Event: Women’s Art Circle

Location: Keighley Creative, Keighley, West Yorkshire

Date: 30 October 2023

Commissioner: Fusion Award

The Women’s Art Circle is a community arts project that I started in 2023. The event invited women to make art and share their experiences.

The fully booked pilot session at Keighley Creative focused on the contemporary artist Joyce Pensato. As the event fell on Halloween, the theme was heroes and villains, and to coincide with Inktober, the material used was ink.

Every attendee was given a sketchbook to work with. As part of a self-reflection exercise, the group was asked to journal about their shadow selves. The exercise invited particpants to create hero and villain characters, which were shared in the group.

The event explored how art can be used as a tool to open conversations about women’s experiences, specifically around gender, identity and race.

The Women’s Art Circle was funded by The Fusion Award, in association with Keighley Creative, KAWACC and The Leap.