The Parting Glass by Red Ladder Theatre Company
Red Ladder’s Artistic Director, Rod Dixon, says “We’ve seen from touring The Life And Soul that theatre has an important and powerful role in addressing social issues, and promoting discussion – the lack of which is a major issue surrounding men’s mental health. As well as being an entertaining night out, The Parting Glass allows us to engage with a wide variety of people in their own local environments, encouraging dialogue in an informal, entertaining and safe way and helping to break down the barriers that can prevent men from opening up about their mental health.”
The Parting Glass is a development of The Life and Soul, a short one-man play which Red Ladder has been touring since 2016, and was written by Chris O’Connor following a period of ill mental health. It has been developed with funding from Leeds City Council, through Leeds Community Foundation and performances will be accompanied by a pre-show evening meal and a post-show Q&A, facilitated by a Leeds Mind mental health specialist. Leeds actor Tom Swift makes his professional debut as Jim and Huddersfield’s Alyce Liburd plays Sara.
Ticket Price includes a vegetarian meal, to be served at 6pm. Show starts at 7pm.
Tickets are £5.98 and are available at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/parting-glass-red-ladder-theatre-company-tickets-74474694817
You can pick up tickets HALF PRICE if you go to Inkwell Arts in person (in advance) and pay cash!
STAND Music & Words Workshop
We’re excitied to be working with a major national arts project coming to the Tetley in September.
STAND Workshop
Friday 27th September, 11am – 3pm
Free!
The Tetley, Hunslet Road, Leeds, LS10
To book your place email Tom at [email protected]
Join us for an exciting creative writing and music workshop experience, and become a part of a major new artwork by artist Mel Brimfield and composer Gwyneth Herbert – to be shown in arts centres around the country in 2020.
At a time of disastrous austerity cuts within the mental health sector, we are building an epic, multi-speaker installation that gives voice to all those affected – from service users and survivors, through to carers, families and researchers – and we need your voices to be a part of it!
We are inviting you to to take part in a free, dynamic and playful singing / songwriting workshop which explores emotions and subjects around the topic of mental health, such as isolation and connection; loneliness and community; anxiety and healing; the loss, finding and sharing of voice. Through an interactive explosion of the song-writing process, participants will be given an insight into finding inspiration and overcoming blocks, developing lyrics, harmonic sequences and melodies, building sound collages and using the voice as an instrument – giving them a kind of song-writing “toolkit” to take with them on their own creative and therapeutic practices.
Individual stories, experiences and creative output will be also collected from each workshop and directly inspire our final epic choral composition. This will be written, recorded for and “sung” by a multi-speaker installation that forms a circle of witnesses around the central voice, and the heart of the piece – an extraordinary recording collected at the National Psychosis Unit of a patient reciting the middle 8 from Elvis Presley’s ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’. Housed within a collaboratively designed sculptural object built in partnership with UK Men’s Sheds and Men’s Sheds Cymru, each speaker will represent a different voice within a non-hierarchical, invisible choir which – at least speculatively – erodes the often problematic divisions between clinicians and patients.
At the core of both process and artwork is the belief in creativity and community to support wellness, invite transformation and promote understanding, along with a desire to unite and celebrate organisations who provide these ever-more crucial opportunities. We invite you to bring your voice, explore your words, and help us make a STAND.
Autumn Newsletter
Our Autumn newsletter is ready to download here: AUTUMN 2019
It’s jam-packed with information about courses, events, workshops and other opportunities happening in Leeds over the next couple of months, including:
STAND – writing/ music workshop at the Tetley on 27th September
Bringing it all Back Home – gig at Wharf Chambers on September 28th
It’s Our Minds Our Future – spoken word event at LS6 Cafe on October 10th
The Parting Glass – play at Inkwell on October 14th
…and much more!
Also featuring an extended MEMBER’S ZONE – where our members tell you about their artwork and what creative things they do.
Check it out!
September with Arts & Minds
This autumn we’ve got a couple of events we’d love to see you at…
Connect & Create – Monday September 2nd
Arts & Minds at the Henry Moore Institute – Tuesday September 17th
Connect & Create
A chance to regroup after the summer. Meet other Arts & Minds members and be creative. Drink free tea and coffee. Share your artwork. Make a Mindful Mandala with Amelia. Help plan an Arts & Minds event.
Connect & Create runs monthly at The Tetley and is for Arts & Minds members. Arts & Minds exists to support creative people with mental health issues. If you’re not a member, don’t worry, we’ll give you information about the network when you get here. The meeting is free.
We meet in the learning studio on Floor 2.
Connect & Create
Monday 2nd September, 2pm – 4pm
The Tetley, Hunslet Rd, Leeds.
Arts & Minds at the Henry Moore Institute
The Arts & Minds autumn event! We are delighted that Henry Moore Institute is welcoming Arts & Minds members into their lovely space. It’s great timing too – we will be connecting in with the Yorkshire Sculpture International
There will be:
– exhibition tours
– creative workshops
– free tea and coffee
We’ll publish loads more information soon – but get the date in your diary now.
Arts & Minds at the Henry Moore Institute
74 The Headrow, LS1 3AH Leeds
Tuesday 17th September, 1 – 4pm
Annual Exhibition – Thank You
Our Annual Exhibition is now over – thanks so much to all our artists, helpers, volunteers, supporters, invigilators, curators – and anyone who came in. Particular thanks to Naheed, Mussarat, Sandy, Emma and the Culture Club team who led some brilliant workshops. This year more than ever it’s been a team effort. So many people helped to put the show up – and take it down. So well done everyone!
We’ll post a folder of great images from the exhibition ASAP. And some of the great comments left by visitors to the show.
Cheers!
Linda, Tom and Jane
Arts & Minds
Arts & Minds Grants 2019
Every year Arts & Minds awards grants to LYPFT NHS services to do high quality arts projects. The idea is to help make mental health servives more creative. All the projects will encourage people with serious mental health issues to express themselves through different art forms. Most of the projects were based on ideas from the people using the services. Last week we met to award the grants to the brilliant staff who had encoraged people to get ideas and applied for the grants. Thank you to Peter Johnstone from LYPFT who presented the awards.
The arts projects will start very soon but here’s a summary of what’s going to happen:
Printmaking at the National Inpatient Centre for Psychological Medicine.
The NICPM will work with Swarthmore to run print workshop. The group will make all sorts of things, including tote bags, t-shirts and more.
Music at the Mother & Baby Unit.
Mothers and their babies will work with the brilliant “Made with Music” to do just that – make music!
Digital Interactive Art at dementia wards at the Mount.
People with dementia and their carers will work with Invisible Flock to use the latest digital technology to make artwork.
Tree of Hope at Parkside Lodge.
People with learning disabilties who also have mental health issues will make a Tree of Hope to display in the unit. Artist Kerri Butterworth will help staff use iPads to make them easy to use for people with LD.
Film making at York CAMHS
Young people attending CAMHS will work with artists from Accessible Arts & Media to produce a short film or stop-motion animation based around well-being.
Look out for more updates as the projects start and people begin to make art!
Annual Exhibition 2019
Arts & Minds’ annual art show is now up at the St John’s Centre!
Our amazing team has work incredibly hard to get this – our best show ever – up and running. Thanks all. Get down to the St John’s Centre form 10th – 23rd June to check out the brilliant artwork. The unit is on the lower shopping mall in the main concourse, by the escalators. You can’t miss it!
St Johns Centre, Merrion St, Leeds, LS2 8LQ
10th – 23rd June, open every day, 11am – 5pm
The Arts and Minds annual open exhibition is a showcase of the artwork produced by its members over the year. These members include artists who have different experiences of living with mental health conditions, as well as people who use art as a way of managing their wellbeing, and those exploring the topic of mental health.Some members work or volunteer in mental health services or are carers. The exhibition aims to explore our relationship with art and to celebrate how vital it is to our well-being. It is an opportunity to expose what may not otherwise be seen.
The party to celebrate the show is Friday 14th June, 5pm – 6.30pm at the St John’s Centre. All welcome!
If you would like to visit the exhibition but find public spaces a challenge you could arrange to have a Private View before we open to the public ( ie before 11am). Please email us at [email protected] to arrange this.
Art Workshops – take part!
As part of this year’s Annual Exhibition, we’re offering a series of creative art workshops in our Workshop Space. They are all FREE and WELCOME TO ALL. Please drop in. If you’re part of a group it would be useful to let us know you’re coming. Email us at [email protected]
All workshops take place at St Johns Centre, Merrion St, Leeds, LS2.
Wednesday 12th June 1-3pm
Weaving with Sandy
Traditionally made by South American Indians, God’s Eyes are made using a simple weaving method in a cross formation. They are traditionally used as decoration for festivals including the birth of a child or the Summer Solstice. Come along to the workshop and make your own God’s Eye using different yarns.
Thursday 13th June, 11am – 2pm
Book Binding with Emma
Saturday 15th June, 1 – 3pm
Weaving with Sandy
Traditionally made by South American Indians, God’s Eyes are made using a simple weaving method in a cross formation. They are traditionally used as decoration for festivals including the birth of a child or the Summer Solstice. Come along to the workshop and make your own God’s Eye using different yarns.
Sunday 16th June, 12 – 3pm
Craft with Naheed
Come along to take part in some Sunday mindful crafting! There will be a choice of learning origami techniques and making flowers or why not get involved in making a colourful, rainbow themed postcard for those rainy days to cheer you up. Doodle, draw and colour away! Lovely pieces of craft work that are suitable for all abilities, children and adults. All materials provided
Wednesday 19th June, 1 – 3pm
Printing, basic techniques with Sandy
Make a small printing block using basic materials you might have a round the home. The printing block (or stamp) can then be used to decorate a piece of fabric or paper with repeat patterns.
Thursday 20th June, 11am – 2pm
Book Binding with Emma
Friday 21st June, 12 – 4pm
Journeys with Mussarat
Playing with materials such as papers, cards, glue, sellotape, sticky stickers, embellishments, and generic materials for making hand patterns, cutting out leaves, and making multicultural faces. An open workshop, for all ages and it’s a mixed media workshop working across multiple materials. Part of Leeds Refugee Week.
Saturday 22nd June, 12 – 4pm
Make a Bird with Culture Club
Your chance to make your very own bird out of a plastic bottle! Join the Culture Club team, who created the wonderful bird installation.
Love Arts: The Future
You might be aware that we’re not running a Love Arts Festival in 2019. We’re taking a year off to reflect and work out what next for Love Arts.
Some of you came to the excellent Think-In in January. For those of you who didn’t, we want to make sure we listen to your ideas. So we are inviting everyone to tell us their thoughts via a Survey Monkey:
CLICK HERE TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!
You can keep updated on what’s going on by checking out the Love Arts blog, where you’ll see a selection of images that sum up some of the things that were said at the Think In.
We’re having another Think In in March – we’ll let you know all about it soon.
Thanks!
Swarthmore Taster Day
Our next event is coming soon!
A chance to try out some creative workshops and find out more about the Swarthmore Centre.
Swarthmore is a brilliant, accessible and welcoming place. And they do loads of creative courses. Come along to find out more and to try out something you might not have done before.
There’ll be knitting and stitching in the cafe – happening all afternoon. And printing and creative writing. Numbers for these workshops are limited so when you arrive, get your name on the list.
Lunch provided! The event is for Arts & Minds members. But all welcome – you can join us on the day.
See you there!
Swarthmore Taster Day
Tuesday 19th February 12 – 4pm
Swarthmore Education Centre
2-7 Woodhouse Square, Leeds LS3 1AD
Let us know you are coming! Tell us on Facebook or email us at [email protected]
