey Wells, Dean Reddick, Jerome, PD, Natalie Low, Jill Hedges, Effie Aye-Maung-Hider, Alban Low, Steve Cohen, Ruth Dalton, Kevin Acott, Katie Stone, NAA, David, Colin, Seamus, Amin, Bryan Benge, Sarah Dewing, Tom, Pam, Mehmet, Arnand, Imran, Wayne Sleeth, Tanya Kreisky, Stuart Crewes, AS, Eddie, Julie Reay, Tracy Ferriss, Helen Reddick, Sammy, Dawn Duncan, Melanie Woodcock, Peter T, Robert Good, Jo Lansdown and 7 anonymous submissions.

You can buy the Relationship Map on Amazon for £2 (+ Postage and Packing). It folds out into a wonderful A3 poster and is full of interesting coincidences and meaning as you chart your way across its routes. The map is published by Sampson Low Ltd and a copy is kept in the British Library and the other 5 deposit libraries of the UK.

AL.

Art of Caring 2016

 

Last Thursday, 12th May, we celebrated International Nurses Day 2016 in our own heartfelt way. This is the second year of the Art of Caring and it was even bigger and better than last year's exhibition. This year we exhibited 330 postcard sized artworks and poems from over 180 artists who sent us their work from around the world.

Eskild Beck and Alban Low

The launch party saw several artists come from far flung places including Eskild Beck from Denmark and CollectConnect favourite Melanie Ezra from Swansea. It was a glorious early summer's day in Kingston-upon-Thames and the streets outside teemed with a suburban buzz. Inside, the refreshments flowed feely and it was not only a good opportunity to delve deeper into our thought provoking selection but also to meet old and new friends alike. Photographer Bill Mudge was in attendance and you can see his full portfolio of photos HERE.

Thanks to everyone who came and exhibited their work, we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you to all at Kingston University and St Georges, University of London who have supported us both financially and with their time and expertise, especially Dr Julia Gale, Karen Norman, Paul Newcombe and Carmel Blackie. Also the hanging committee of Paul Newcombe, Nikki Yun and Bryan Benge who got all 330 postcards on the Rose Theatre walls.

The exhibition is open until the 24th May 2016 in the upper circle bar/foyer gallery at the Rose Theatre, Kingston-upon-Thames, so go and see it.

Don't forget our main event on the 23rd May 2016 in the main auditorium that includes poetry, performance and insights into the Nursing profession. If you don't know what to expect then watch last year's performance here.

Launch Party - Art of Caring 2016

Celebrate International Nurses Day with us on the 12th May 2016 at the Rose Theatre, Kingston-upon-Thames, KT1 1HL. We are exhibiting the work of over 180 authors and artists in the fabulous   Art of Caring exhibition. The Launch Party is from 4-6pm and features more than 330 poetic and artistic postcards from all over the world, and we welcome everyone who would like to join us on this special day.

The Art of Caring is an inclusive exhibition that showcases a diverse range of talents, giving us an insight to the world of Caring and Care. Resilience is our special theme this year and is inspired by the International Council of Nurses worldwide celebration for 2016: Nurses: A Force for Change: Improving health systems' resilience.

The exhibition will be open from the 12th - 24th May 2016,  10am-6pm daily on the Upper Gallery floors at the Rose Theatre. There are refreshment available downstairs in The Rose Café.

AL.


 

Relationship Map Exhibition 20th May

We have a new date for our Relationship Map exhibition in the Rickett Quadrangle at Middlesex University, Hendon. We will now be opening it at Noon on Friday 20th May 2016. More details to follow.

AL.

Relationship Map - Mental Health Awareness Week 16-22 May 2016

Relationship Maps – where do you stop on your journey?

Organised by CollectConnect artists' group, hosted by Middlesex University, as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.

Relationship Maps is an artwork which charts how different people make connections and relationships between fundamental concepts - like Mum/Dad, Me/You and Heart/Mind. It is inspired by the map and tube lines of the London Underground.

On Friday 20th May 2016 we will be exhibiting our final Relationship Map in the Rickett Quadrangle at Middlesex University (in Hendon). We are also publishing an A3 version of the map.

And we need you to complete our Relationship Map.

We have eleven “lines” in our relationship map, each starting and finishing with people, places or things that you might have a relationship with:

Mum to Dad	Start to Finish
Cradle to Grave	Love to Loss
Home to Away	Me to You
Cat to Dog	Faith to Doubt
Dover to Calais	Heart to Mind
Tears to Laughter

There are three blank “stops” for each line. We want you to fill in the blank stops for as many lines as you want, which best sum up how you connect the concepts. Write a title or name (no longer than 4 words) that describes each stop on your journey. For example: what does it feel like to be in the middle between Cradle and Grave, or closer to Cradle, or closer to Grave. You could write something like: Cradle – Carved Heart Rocks – Man Called Horse Junction – Quite Quiet – Grave.

To enter:

1. The deadline for entries is April 30th 2016.
2. Send us the names of your stops in one sentence like this:Cradle – Carved Heart Rocks – Man Called Horse Junction – Quite Quiet – Grave
3. Please include your name and location, so we can include your name in the overall list of artists on each copy of the map. (You won't be able to identify individual authors of each stop though.)
4. Send entries to Alban Low at collectconnect4@gmail.com or tweet them to @collectconnect4. Middlesex University students can also send entries on a postcard to Kevin Acott, Director of Programmes and Senior Lecturer (Mental Health) or email him at K.Acott@mdx.ac.uk

Further contacts: Mental Health Awareness Week is organised by the Mental Health Foundation (www.mentalhealth.org.uk). Relationship Maps is organised by artists group CollectConnect (www.collectconnect.blogspot.com). The map will be published by Sampson Low Ltd (www.sampsonlow.com)

 

Submissions closed Art of Caring 2016

Thank you to everyone who entered the Art of Caring this year. We've has a fantastic response full of talented artwork and generosity of spirit. More details will be appearing here in the next few days but I'm happy to announce we have 184 artists exhibiting 329 artworks and poems with us this year.

Praying with Mrs. Cooper
by The Rev. Robin Pfaff

This year's crop include 3 artworks from The Rev. Robin Pfaff, he told us about his motivation to get involved, "As a hospital chaplain I often meet people at a time of intense change, but these encounters usually show me something of the indomitable human spirit. Healthcare professionals, however, who are regularly exposed to highly traumatic situations need to find their own way of coping and build up a resilience that is both sturdy as well as tender. Talking about what we do and see can be extremely difficult, as we all have a tendency to avoid emotional pain."

AL.

 
 

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