...a little lost for words

This year Arts for Health will be teaming up with the Holden Gallery again to co-curate an exhibition with a distinct arts/health twist. This years exhibition will run from 11th July - 22nd August and is called URBAN PSYCHOSIS. I can’t wait to share the work with you and tell you about some of the events we are lining up. Meanwhile an exhibition of the work of the self-taught artist Stanley Lench is currently on show at the Stockport Art Gallery until 29th March.  

Lench was a self -taught artist who was born in 1934. He lived in Peckham, South London. In 1954, at the age of 21, he held his first exhibition at the Beaux Art Gallery in London’s Bond Street.  He was then invited to study Stained Glass at the Royal College of Art. Another exhibition at the same gallery followed in 1958. His portrait of Pola Negri was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Dame Edith Sitwell bought three portraits he did of her. Each exhibition was well received and commercially successful. After his early success he began to experience bouts of depression and feelings of rejection. These put a halt to his meteoric rise and saw him become a recluse. At the age of 38 and 45 Stanley was hospitalised with depression. A large exhibition of work, he produced as a patient, was held at the Institute of Psychiatry in 1974. He went on to work as an attendant at the Tate Gallery for 18 years. A Cheshire Arts Tour of his paintings took place in 1990/91. He died in 2000. Click on the image of Lench below for more details.

The role of culture & leisure in improving health & wellbeing

Did you know that local authority leisure and cultural services were born out of the 1875 Public Health Act; Victoria Park Hackney, which opened in 1845, and was a direct result of public health concerns and sanitary conditions, as was the first Public baths in 1842 in Fredrick Street Liverpool?  

Improving health and wellbeing is a global problem, but it has local solutions and is now back in the responsible hands of local authorities.In recognition of the vital role culture and leisure play in improving the health and wellbeing of local communities, The Chief Cultural & Leisure Officers Association (cCLOA) have published a guidance document that aims to help commissioners and providers of culture and leisure services in England understand and engage more effectively and collaboratively with this key agenda. The report has been commissioned through the National Leisure and Culture Forum (NLCF). The guidance aims to improve understanding about the structures, frameworks and outcomes relating to public health and has been welcomed by Public Health England, National Institute of Clinical Excellence, LGA, Sport & Recreation Alliance, Arts Council England, Sport England and CIMSPA.  The document also highlights, through a series of case studies, how culture and leisure can help to tackle unhealthy lifestyles, address the social determinants of health, offer cost effective approaches, bring creative solutions and engage communities, families and individuals in managing their wellbeing. Click on the Secretary of State for Communities head for more information.

Co-production & co-design in the arts & in public services FREE SEMINAR

Date: Thursday 10th April 2014 (12.30pm – 4.30pm)     

Venue:  RSA 8 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6EZ

This seminar is designed for academics, policy makers and practitioners working in different policy areas. It provides those working in the arts the opportunity to engage with debates and practices in other areas of the public sector.  It also offers those working in other areas the chance to explore how cultural activity may help them deliver other objectives. Free places can be booked here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/co-production-co-design-in-the-arts-and-in-public-services-tickets-10734267483

Being Human: A Festival of the Humanities 

The School of Advanced Study, University of London - in partnership with the Arts & Humanities Research Council and the British Academy is offering grants of between £2,000 and £3,000 to universities and research organisations to participate in Being Human-the UK's first national festival of the humanities. Being Human aims to engage the public with the very best of the innovative research taking place across the humanities. Hosted by HE institutions and their cultural and community partners across the UK, it will draw together a programme of activities to inform, extend, and ignite our contemporary thinking and imagination. The closing date for applications is the 14th March 2014. Read more at:http://www.sas.ac.uk/support-research/being-human-festival

Artists' International Development Fund 

The Arts Council England has announced that its new Artists' International Development Fund is currently open for applications. Through the £750,000 Artists' International Development Fund the Arts Council offers grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 to individual freelance and self employed artists based in England to build links with artists, organisations and/or creative producers in another country. The fund is open to individual artists, including creative producers, curators and editors. Although the Artists' international development programme is aimed at individual artists, small groups of artists who normally collaborate in their work can also apply. This could include, for example, musicians and visual artists who usually create work together, or writers and their translators. The deadline for applications to be received for the next funding round is the 9th May 2014. Read more at:http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/apply-funding/apply-for-funding/artists-international-development-fund/