Art exhibition delves into experiences of care after tragic death of care leaver
An art exhibition in Wolverhampton is focusing on people's experiences of the care system, after the tragic death of a care leaver at the age of 33.
The Care System Exhibition by community interest company Children of a Revolution is on at the Newhampton Arts Centre until Saturday, and looks at the impact of the care system on children and adults.
The exhibition contains artwork from people of "all walks of life", some of which are a result of workshops delivered by Children of a Revolution.
The directors of are Saffron Hill, a care leaver who is currently studying to be a Children and Family Practitioner, and family member Eve Biggs – an illustrator and teacher from Wolverhampton University who is now working in the same residential home and is also studying to be a children and family practitioner.
In February 2022, they decided to register Children of a Revolution as a community interest company in hopes of using the arts to aid well-being amongst marginalised groups. Since then, they have delivered workshops around Stafford, Leicester and Wolverhampton to prisons, homes, and other organisations such as Good Shepherd, Soft Touch Arts and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
Saffron Hill, from Children of a Revolution, is a care leaver who is currently studying to be a Children and Family Practitioner.
She said: "Our most recent project has been working on The Care System – due to a tragic event that happened where a 33-year-old care leaver, Paula Halliday, lost her battle to mental health.
"She’d submitted a statement to us just two weeks prior to this stating: 'At 33 now, I still feel the need to run and hide to escape my life problems. I think it’s due to moving from foster placement to foster placement from the ages of 10-16, it’s time this cycle was broken now’.
"When we realised what Paula had done, we decided to create 'UNMUTED' – a wall of statements whereby people state their experiences of the care system whether they be a working professional or a child currently in care.
"This is surrounded by multiple other artworks, some from established artists, some from workshops that Children of a Revolution have delivered.
"The launch night was a huge success, with Mayor Sandra Samuels OBE in attendance who pleads that we are given funding to continue with this initiative.
"We aim to continue delivering creative workshops around the UK as a way of supporting stigmatised groups." or
For more details, go to newhamptonarts.co.uk/events/the-care-system-exhibition/ or childrenofarevolution.com/index.php/media-video-art.
