Cartwheel Arts launch digital exhibition to raise awareness of climate emergency

Cartwheel Arts 'Collaborate' exhibition will digitally launch on 19 November

Funding from Arts Council England’s Emergency Response Fund has enabled Heywood-based Cartwheel Arts to support ten of their freelance participatory artists through commissioning new work that focuses on current environmental issues.

Cartwheel Arts received the funding earlier this year, when a total of £31,427 was awarded to the longstanding participatory arts organisation in June, thanks to the National Lottery and Government.
 

Read more: Local arts organisations receive funding from Arts Council EnglandPublished: 22 June 2020

Through an exciting array of video, audio, painting, print, poetry, puppetry (and even vegetable growing), these artists have created thought provoking pieces that explore issues from sustainability in the clothing industry to creative ways to recycle, all under the exhibition name ‘Collaborate’.

A spokesperson for Cartwheel Arts said: “Collaborate was inspired by the new ways in which we are connecting online. Not only did we want to support artists to keep creative - we also hoped that facilitating creative sharing and learning would spark joy and new ideas. We paired up the artists to work together to share their skills and passions using video calls and distanced workshops and walks.”

As well as individual art pieces, each pair has created a simple activity postcard that you can try at home, which will be published alongside the artists’ work online for all to access, as well as sending out printed copies to households in Rochdale, where Cartwheel Arts are working hard to support people through the pandemic by providing fun creative activities.

The ten Collaborate artists include:

• Anjum Malik - Poet, script writer performer, filmmaker, and senior lecturer in creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
• Natalie Linney - Manchester based artist and educator exploring textile, form, pigment, and print.
• Mandy Beck-McKim - Wired and Wild creator, is a textile artist and puppet maker, working with children across the northwest for 20 years.
• Jodie Silverman - Fine Artist and Art Therapist
• Vicky Lomax - of Jamboree Arts, offers a theatrical experience using puppetry for early years, key stage 1 and key stage 2.
• Sumit Sarkar - Sculptor and painter working with digital and analogue techniques
• Ben Turner - Socially engaged arts practice project manager and producer
• Shamshad Khan - Poet and resilience coach
• Danielle Porter - Sound artist, audio producer and educator
• Mitch Oldham - Drummer, percussionist, and educator

You can join the artists and Cartwheel Arts on Thursday 19 November, 5pm - 6pm, for the digital launch of the Collaborate exhibition. Book your free ticket on Eventbrite to receive a link to the YouTube premiere on the day:

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/events/66132/digital-launch-of-collaborate-exhibition

The online exhibition will then be published permanently on Cartwheel Arts ‘Art for a Reason’ blog - www.cartwheelarts.org.uk