New website launches to connect artists to local residents

A town hall has started a new platform to show off the best of the borough’s creativity in a digital setting.

Wandsworth Art, a new website dedicated to helping residents connect with local artists, has more than 200 artists already signed up to take part, with the number growing daily.

On the website you can discover innovative and highly-skilled painters, jewellers, designers, photographers, ceramicists, film-makers, sculptors, printmakers and poets, and the exceptional cultural organisations that are the bedrock of our creative ecology.

This weekend, Bounce Theatre will take over Wandsworth Art’s website and social media channels with a flurry of creative activity.

On October 10, they will celebrate Black History Month with a bumper magazine of inspiring, family-friendly art and poetry activities to download and enjoy at home; and art and poetry video workshops to get Wandsworth’s creative juices flowing and celebrate the contributions local black creatives have made to the borough.

All content is free and suitable for all ages and experience levels.

Wandsworth council’s cabinet member for community services and open spaces, Councillor Steffi Sutters, said: “I am always astounded by the variety of creative people living in Wandsworth, and this year, over the pandemic, we have seen our creative community reaching out in new ways to enrich the lives of all here.

“Art has a capacity to reach out to so many groups – the young, the old, those isolated or facing mental health challenges – as well as providing much needed entertainment in our lives.

“Wandsworth Art is a great example of residents, community groups, cultural organisations and us, as the council, coming together to continue to celebrate the professional and amateur artists who have made their home here.

“While Wandsworth Art cannot replace Wandsworth Artists’ Open House, it is an opportunity for residents to showcase their work in settings which are accessible to their friends and neighbours.

“That could mean through being part of Framed which brings artwork into the public realm onto empty shop windows in our high streets; or through the myriad of virtual channels that have enabled an even wider cross section of residents, such as those with mobility impairments, to see for themselves the work done here.”