Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
Fig.1 Stuart, Rob Hamp and Sense charity shop team working on Making Together (2019). © RBSA. Image courtesy of Natalie Osborne
The RBSA is an artist-led society with its own gallery on St Paul’s Square in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The RBSA is currently undertaking a collaborative project with Sense, a national charity which supports those with complex disabilities. The project - ‘Making Together’ - is supported by public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
In winter 2019, work from the third phase Re-Use, Re-Store, Re-Tale is on display in Sense Charity shops across the West Midlands at Worcester, Kingstanding, West Bromwich, and Kidderminster. Artists Rob Hamp and Andrea Hannon (who form the art duo HA) have been working with Sense artist Stuart for the past few months. The artists placed bins in 4 different Sense charity shops for people to donate items, and have then created sculptures out of these donated objects. The project aims to inform people about Sense, their charitable work and the services they provide at places like Sense TouchBase Pears in Selly Oak. It also wants to help all involved partners develop new ways to make visual art more inclusive while encouraging others to think more about inclusivity in the art world.
The previous two phases of this project have involved RBSA artists conducting workshops at TouchBase Pears to create inclusive art for exhibitions at the RBSA Gallery. This project is ongoing, so keep an eye out for future exhibitions and events associated with ‘Making Together’ on the RBSA website