Care leavers form connections as art show tours UK

A nationwide art project is allowing care leavers from Cornwall to form connections with young people who have had similar life experiences in Scotland and Worcester.

They have been brought together by a group of regional art galleries which are jointly curating an exhibition called Making Her Mark: A Celebration of Women in Art.

It is part of the Going Places project organised by the Art Fund which has been awarded £5.3m to help UK galleries exchange art for touring exhibitions.

Penlee House Gallery and Museum in Penzance, Kirkcaldy Galleries in Scotland and Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum are touring art, while giving creative opportunities to those with experience of the care system.

Emma Thomas is among a group of care leavers supported by the charity Carefree Cornwall, which is taking part in the art project.

She said: "I wouldn't have done this a year ago. I gained a lot of confidence from it."

The Carefree Cornwall group created a banner for the Penlee House stage of the exhibition which explores women's role in art, with the help of Penzance artist Kate Turner.

"We've looked at what would a fairer world look like for women artists and other marginalised genders in art," said Turner.

Gracie Divall, head of the project for the Art Fund, said it was a way of allowing nationally important pieces to be seen around the country without the need to travel.

"All of these organisations have comparatively small collections by women artists," she explained.

"So individually they can't put on a show, or tell a story of women artists, but together the collections tell this amazing story of these voices that have been overlooked."

Organisers say the collaboration is not simply an art exchange. It is also giving young people with experience of the care system in each location the opportunity to meet, create work, support each other and travel together to each other's home towns.

When the group from Carefree Cornwall took the 11-hour train journey to visit Kirkcaldy Galleries in Scotland they found its seafaring community, tourism and coastal landscape had much in common with Cornwall.

But they said going behind the scenes at the gallery had the most impact.

Josie Bond said she now wanted to study history: "I loved looking in archives. It's a really cool environment to be in," she said.

Cameron Jones said the community in Scotland was "really welcoming".

"They wanted to know all about Cornwall, and it felt like they were accepting our Cornish culture, just as much as we were appreciating theirs. It was a really beautiful thing," he said.

Anna Renton from the Penlee House Gallery and Museum said they wanted to "nurture the creativity" of members of Carefree Cornwall by including them in their collaboration with other galleries.