Beyond Bricks rallies West Midlands' communities
Community arts project, Beyond Bricks has this month been hailed a resounding success by organisers, as almost 2,000 residents across eight neighbourhoods in Birmingham and Sandwell participated in a range of workshops and events in order to learn more about their communities.
A collection of artists and artistic organisations have been working closely with local residents on a series of exciting and creative projects over the past six months as community arts project, Beyond Bricks returned for its second year.
The programme aimed to utilise a variety of creative processes to encourage communities to engage with each other and respond to local issues, delivering strong, hard hitting messages which represent how the communities feel about their local area. Each artist worked closely with local residents to nurture and allow their ideas, talents and aspirations to influence the project and the final product.
A total of 90 workshops have been delivered in areas such as Smethwick Newtown, Handsworth, Birchfield and Lozells, giving local residents the unique opportunity to produce films, design community branding, be part of a ‘mobile’ gallery and even help design a piece of permanent artwork.
Over 1,800 residents attended a variety of public events for the eight projects, each one showcasing the hard work and determination that went into the projects
Mr Singh, a teacher from Benson School said: “This has been a fantastic, real life project, enabling our students to have a true experience of what it’s like to be an artist. Producing a sculpture and having the experience of a practicing local artist which the children can identify with has been marvellous and an invaluable life experience. The children and school are very proud to have been able to take part in the Waverhill project. It’s something our children will be able to show their grandchildren.”
Angella Holness, participant of the Smethwick project said: “The project has meant a lot to me. It has given me a chance to meet other people in the area and to talk to neighbours whom I have never met before. It has also given me and many others a deeper understanding of the history of the area in which we live in. By sharing it has shown us things that we didn’t know existed within the area.”
The project has been driven and funded by housing regeneration agency Urban Living in partnership with Arts Council England with the aim of promoting community cohesion by bringing residents together to create works of art which will act as focal points for the regeneration occurring within their areas.
Delivered by West Bromwich based arts organisation Multistory working in conjunction with Birmingham City Council and Sandwell MBC Neighbourhood Managers, Beyond Bricks aspired to engage creatively with local communities, allowing them to collectively celebrate their community, strengthening connections with one another and working together to find solutions to local issues.
Adnan Saif, Chief Executive of Urban Living said: “We’re proud of the results we have seen from this year’s Beyond Bricks project. Ten times as many people of all ages were engaged this time, with much pride shown and some superb results. This was a chance for residents to meet new people and have a say on the identity and uniqueness of the areas they live in.”
