Gloucester’s Lockdown Legacy of Creativity

As we start to ease out of lockdown, we want its legacy to be one of creativity, and we are celebrating the launch of 8 new creative projects running across the city, that have been funded by the Creation Fund – a project delivered by Jolt.

The Creation Fund has provided opportunity for artists in a time where the creative industries stand in the face of uncertainty, and Jolt has supported those artists as they develop their work and shape it ready for the public to enjoy it. Many of the projects invite local residents to contribute to the finished piece, two also feature & celebrate our key workers.

The 8 funded projects include a series of short films featuring NHS workers, creatives and community builders from artist Barney Witts from Fluxx Films, a new postcard gallery by artist Rob Mackie who invites people from care homes to design their own postcards, ready to be photographed and turned into digital images that comprise to make an exhibition so that the residents can see their work as part of something much larger.  It also includes 200 creative art kits from Lisa Turner, which are being provided to the community in Linden with special instructions about how to turn their windows into an exhibition space.

We are so pleased with the number of applicants that we have to the Creation Fund because it shows the high levels of creativity that is hidden amid the city. It’s Jolt’s mission to help artists turn that creativity into something that can be a sustainable practice, that in turn helps raise the creative profile of the city.

Other funded projects include Natasha Houseago’s Masked Figureheads which will see the professional sculpture create 3 wood carvings of an NHS worker, a senior citizen and a shopper ready to be displayed in Key locations across thee city including Gloucester Royal Hospital; a brand new large scale painting from artist Russell Haines which will be a positive response to the pandemic using content from the Gloucester public to inspire the piece and artist Jo Teague’s Make A Rainbow project which offers residents a stop motion tutorial on how to make rainbow bunting ready to be showcased in the Cathedral after lockdown.

And last but certainly not least, is Dawn Barnes’ White City Creative Crafters packs which enable adults to indulge in creativity at home and Yolanda Mercy’s Pplaywriting Course which saw a number of aspiring Gloucester based playwrights develop their skill sets… Watch this space as the projects develop – we’ll share more details soon!

Featured image: Stills from Covid-19 film profiles by Barney Witts, Fluxx Films. These images featured on postcards sent to young people across Gloucester, as part of the weekly art packs project.