Disabled artists recruited for Creative Landscapes
Two disabled artists, fine artist Sally Booth and photographer Lynn Weddle, took up residence in Hastings and St Leonards from July to September 2010 as part of the Creative Landscapes project.
They were both based at the Stade and Hastings Museum and Art Gallery and during this time were supported in their work by Beatrice Rapley, the Stade Education Officer and Catherine Harvey, the Education Officer at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery.
Sally Booth, who is visually impaired, ran free creative family workshops at Hastings Museum and Lynn Weddle, who has dyslexia, ran a series of free photography workshops for the Sussex Autistic Trust.
During the residency, Sally and Lynn also created their own work, investigating the theme of 'Revealed: Exploring Hastings and St Leonards' Heritage' and drawing inspiration from the local history collection and lives on The Stade. The residency culminated in a photographic exhibition and drawing event for Heritage Open Days between 09 and 12 September 2010.
Sally spent much of her time taking in views from a net shop and creating watery drawings and paintings of fishing paraphernalia.
During Heritage Open Days, Sally constructed a drawing tent and invited the public to come inside and draw on the walls the views they could see on outside.
Lynn met with the 'hidden people of the Stade' – people who work on the Stade (boat builders, fishermen, staff in the East Hastings Sea Angling Association) – people who are the hidden life blood of this ancient fishing area. Lynn took portraits of these people with the themes 'hidden' and 'revealed' in mind, so in every portrait the subject's face is obscured somehow. She then hid the portraits in a trail around the Stade and the public were invited to take part in a treasure hunt to find the photographs, at the end, participants discovered a studio portrait at the Shipwreck Museum where they had their own portrait taken and were invited to take this away as their little piece of treasure.
Creative Landscapes is part of the Accentuate Programme and seeks to increase opportunities for engagement with heritage and the historic environment by deaf and disabled people through creative exploration.
Accentuate is funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to create a cultural legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games across the UK.
To find out more about this residency or about the Creative Landscape Workshops please contact Nicola Benge, Creative Landscapes Development Worker on 07825832443 or e-mail: creativelandscapes.hastings@yahoo.co.uk
