Community Art Clubs CIC
Community Art Clubs support people in rural communities to create and experience art. We run art clubs and classes, organise art trips and help local people get involved in their communities.
All the research shows this doesn't just help the artmakers - it helps build stronger, healthier communities, so it's good value for everyone.
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I’m a energetic believer, participant and qualified teacher in lifelong learning
(you can read my story here), as well as an exhibiting artist and commissioned
portrait painter (link to my Instagram).
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I set up Community Art Clubs as community interest company to support people
who want to make and enjoy art, for themselves, and for their wider communities.
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How we do it
1. Our local art clubs in village halls and churches draw together creative local people,
mixing ages and backgrounds with sense of friendship and shared achievement
in a supportive network.
2. Our art trips connect them with wider cultural context, informing their
creative development.
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3. Our clubs’ involvement in local events embeds creativity as an everyday part of
community life, nurturing a sense of place, identity and social cohesion. ​​​​
If you're thinking of joining one of our art clubs, why not have a browse through our Community Art Clubs Facebook group for a taste of what to expect?
Stakeholders & Funders: You can read, download or print our stakeholder factsheet here:
My Experience
As well as being a qualified lifelong learning teacher, I’ve run thousands of public teaching sessions for adults and children at Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse and Norwich Castle as a highly respected member of Norfolk Museums’ industry-leading learning team.
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During my vast professional experience I also led multiple grassroots arts engagement projects with diverse community groups such MIND, Museums in Prisons, NEETs, Gypsy Roma Traveller Education, and BUILD, so I’m good at finding ways to connect with all sorts of different people.
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As well as small groups I worked with large cultural organisations: I was project co-ordinator for the NLHF funded Requiem project with the BBC Concert Orchestra which was nominated for the 2019 Royal Philharmonic Society Impact Award, and in collaboration with Norfolk YMCA I was a founding force for Kick the Dust, a mentoring scheme developing cultural sector job skills for school leavers.
I’m also a well-practised public speaker. In a decade of giving entertaining talks to WIs and U3As on remarkable women from history, I learned how communicate complicated ideas with humour and clarity.
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All of this means that all my classes aren’t just about having fun learning to make art – although of course, that happens every time. My practical experience means I always create an inclusive space, giving a warm welcome and differentiated, appropriate tuition to students across an enormous range of abilities and mindsets, so every student learns in the best way for them.
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The Evidence
1. Art is good for you! ​
2. Community is good for you!
3. We're already doing it!
There is growing evidence of the benefits of arts engagement and Third Places on physical and mental health and community cohesion. If you would like to read about this, recent studies are listed and summarized here or you can reach the same information via our stakeholders' and funders' fact sheet here.
To see what we've been doing in our pilot Community Art Club over the past year, you can take a look at the group's Facebook page here.
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