Wolverhampton School of Art Foyer and Bessant Gallery
Sarah Byrne, Dale Hipkiss, Shannel James, Quennie Lim and Zara Masood
An exhibition featuring 2023-24 BCN artists in residence Sarah Byrne, Dale Hipkiss, Shannel James, Quennie Lim and Zara Masood, that shares a culmination of the work made and research, conversations and activities that took place during their residencies. Held in partnership between Multistory and The Wolverhampton School of Art and initiated as part of Multistory’s BCN artist development programme, the residencies provide funding, time, a studio and critical support for five emerging Black Country artists each year. This exhibition features work in progress produced during the programme, which aims to provide a space for experimentation and testing out new ideas and ways of making. The artists explore alternative economic systems, decoloniality, love and loss, archiving at the margins, community building as resistance.
The programme provides an important dialogue between the professional art scene and the art school, providing the artists in residence with access to the wonderful resources available in the art school building, and students with the opportunity to learn from those making their way as artists in the world. Many of the students have got involved in the artists’ projects, and you can see their contributions within this exhibition. Collaborative programmes such as this highlight art education’s role in shaping creative and critical communities, and the importance of continuing to defend it from further cuts and the utilitarianism that drives them.
About BCN
Multistory is a community arts organisation working in Sandwell since 2006. Our BCN artist development programme offers artists in Sandwell and the wider Black Country a free annual programme of talks, workshops and social events and is a space for mutual support and knowledge sharing. It was set up to provide artists in the local area opportunities for critical engagement and collaboration outside of formal arts education. The BCN programme informs, and is informed by, Multistory’s wider arts programme that is produced with and by artists and communities living in Sandwell.
Location
The Wolverhampton School of Art
Ring Rd
Wolverhampton
WV1 1NT