Spreading a little Joy at The New Art Gallery, Walsall RAW's directors, Gary O'Dowd and Alex Vann As members of the Collections Community Panel at New Art Gallery Walsall, we were delighted to be involved in working with 2 groups of young people to create new artworks for inclusion in the The Joy Project leading up to the Gallery’s 25th birthday in 2025. The exhibition can be been in the Community Gallery on the ground floor until 6th July 2025.
The Joy Project seeks to find positivity in the everyday and aims to advocate for, and support, young people in Walsall and the West Midlands. The fab branding has been created by Katherine Tromans.  A Collections Youth Panel of under 25s was recruited by an open call out by Collections Curator Julie Brown and our involvement on the project was with Funky Kids and Braidwood Trust School for the Deaf to produce different artworks that celebrate joy within the young deaf and hard of hearing communities and BSL. For the other themes, the panel decided on the following sections: the ‘Joy of Celebration’, ‘Joy of Music’, ‘Joy of Hobbies’, ‘Joy of Nature’, ‘Joy of Colour, ‘Joy of Community’ and ‘Joy of Everyday Surroundings’  Public launch event of the Joy Project with video filming at the 2 RAW projects. The People's Show photos are on the right The young people were also photographed by Sherrie Edgar with items they like to collect as part of a reimagining The People’s Show project which pictured members of the Walsall public alongside their collections in the 1990s. Working with Funky KidsIn November 2024 we met with the young people at Funky Kids a Walsall based charity supporting families affected by hearing loss by providing recreational activities. We asked the group about what brings them joy, what sort of art they’d like to create and what things they like to collect. Originally, we considered making a sculpture then we decided on a collaborative paper collage resembling a dartboard as darts came up as a source of joy by many members of the group. Each segment of the Funky D:Art Board was created by a Funky Kids youth member at a workshop at the Art Gallery in January. These were then all pieced together to create the finished artwork. Our original design work Photos from the Funky Kids session in Jan 2025 at the New Art Gallery, Walsall Working with Braidwood Trust School for the DeafIn December 2024 we led an ideas workshop with a group of students from Braidwood Trust School for the Deaf, Birmingham, at the gallery. Our director Gary O’Dowd worked as a teaching assistant at the school for many years before his role at Real Arts Workshops. Similarly to the Funky Kids sessions, we asked the young people about the things that brought them joy and what art they’d like to create.  Hands (signing) were a common theme in the young peoples' drawings, and we devised a Tree of Joy with individual hand shapes to form the foliage decorated by a student in bright colours and designs.
We visited the school twice in January for the making sessions which involved painting the tree trunk to echo the Braidwood School branding and hands which had been profile cut out of wood. At the base of the tree 2 larger hands make the BSL sign for ‘Joy’ and are decorated in the colours of the Deaf flag designed by Arnaud Balard. Photos from workshop session at Braidwood Trust School 24.1.25 Photos from workshop session at Braidwood Trust School 31.1.25 Private 'Joy Project' Launch Event 20.2.25It was great to see the 2 artworks mounted and on show at the exhibition other works...
The Blue Lights Choir, set up by Jorja Smith did a fantastic performance and there is a mural made by choir members working with Yasmin Agilah on the wall of the Joy Project exhibition. Pictures from the Public Launch Event 22.2.25The Joy Project exhibition is currently on show to the public and runs until 6th July 2025 in the Community Gallery on the ground floor of The New Art Gallery, Walsall. #braidwood #braidwoodtrustschool #thejoyproject #GivingPeopleACreativeVoice #funkykids #ArnaudBalard #Deaf #BSL #BritishSignLanguage #artworkshops The Collections Community Panel and RAWWe have been part of the Collections Community Panel (CCP) since the start of 2023. The CCP is perfect for us because we have met and worked with a diverse team of practitioners and have been able to get involved in selecting works from the gallery’s collections for temporary themed exhibitions, which fall under the umbrella of embedding diversity. The aims of which are the give more power to the people that own the collections (ie the public), represent the people of Walsall and give them a voice, build stronger links to the wider community, make the collections more accessible and create digital content. We feel all of these aims are being met by this project. Book RAW & bring some JOY to your group!Our key takeaway from this project is that bringing some joy to others brings us joy too!
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Art and BSL sessions in Walsall - Autumn 2024
A Grand Year! - 2023 ReviewDear colleague Happy New Year and welcome to the latest newsletter of RAW (Real Arts Workshops) looking back at our projects in 2023 with a range of people and groups of all ages and abilities. If you view the attached PDF version of the newsletter in a reader that supports links, you will be able to click relevant web links to find out more information about a particular story - and our own website has many resources and information too. We have a series of free to attend sessions coming up as part of the Pride & Privilege exhibition at New Art Gallery in Walsall, check out our website and social media for links to those. We're also currently delivering free sessions for Mossley Community Connections in Walsall, see their FB page for updates: https://www.facebook.com/MossleyCommunityConnections/   
Please find the first edition of our newsletter below. It's been a busy old time at RAW HQ and we plan to produce these newsletters regularly to keep you informed about what we are doing and how you might be able to access our service.  2020 is clearly a year that will go down in history. The world has been rocked by a global pandemic and the toll on personal lives is huge and the effects will be felt for years to come. We have been very busy doing what we can to continue to reach our audiences as we strongly believe that there is no better time for people to engage in arts activities - not least because of the numerous positive mental well being benefits. Here are a few of the things that have kept us busy during this time - please do get in touch if you'd like any more information about any of this activity. Free online resources during Covid-19You may already have seen that we have created a new page on this site dedicated to free resources, downloads and 'how to' guides during Covid-19. Click on 'Free Resources During Covid-19'. Please do have a look and scroll to see if there is something that interests you and feel free to share with your contacts. This has meant we have been able to produce worksheets, videos and activities which we might not have done otherwise.   An example of an art activity on the RAW Free Resources area.  Art activity packsWe were delighted to be asked by our regular customer, Mossley Big Local to provide 100 art activity packs to residents of all ages. These are funded by Lottery Community Fund so there is no cost to families. The bags include a biodegrade carrier, basic art materials and we have created bespoke creative activities worksheets for which we think most households will already have resources for. We also delivered a number of packs to Mattesly Court Housing 21 residential home for older people. Feedback has been great and there are a few photos below.  Gary (L) and Alex deliver 100 art activity packs to Mossley Big Local
Virtual Art WorkshopsWe are very lucky to live in age where technology can bring people together. During Covid-19 we have used video conferencing apps to be able to deliver virtual art sessions to a number of customers. We don't think you can beat face to face contact however this tech has enabled us to deliver demonstrations and facilitate sessions with a number of different groups - some which rely on art activity to keep the mind and bodies active. This has also meant we have developed planning strategies which we will continue after lockdown.  Virtual portrait drawing workshop at BID services, Birmingham Above, wonderful self portraits at Bid Services, Birmingham  Rock painting workshop for Mossley Big Local Above, just a few photos from recent weekly community art club sessions for Mossley Big Local  Above, some of the artwork created by young people attending the online #BigLinkUp sessions for the Hub at Ashmore Park, Wolverhampton Alex on WCR Radio every MondayAlex has been doing regular weekly interviews with Chris Allen on Wolverhampton's WCR radio on Monday mornings, around 10-11am - talking about the importance of staying active creatively during Covid-19 and setting a weekly creative challenge. Click the logo below to visit their website which has listen live and listen again facilities.
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AuthorReal Arts Workshops is an independent arts company based in the Black Country, providing bespoke workshops for various organisations and groups. Archives
April 2025
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