Tag Archive for: empowerment

Coming Soon! Wonderland

/in /by

COMING SOON!

Accumulate, the Art School for the Homeless presents………Wonderland

On Thursday 6th July we will treat our guests to a spectacular display of ceramics, visual art, fashion, film and photographs created by people affected by homelessness. We are so excited to also include a Wonderland live screen-printing and drawing workshop on the night so everyone can get involved!

This exhibition will display the striking creative work of the Accumulate participants which they have worked so hard to produce this year. We will hear their stories and witness how creativity has made a positive difference to their lives.

 

 

The Accumulate Wonderland exhibition is all about community and working together to achieve better things. It celebrates the creative achievements of a group of people, living in hostels and temporary accommodation, who participated in this year’s Accumulate Wonderland workshops, created their own supportive community and advanced and developed their skills and confidence through creative learning.

This event will also celebrate Accumulate’s  Wonderland community of creative practitioners, cultural and creative organisations, funders and sponsors who work with, collaborate and support Accumulate and help us to achieve so much meaningful and transformative impact and experiences for our participants.

Our participants have worked so hard on their creativity throughout the year

Part of this event will also include the scholarships which will be awarded to selected Accumulate participants so that they can continue their creative education and study, fully funded, on Access to HE courses in Fine Art, Design and Digital Media and Fashion. An amazing opportunity and all part of their creative journey with Accumulate.

It promises to be an inspiring evening. There’s still time to RSVP for your ticket to attend. Drop us a message if you’d like to come along.

  • Email us at info@accumulate.org.uk
  • Follow us on Instagram & Twitter @acccumulate_ldn

 

Creative Futures Update

/in /by

Breaking Down Barriers

This Summer saw our first Creative Futures event, a two-day workshop of networking and profile building, interview and presentation skills, and matching participants with opportunities in the creative industries. We were thrilled to be hosted by D&AD in their Shoreditch offices.

This initiative, which we operate in partnership with leading creative businesses and organisations, aims to break down the barriers for people affected by homelessness to enter the creative sector, build networks and have access to opportunities.

Creative Futures Event at D&AD, Shoreditch
Photo Credit, Ben Peters

As a result of the summer workshops, our participants were invited to take part in creative sessions led by industry professionals. Check out our days at software leader Adobe and the London-based creative agency Jones Knowles Ritchie.

Adobe – Video Creation and Editing

In September. our Creative Futures participants attended a workshop hosted by Adobe at their amazing offices learning how to edit videos for TikTok using Adobe software.

Participants Crystal and Anita take part in the Adobe workshop

 

Malin Persson from Adobe who was leading the opportunity said: “It was truly magical hosting the attendees that came to the workshop and the day was just filled to the brim with laughter, creativity, fabulous ideas, new editing skills, and lots of Tiktok videos…the entire Adobe gang truly enjoyed sharing the afternoon with the group, and really hope they got the most out of the day and learnt some new tips and tricks 😊”

Participant Nikol said ‘I felt like a professional team player. It’s good to get a feel of these places because it kind of lights a fire under you.’

Jones Knowle Ritchie – Building your Profile

In October our participants made the most of another exciting opportunity working with the creative agency Jones Knowles Ritchie.

Luke and Anita at Jones Knowles Ritchie

Anita, who took part in the session said “‘The JKR workshop was fantastic. I left inspired by their advice, carefully listening to our ideas and individual feedback. On the way home, I shed a tear. I felt so touched. It was like there was hope that things could somehow work out. It lights me up.’

What’s next for Creative Futures?

It is so heartwarming to hear the fantastic feedback of both the facilitators and the participants in these opportunities. Positive steps, empowerment through creativity and an exciting future for our participants.

We are so delighted with how it has all run that we are going to do it all again in January 2023! Another two-day workshop working in conjunction with creative industry professionals. Want to get involved? Get in touch at info@accumulate.org.uk

Accumulate – The Art School for The Homeless

/in /by

A new academic year and brings fresh focus for Accumulate

We are Accumulate and we are the first Art School for the Homeless. Based in London, we provide art school level tuition by professional tutors for people who often feel excluded from the regular education system. We work with participants from hostels from all over the capital. We offer each participant the opportunity to find empowerment and the chance to further their education through creativity.

Our course offer is extensive. Joining the Accumulate course means a participant can study a wide range of creative mediums. Our workshops include photography, fashion, visual arts, illustration and film which gives the group room to fully explore their creativity. We work in collaboration with major cultural institutions, universities and industry professionals to support our group’s learning.

This year Accumulate is super ambitious! Our course starts in October running all the way through to June 2020. We offer progression routes via our scholarship scheme onto the Access course at Ravensbourne University London. From there the Accumulate participants go onto the BA course. This is significant as it gives participants the chance to gain a university education which otherwise may not have been possible.

Thank you for following along on our journey. We can’t wait to share with you our new programme of workshops starting this Autumn. Watch this space….there is SO much to come!

Sculpture Collaboration

/in /by

We have been delighted to introduce sculpture as a new medium to the Accumulate programme for 2019. Four days of workshops hosted by the BBC at Broadcasting House, as well as Autograph in Shoreditch and funded by Art UK as part of their countrywide ‘Sculpture Around You’ project.

Exploring themes & ideas

Day One began with discovering the history and themes behind the sculptures on display at BBC Broadcasting House. We were so lucky to have all these public sculptures brought to life during this tour by Head of History at the BBC, Robert Seatter. Following this, the group expanded and explored the themes they had been discussing, committing their ideas and thoughts to paper.

Accumulate at Broadcasting House!

Exploring themes & ideas

Bringing each design to life

Armed with their designs, participants began working with cardboard for the basis of their models.  They then added plaster to their designs. They looked just stunning! Paint was then added to completely bring the sculptures to life. Each participant worked consistently over the whole four days, totally committed to their project, ensuring it communicated their ideas to the viewer.

Modeling from Cardboard

sabelapeinado.com

Adding plaster

Finished Sculptures

Sculpture is not easy, and to take an idea from concept into 3D is a great challenge, especially with unfamiliar materials. Our group absolutely loved it. Frank, one of our participants, commented “Out of all the Accumulate workshops so far, hands down I’ve liked sculpture the most.’ It’s so great to hear feedback like this. Even more evidence of how far it is possible to go with a group of dedicated and fully engaged participants.

Photo credits: Sabela Peinado

 

 

The Accumulate group try out yoga at Level Six Yoga Studio, Peckham Levels

The Accumulate Photography Workshops 2018

/in /by

The Accumulate Photography Workshops 2018 are nearly over for another year. They start in January and end mid-May with the exhibition,  and, this year, two things have really stood out, friendship and trust.

Friendship: We have people from different hostel groups, different countries and different age groups this year, more so than previously. We have an ex basket ball player from Kuwait, a retired gardener, a gospel singer, a chef and a cricket fan amongst our group. They come every week, sun, rain or snow, and what has been really apparent is that friendships have been made, people are hanging out with different people, they meet outside of the Accumulate photography workshops and they all “high five” each other when they arrive and hug at the end.

Friendship is so positive, and sometimes we can take it for granted. Friendship counters loneliness – which can be a trigger for mental health issues and depression, and it means you are connected to other people in a positive way. The Accumulate participants are not connected together because they live in a hostel and have the same life circumstance. They are connected together through their love of doing something creative, they communicate and share themselves through this, and they witness and experience a bond with people who they look forward to seeing each week and spending time with.

Mask-making-at-the-Identity-Workshop-at-The-Victoria-and-Albert-Museum-1030x687

Trust: When we began the Accumulate 2018 photography workshops, there was a wariness, aloofness and inhibition that spread across the group. No one wanted to put their hand up to ask a question, there was a bit of “them and us” going on, and there definitely wasn’t a sense of trust or security. Everyone started off a bit unsure of what they had embarked on, a bit unsure of themselves and definitely unsure of the other people in the room. Slowly, trust has built up. Trust between the participants, the participants and the student helpers and between the participants, student helpers and the tutors. Once that trust began to take place, we started to introduce other creative activities, beyond photography. The group made visual art in response to the Basquiat exhibition at The Barbican, made their own protest t.shirts for a London Fashion Week activity and made masks for the “Identity and Culture” talk at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

But out of all of this creativity, one activity has stood out above all else and has been the emotional and rewarding highlight of the project so far – Yoga. This past week the Accumulate group had their first yoga lesson. That this actually happened is a sign that these 18 people, the Accumulate participants, now all trust each other, feel good about themselves and have found their self-confidence to try something new and outside of their comfort zone. This was is the biggest achievement of the project so far. It also symbolises what Accumulate stands for and sets out to do – to build confidence, trust and empowerment through creativity. Seeing the Accumulate group participate in a yoga lesson, love it and want to do more just shows just how far they all have come.

The-Accumulate-group-try-out-yogat-at-Level-Six-Yoga-Studio-Peckham-Levels-1030x687

Tonya's poster at the DECAY zine workshop

The Accumulate DECAY ZINE Issue 2

/in /by

The past week we have been running a series of ZINE workshops with residents of Evolve Housing‘s Stockwell hostel. It is always a bit of a stress, not knowing if the project is going to appeal or, worse still, whether anyone is going to turn up and actually do anything. Well, the fears didn’t last long, every day people would turn up, sit round a shared table, talk and share insights, stories and their creativity with each other.

Getting creative at the DECAY zine workshop

Getting creative at the DECAY zine workshop

It became a very meaningful activity, trust was developed and creative content was produced for the DECAY zine which was beautiful, emotional, personal and incredible. They produced drawings, illustrations, poems, photographs, stories and collages and it will now be a hard task to edit, select and curate these for Issue 2 of the Accumulate DECAY zine. Tonya came to the DECAY workshop after getting a new job, and she created this lovely poster which just sums up how great she felt!

Tonya's poster at the DECAY zine workshop

Tonya’s poster at the DECAY zine workshop


The start of "reverse sunset" by Tia at the DECAY workshops

The start of “reverse sunset” by Tia at the DECAY workshops

We finished the week of with a portrait and drawing workshop at Youth Subculture. The group created their own backdrops and then had their portraits taken in front of their creative work.

Aaron's backdrop for DECAY zine portrait

Aaron’s backdrop for DECAY zine portrait

It was a very empowering session, in fact the whole project has really encapsulated what Accumulate is all about – using creativity as a tool for empowerment and progressing in life. DECAY will come out in September, so be sure to grab a copy and find out just how much talent there is, that is hidden, and just needs a helping hand to be enjoyed, appreciated and admired. It’s going to be great!

Accumul8 and Birdsong London at London Fashion Week

/in /by

When Accumul8 did the London Fashion Week project, Birdsong London came along too to talk to the group about their own social enterprise.

Birdsong is a project which sells fashion products made by women’s groups which actively work to improve women’s lives. The meeting of the two groups was also a way to introduce the issues surrounding women, fashion, identity and empowerment.

Birdsong-Edna-Poster-300x375-1-300x321-300x321

The talk went down a storm, and the group were so interested in what founder Ruba Huleihel had to say, that they asked her to stay on and carry on talking after the photography workshop was finished. Check out their blog about Accumul8. Thanks to Ruba of Birdsong for being so brilliant and inspiring!!