Sidmouth School of Art – launch Sidmouth Wallspace – a gallery for everyone

7th July 2021

Categories: Visitor News

Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub working with artist David Shrigley OBE have launched the first artwork of many, on a new billboard for artwork in Sidmouth.  As part of a wider Sidmouth School of Art initiative to engage and make new art and promote Sidmouth as centre for art and culture.  A new film is released today to launch the concept and this launch project https://youtu.be/JHAbM9nkcJ4

Working with students at Sidmouth College, the first art work is titled “How Are You Feeling?”

Artists: Sidmouth College Students aged 11 to 14 years, 2021

A composition of 60 self-portraits, line drawings in black and white.

Each portrait is an expression of individual identity, capturing thoughts and feelings which reflect the everyday and the not so everyday of life during Covid.

Collectively the artwork reflects different outlooks of young people in Sidmouth; humorous, fleeting, whimsical, random, sad, happy and reflective. This piece is a narrative of its time, gives voice to our

young people, respects difference and is a reminder that creative activities can help us to share how we are feeling.

Working with the students to explore identity and responses to lockdowns, virtual home-school, more time with family and less with friends, facing anxieties and discovery of great resilience was a

privilege and we thank them all for their openness. We used simple line drawing as the medium encouraging all the students to have fun and to build confidence in their creativity.

Graphic Design: Yvonne Quirmbach

Sidmouth Wall Space repurposes an unloved wall overlooking a car park in Sidmouth, Devon – it will showcase community/public art that residents and visitors enjoy and are inspired by and engaged with and that add sustainable social value in parallel:

• connecting and collaborating with arts and cultural groups/organisations
• focusing on engaging young people and adults to develop confidence in their creativity
• working with people to involve them and their ideas, discovering and nurturing talent
• building a sense of wellbeing through shared identity/belonging and creative place-making

The project is funded by the Arts Council England with support also from Sidmouth Town Council. A new Sidmouth School of Art website is in development and will provide an online gallery for many of the artworks developed in the process of those which are exhibited on the billboard.