'Draw on Halton' was an online series of prompts, created to engage our artists, associates and work experience students, over the first lockdown period. We opened this up to members of the public, providing the weekly prompts with local cultural and historical inspiration. Utilising our social media channels (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook) to share the work and connect with new and old audiences.
Over the active period, 238 artworks were shared, by 27 individuals. The visual boards created for these blog posts and outdoor exhibition are the highlights of that work, with preference given to new work created for the challenge. All work submitted was shared over our social media channels and will be shared in the series of blog posts we are creating, links provided below.
We were particularly interested in providing prompts inspired by the local area, so that people could use their immediate surroundings and memories, especially those having to self isolate and not able to travel to find outside inspiration.
With the ongoing pandemic situation making us all think differently about how we engage with the public, we needed to create a project that would allow us to still feel connected with our own artists, now working from home and those that usually engage with our projects and workshops.
Using the hashtag #drawonhalton across all three platforms (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) allowed us to easily share and curate all the new content created. It has also enabled us to create a familiarity with a concept that we would like to continue and develop, as we strive to engage with people online and offline during/after this period of time.
We had hoped to curate an indoor exhibition with all the work created, but have had to be a little creative and do something different. As well as a series of blog posts, showcasing all the work that was submitted, we have installed a series of twenty visual boards in the 'Old Town Bloom Community Garden' - this will be in situ till the end of January.
All the work can be found here:
1.Canals and Rivers 2. Open Spaces 3. Hospital/Doctors 4. Railway 5. Market 6. Smell
14. Church and Temple 15. Industry 16. Music
Thanks to the support of Arts Council England and Halton Borough Council, we are working to develop Hazlehurst Studios, expanding the offer we have in Halton. Supporting practising artists, up and coming creatives, as well as anyone who would like to explore visual art. Over the next few months we would love your thoughts and ideas, please follow us on this journey through our social media using the #HHFuture and the next #DrawOnHalton challenge.
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