Local project helps people with sight loss create inspiring works of art
Local sight loss charity Devon in Sight has teamed up with the Thelma Hulbert Gallery (THG), Honiton to run a series of six creative arts workshops for people with little or no sight at Twyford House in Sidmouth.
Owned and managed by East Devon District Council, THG places accessibility for all, including those with sight loss at the heart of their learning programme. The workshops are part of a wider initiative created by (THG) called "Tree to Sea" reaching out to communities and towns along East Devon’s coast, and which have been supported by the East Devon AONB. The project involves contemporary art and artists revisits the work of local Victorian antiquarian Peter Orlando Hutchinson who painted many well-known East Devon scenes.
These particular artist-led workshops are for people in East Devon with sight loss, working with local artists to experiment with a number of artistic mediums and techniques including tactile painting, printmaking, textiles, and sculpture.
Boatbuilder Jo Lathwood works across various mediums and has worked with participants to create a wooden sculpture. Jeremy Speck, an accomplished printmaker from Double Elephant Print Workshop, specialising in relief printmaking, has been working with the group to create some prints for an exhibition in Sidmouth Museum.
“It’s fantastic to see the creativity that has been unleashed as a result of these workshops! The pieces that have been produced are really remarkable” said Grahame Flynn, Chief Executive of Devon in Sight. “When people start to lose their sight very often they stop doing the things they love and lose the confidence to get out and about. It’s clear that people have had a lot of fun, produced some great art and also made some new friendships.”
Anna Aroussi (THG) helped to organise the workshops and involve local artists. “It’s been great to see the creativity that’s emerged from the participants and artists working together with a range of different tactile materials. Thelma Hulbert Gallery is all about making art accessible to people so we’ve been delighted to work with Devon in Sight on this project.”
The workshops were made possible with a grant of £800 from the Keith Owen Fund, which is managed by the Sid Vale Association. The fund was created with a generous legacy following Keith Owen’s death in 2007, and is used to support a wide range of community projects to enhance the life of local people. Chris FitzHenry from the Sid Vale Association said “This project has brought together people from across the local community with a wide range of skills and abilities to aid those in need. It is exactly the sort of project which Keith Owen would have wanted to support.”
