Over the next 12 months I will be working Southampton City Gallery and The National Portrait Gallery on a project called Creative Connections. This is a NPG outreach program that helps selected cities to look at how they are reflected as a community in the national and local collection.
I will be working Cantell Secondary School pupils to curate and exhibit in an exhibition next May 2023 at City Art Gallery. The show will include portraits on loan from the National Gallery that have a Southampton connection and juxtaposed with our own contemporary works and response to what we find.
Find out more Here:
The National Portrait Gallery is working in partnership with four museums and galleries across England: Coventry, Sheffield, Southampton and Cornwall to deliver Creative Connections in 2022-23. At each location, art students work collaboratively with artists to dive into the Gallery’s Collection and discover the portraits and inspirational stories of people associated with their neighbourhood. Their creative response of new artwork offers an insight into community identities and representation, and will be exhibited at each partner venue. Creative Connections is part of the National Portrait Gallery’s transformational Inspiring People project which includes an extensive programme of nationwide activities, funded by The National Heritage Lottery Fund and Art Fund. These ambitious partnerships with museums, local community groups and schools aim to bring the Gallery closer to communities across the UK. Creative Connections is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund with the generous support of the Palley family and additional support from the 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust.
