Knowle West’s art group scoops award
Winning work on display at Royal West of England Academy
Main image: Art-ease members (left to right) Frank, Andy and Lesley with their award certificate. Picture RWA.
A Knowle West art group has won first prize in a competition – with their winning artwork on display at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) until April 23.
Art-ease, based at Knowle West Healthy Living Centre, scooped the award for the community groups category in the competition run by Bristol University and RWA – which set the challenge to create a piece of art that expressed creativity and the brain, under the theme ‘Connections’.
The group, which meets on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, is part of the centre’s social prescribing offer for those with mild to moderate mental health needs – where participants can receive 24 weeks of creative play.
Members worked together and arranged objects that are used for connections to create the artwork.
Their winning piece, judged by a panel of artists and neuroscientists, is called ‘Connecting Time’ and celebrates the group’s time connecting creatively each week and what happens to the brain when we are engaged in art.
Beki Lines from creativeShift delivers all the Art-ease sessions at Knowle West Health Park in Downton Road. She says an important part of these is visiting art galleries in Bristol – especially for those who might never have been to one before.
She explains: “…The visits are about breaking down barriers to art, realising everyone has an opinion about art, there is no right or wrong when looking at art and these cultural spaces are for all!
“Our art work ‘Connecting Time’ was made in one of our sessions. The group has visited the RWA and this time the RWA visited us. Artist Wez Jacobs helped us cast our small objects from pewter for our collaborative piece…
“We had a couple of people from Bristol Uni who brought in a mock brain and gave us insight into how our brain lights up when we are creative. The group decided how objects should be hung, its title and statement…
“…The objects in this piece evoke connections and we wanted them to hang as suspended in time, ready to spark, inspire, unlock and light up our creative play. The artwork won first prize in the community category of which we are very very proud… This ain’t any art , it’s Knowle West Art!”
Three group members, Frank, Lesley and Andy, went to the prize giving to receive their award.
Frank says: “It was an unexpected honour to have been chosen for the winning award in the category we entered and was a great team effort from our Art-ease group.”
And Andy says: “The art group has helped me mentally enormously in both interactions with other group members and in art itself. “
Their work will be on display at the RWA until April 23. Visit https://www.rwa.org.uk/collections/art-exhibitions/products/connections-brain-art-competition-winners-2023
Art-ease meets on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 9.45- 11.45am. To join visit https://www.knowlewesthealthpark.co.uk/project/art-ease/ for more information and a referral form, email info@knowlewesthealthpark.co.uk or call 0117 377 2255.
