Celebrating "the impact that our creative life can have on our health"

SussexWorld

The community programme fundraising exhibition at Chichester’s Pallant House Gallery offers a joyous celebration of creativity – and of the well-being that that creativity can bring.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Answerer at Sussex Newspapers. Now, lovely

00:06this afternoon to speak to Emily Robson, one of the two Community Programme Managers at

00:11Cannon House Gallery. And you are, well you've put together such an important exhibition

00:17that you talk about it so glowingly and with such enthusiasm. It's a huge reward to you

00:22too. Explain what the Keenham Community Programme Fundraising Exhibition is, what does it do?

00:29So, the Community Programme Exhibition, it raises really valuable funds for our Community

00:35Programme, which is based at Pallet House in Chichester, where we currently support

00:40around 200 local people to engage in a creative life. People come to us for many reasons,

00:47often having a support need, which means they need a bit of extra encouragement to create

00:54artwork. And this exhibition highlights, actually we've got 78 artists who are showing

00:59work in the exhibition. Possibly your biggest number ever. Yeah, I think it is. People who

01:04possibly face barriers to their participation in art in terms of perhaps a disability or

01:09a mental health issue, or perhaps recovering from illness. That's the idea, isn't it? Yeah,

01:14it's kind of any support needs. Yeah, we're as kind of wide as possible. If somebody feels

01:18they need support, because of a medical condition, mental health, anything, we aim to create

01:24a space for them. So, it's a really supportive programme and people can come to us for as

01:30long as they like as well. So, we've got members who've been coming for like 20 odd years and

01:36it really kind of helps to keep people well. It kind of creates a routine, it creates a

01:39safe space for people to come and do their artwork. I was going to say, the lovely thing

01:42is you are beautifully positioned to see the benefits and the wellbeing that art can bring.

01:48What does it do for people, do you think? Yeah, it can do so much. It can really boost

01:54people's confidence, their kind of health, their wellbeing. It also brings people together

02:01and kind of reduces isolation. People find a common interest with others and then they can

02:06have that shared love of art. And Palette House is such a lovely place and I think people just

02:11really enjoy being at the gallery. It's a lovely space, exhibitions changing all the time. There's

02:17so much to see. It's kind of a real kind of talking point. It sounds fabulous. And this

02:22exhibition, the Community Programme fundraising exhibition goes on until April next year. You've

02:27got a lovely long run, haven't you? Yeah, and there's fantastic artwork,

02:31all different styles. There's kind of abstract artworks, there's landscapes, there's still life.

02:37There's really kind of something for everybody. It's really colourful and it's a real celebration

02:42of the artwork that's been created in the studio. Fantastic. Well, congratulations on making it

02:48happen. Lovely to speak to you. Oh, thank you. And that you've beat your target. Thank you.

02:53I hope so.

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