'What Makes us Happy: A celebration of joy, hope and human connection features artwork and photographs by people who have had shared experience of care and been helped by the Susan Vicker's Foundation
00:00So we're here at Wolverhampton Art Gallery and the Susan Vickers Foundation has organised an exhibition and we're with Susan Vickers. Hello.
00:08Hello, thank you for coming to us. I appreciate your time.
00:11No problem. So what is the Susan Vickers Foundation?
00:15The Susan Vickers Foundation supports care experienced people, so fostered families, adopted, kinship, SGLs and so on in and of Wolverhampton.
00:26And you've got experience of that yourself haven't you?
00:28I have. I was fostered at three months, adopted at 18 months in Wolverhampton and ran up with my adoption family.
00:36And you do quite a few varied things. Have you ever delved into the world of an art exhibition before?
00:41No, I have. I can't draw at all. Steve, I have done a couple of things. I've written a couple of books about my experiences and from that we launched the foundation because people were coming to me with their own stories of their experience and being care experienced.
00:57And they wanted some support. I asked so many people, did a lot of research and the top thing was mental health support and cultural capital.
01:05A lot of people don't know what cultural capital is and that is where things like this, a lot of care experienced people have never been to an art gallery, museums, theatres.
01:15They think it's inaccessible to them. And it's not. So we thought, right, we'll put on an exhibition.
01:22All these artworks and photographs are from families and supporters that we've supported within the foundation.
01:29And it's called What Makes Us Happy. So a lot of people think, oh, if you've got care experience, you just want a nice bed, somewhere lovely to live.
01:39But they want more than that. It's a very simple thing. So in some of these artworks, they're saying, what really makes us happy is a McDonald's.
01:48It's music, it's listening to Tyra Swift, it's artwork and so on. And this is their expression and what likes them happy.
01:59And the point of it is for them to come in and not just experience and feel like they belong in this place, but to also see their artwork on the walls as well.
02:08And how long is it up here for at the art gallery? Because people can come and kind of see it.
02:12It's running for the whole month of August. It started on the 4th. It finishes on the 29th of August. 10 to 4.30. It's free.
02:20And there's some lovely other exhibitions as well. So pop along, have a look, enjoy it.
02:25You might see a few things that you like and people, places that you recognise. And there's other exhibitions you can see as well.
02:31It's quite varied, isn't it, the artwork? Some fantastic pieces. Have you got a particular favourite yourself you've picked out?
02:36Oh no, that's like asking for your favourite yourself. It is, I know.
02:39Yeah, let's say that. No, I think when you look at them, you can see the heart and some of the thought that have gone into a lot of these pieces.
02:48So it would be, you're missing me to choose a favourite one. But there's a lot of pets, which are lovely.
02:54These quilts are called fiddle quilts. They're for people who have got dimension and so on and you can send leads, which is wonderful.
03:03Graham Stolter's love all for child welfare, who donated that piece.
03:07Yeah.
03:07And Ian Morgan.
03:09We've got Sakeya up there, who met her by Roger, my sister, a year ago.
03:13So that's what she shared.
03:15One of even snooking.
03:17A cat.
03:19That's the cat.
03:20My very own cat.
03:21Is this your cat?
03:22Yeah, it is.
03:22Oh, what's your cat called Rambo?
03:24Yeah, it's Rambo.
03:26And he's not as good as he looks. He's a bit of a gnome.
03:29It takes a lot more.
03:31So I know, and it's been such a joy, the response and the feedback we've had from it.
03:36It's just been phenomenal.
03:37We had the official launch on Saturday with the fabulous Wolverhampton Mayor,
03:43Hensley Coyne, Collingswood, Winderworth, MPK and Pat McFadden's on his way.
03:48And we just had such a wonderful response and it's just been lovely to see.
03:53So Susan, this one's caught my eye.
03:55Just fill us in on what the story is with this.
03:56This is a beautiful family.
04:01Rich and Amanda, they have been to many things that we do.
04:04They're right at the very, very beginning.
04:07And this is their son.
04:09Yeah.
04:09And they wear t-shirts which they just love.
04:13This one which says, he may not look like me, but he's still my son.
04:17And then Junior says, he may not look like me, but he's still my dad.
04:21The adoption's completed.
04:24And they're just a beautiful family near Peter Moon, what adoption?
04:28Sure.
04:28And they're just a beautiful family near Peter Moon, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption is, what adoption
Be the first to comment