Southwest Collage Collective

Weymouth, Dorset, UK

HISTORY

The group was founded in 2021 and is led by collage artist Jodie House. It is a response to the isolation experienced by many during the global pandemic. Collage became an accessible art form for many people through a series of online gatherings Jodie facilitated, this brought the group together where they now regularly meet, share ideas and work together on community impact projects.

MISSION

The aim of the collective is to create positive social impact through collage art in areas of deprivation in Dorset, UK. Also disrupting the traditional narratives of who makes art, where it’s placed/exhibited and offer a more inclusive community using collage as an accessible art form. It is also to reduced the fear that surrounds adults creating art and encouraging play again.

ASSOCIATION

There are up to 10 members who regularly meet, share practice and support the facilitation of SWCC in the community. All the members have a history of supporting others through creativity, either as youth mentors, teachers, mental health workers and artists, many with skills in funding and voluntary sector working.

JOIN

In the summer of 2021 a SWCC online directory will be established that will invite people to join the collective and participate in monthly meet ups, online and in person, take part in project call-outs, share ideas and contribute to a regular webpage blog discussing the impact collage art has on their wellbeing. If you are interested in joining, you can email Jodie House.

The public will be invited to in person and virtual exhibitions, via website and social media accounts, as well as via project work in schools and social care settings. Jodie House is setting up a piece of summer work across Dorset where young people who are vulnerable/living in poverty will be invited to exhibit alongside the SWCC exhibitions via a specific piece of collage work.

KEY ACTIVITIES

In response to World Collage Day 2021, the group put on their first grassroots exhibition from their “Disruption” call. They sent out 300 free collage starter kits to local, national and international participants and invited all to submit physical artworks for a community not-for-profit exhibition in Dorset, UK in the summer of 2021.

There is now a Southwest Collage Collective Facebook group and Instagram account where free monthly gatherings to create are happening and scheduled. The SWCC is also going to be leading some targeted youth projects in Dorset in partnership with the local authorities, again supporting inclusion and celebrating collage.

CONTACT

EMAIL | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK