Creative Carers Collective is an art group for carers based at Camden Carers in Chalk Farm, London. Our aim is to provide carers with a creative and supportive space, somewhere where they can embrace some much needed respite and get in touch with their creativity. The group is open to carers of all ages and is facilitated by Richard Blades and supported by Camden Carers staff. We have been meeting every Monday morning for nearly four years now and the journey has been amazing. Originally the group started as the Times of Change project, eventually evolving and growing into the Creative Carers Collective.
During the early sessions, rather than making art we engaged in a conversation about art and creativity and what it might tell us about our lives and the lives of others. Many carers found themselves at a cross roads in life and the project was tailored with the idea of opening a conversation about difficult subjects regarding life, love and loss, using art as a catalyst. With the use of a projector Richard created slideshows and presentations of artworks for the group to discuss, enjoy, reflect upon and learn more about in a therapeutic, exploratory, friendly and positive environment. The discussions and conversations that developed were very lively and passionate and soon we began visiting galleries and exhibitions around London.
In the Early Spring of 2015 this conversation about art and life developed into a member inspired project in which the group began to think about creating practical art projects. Projects and artworks that would aim to explore and help shed light on the multifaceted experience of being a carer. What does it mean to be a carer? and how does it feel to be a carer? These are some of the questions and themes that we began thinking and talking about and we started looking at how and in what way these experiences could be communicated to others using art and creativity.
The Creative Carers Collective was an idea born out of our group and is a carer led creative collaboration that found its inspiration in our ongoing conversations about art and its potential for illuminating our everyday experiences. Over time, as we have grown, the group has evolved into an exciting and open environment where alongside looking at and talking about artworks, carers are now invited to get in touch with their creative side and with ongoing help and assistance, explore ways of telling their own story, using a variety of art materials and processes. As our group grew and attracted new members we were very fortunate to move into a fully equipped art studio in the Charlie Ratchford building. Having the space and facilities for the group to really experiment was a very positive thing and has done wonders for the group’s confidence and creative vision.
We had our first group exhibition in Nov 2015 at the Kentish Town Community Centre. The show was a great success and our artists really created some wonderful and thought provoking art. Following on from this we held a small exhibition and workshop celebrating Carers Week at centre 404 in Islington. These exhibitions were just the beginning and in May of 2017 we held our third group exhibition at St Katharine’s Precinct in Limehouse, this time on a larger scale and for the duration of one month. Using skills and drawing from the experience of our first exhibition, we became more ambitious and as well as showing our work we also held workshops facilitated by our members that were open to the public. A major part of Creative Carers is giving members the opportunity to lead aspects of our projects, this included the curation of the exhibition by Fran Singer and creative workshops by Foulla Pashkaj, Fran Singer, James Webb, Sam Haywood and Kate Harwood.
The artwork created by the group today is as diverse as the members that make up the collective. Each member is encouraged and supported to follow their inspiration. There are no set rules or objectives. For some their art is about reflecting on their experience of caring and it is that that inspires their work, whilst for others that weekly Monday morning is their time to engage in their own individual passion, whether that is abstract painting or collage. The strength of the group is in this freedom to be creative in whatever way they choose. As a result we have painters, photographers, collage makers, sculptors and everything in between. In a typical session there are approximately 15 artists working away in a friendly warm and creative atmosphere where ideas, stories and inspirations are shared. New members are always welcome and we try our best to be a proactive group giving everyone the opportunity to contribute and collaborate.
Making art accessible and relevant to everyday life was the inspiration behind setting up our group and central to our ethos is helping to create an environment for carers to get together and through the medium of art, reflect with others upon both our individual and shared experiences, not only of caring but also of life, love and everything else in between. We are very proud of our achievements and confident in sharing our art and ideas with others. Being a carer for a loved one or someone close is something that many of us will experience, it is a multi dimensional experience that we hope to raise awareness of and in the process salute and celebrate those who are carers.
Creative Carers Collective