Members of community art club ‘Something Wonderful’, a project from St. James Church, Benwell, are auctioning over 120 of their artworks in order to keep their club running.
‘Something Wonderful’ aims to help the most vulnerable and isolated in the west end of Newcastle, whatever their background or belief, to enable all to participate in and strengthen their local community. Activities include a pay-what-you-feel cafe, welfare support sessions, asylum seeker and refugee, mental and physical health support, local history group, gardening, volunteering, and more!
Named ‘Something Wonderful’ because the founders wanted to do just that –to be a place run by and for the community where people can encounter/eat/learn/create/do or be something wonderful.
The club’s main purpose is to improve mental health and well-being by helping the most disadvantaged in our community gain confidence and develop resilience though active participation in the arts. The art club is led by a professional artist Artep Avordno.
The project has already engaged and enlivened regular foodbank users who are now participating in the arts for the very first time. Something Wonderful is not only giving people something to do but is also helping individuals grow out of their comfort zone but within safe space.
The art club had been funded to run for a year but when the funding was coming to an end, the group, which has over twenty members, decided it had to continue. They decided to auction their own work to pay for more materials and pay their tutor.
The auction will take place on Thursday 21 September at the Tyneside Irish Centre in Gallowgate. Doors open at 4pm for viewing and the auction will start at 5pm.
For more information, visit their website benwellscotswood.com/somethingwonderful or contact the Revd Christopher Minchin, Vicar and project lead on 07792267223 or revd@chrisminchin.com.
What the members say:
Shakira: “Art allows me to be myself and it often makes me feel free. When I draw/paint etc. I often get lost in my thoughts.”
Katrina about artwork: “I love to try new things, broaden my horizons, and have challenges to try. I draw to escape from the painful memories I went through. It makes me stronger in every way.”
Amanda: “I really enjoy coming to the art club, drawing, painting and using oil pastels. It has helped with my mental health taking my mind to a better place for a while at least.”
Majid: “I love art and it makes me feel peace and relax. I suffer with schizophrenia. Somehow it makes my brain different and more creative for example I can see or think of three different views at once. I have been homeless for over three years now. I have met and talked to so many people about so many different things. Now I am trying to draw or paint everything I have learnt in last few years.”
Eleanor about her “Love” painting: “I made this artwork in memory of my loving husband on Valentine’s Day. His heart will always be with me, always loved and never forgotten with his bright sense of humour.”
Stacey: “I used to do art with my auntie before she died. She was a proper artist. The collaboration in art club is something I like the most. It is something me and my aunties used to do. I like how I move my hand when I do the collaboration piece. It is a motion with the ocean. Creating helps me to concentrate and forget about things, forget what I am going through now. It takes just that little edge off, not too much of an edge but then when art club finishes everything comes back to me.”
Kevin: It’s about reaching for the stars and hope this is a visual way to show we can overcome anything!”