Art for all, art for good
Based in the UK, Arts Lab works both nationally and internationally with individuals, groups and organisations who believe in the power of creativity to strengthen connection, understanding and social change.
We work with:
- Peacebuilding and community cohesion organisations responding to conflict, division or social fragmentation
- Marginalised groups and communities affected by, or recovering from, conflict, injustice or social challenges
- Institutions and organisations across the arts, climate action, community health and development, criminal justice and education, experiencing reduced cohesion, morale or productivity
- Schools and universities, particularly those delivering programmes in Peace and Conflict Studies
Our Experience
Arts Lab’s model has evolved through over 35 years of working with diverse communities in the UK and internationally, particularly in Africa. Reaching across social, cultural and institutional barriers, we bring a strong track record of positive, people-centred impact.
To explore examples of our work, including project descriptions and photographs, follow the links under each category below.
How We Work
For maximum impact, Arts Lab’s workshops and programmes actively involve people at every level of an organisation.
- In universities, students work alongside custodial, academic and administrative staff
- In prisons, prisoners collaborate with officers and governors
- In NGOs and charities, senior leadership, middle management and frontline staff come together
This whole-system approach creates shared ownership, breaks down hierarchies and supports meaningful, lasting change.
A Collaborative Model
Arts Lab works with a collaborative, values-based approach that complements and enriches existing services, rather than replacing them. We adapt our methods to each context, working alongside partners to support their unique aims, communities and expertise.
OFFENDER REHABILITATION & PRISONS
Statistics of suicide, self harm and reoffending amongst people in and out of UK prisons have soared in the last few years.
Sara and Arts Lab have made art with prisoners, prison staff and organisations preventing youth offending to positively transform their environments and maximise individual potential. Through engagement in meaningful activities, and a shared sense of purpose and hope, incidents of suicide, self-harm and offending/reoffending are significantly reduced.
Peacebuilding
In the field of Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation, ‘the arts can foster cooperative relationships and more constructive engagement with conflict even in contexts of intractable conflict’ (Bang, A.H.). As arts practitioners, we are expert in creating safe, non-judgemental environments in which to face difficult questions, explore vulnerability and challenge preconceptions. Thinking and doing out of the box, our imaginative approaches to problem solving, catalyse bridges of understanding and the co-creation of positive collective action.
Projects:
Healing Trauma Training in South Africa
Friends Everywhere at the Venice Biennale
Art Games Celebrating 50 Years of Peace Studies
Visual Arts for Peace in Rwanda
Smiles for Genocide Survivors Drawing & Painting
UK Peacebuilder Students Learn from Play
Painting with Coffee in Toubab Dialao
Gallery Artwork:
EDUCATION & LEARNING
Our generation of increasingly isolated, uninspired and disempowered young people need creative learning to inspire a sense of purpose, agency and opportunity. At a time of squeezed resources in education and the arts, the Arts Lab model is valuable for schools and colleges. Tailored curriculum enrichment provision for schools and training and mentoring opportunities for students in, before or after higher education, stimulate and inspire students, putting the learner at the centre of the learning process.
REFUGEES & LANGUAGE LEARNING
Supporting refugees, displaced individuals and learners of English as a second language to integrate into new communities and lead meaningful lives. Through art and conversation, we develop language skills, share stories, create friendships and make positive connections between our past and hopes for the future.
THE WORKPLACE
Boosting morale and productivity in the workforce. Through shared creative practice, cohesion, collaboration and innovative thinking and doing are encouraged. Every group ends the session with a finished piece of artwork – a powerful, visual reminder of the team working together.
FAMILIES & COMMUNITIES
Combatting family and community issues of fragmentation and isolation. Financial and social challenges and the all pervasive internet haven’t helped. Our workshops bring people together to interract and share the positive experience of creating together. Working with intergenerational groups, the marginalised and hard-to-reach, we get people talking and laughing to strengthen relationships and build bridges.
Projects:
Friends Everywhere at the Venice Biennale
Painting with Coffee in Toubab Dialao
Creative Voice for Senegal’s Talibé
Young Artists Sharing the Light
Let’s Create for 13+
Torbay Festival of Imagination for Young People
Mass Movement & Draw Community Day
Creative Play with Young Mums & Toddlers
Gallery Artwork:
ARTIST DEVELOPMENT
Connecting artists with communities. Read what’s been said by some of the artists who have worked with Arts Lab over the years; click on the name, and you’ll be taken to the full story.
Matt O – Connecting with communities through Arts Lab had a huge impact on my professional development
Viola – You’ve given me the freedom to explore in a way that could lead anywhere
Alice – Replacing academia with hands-on creativity has been transformative
Anna B – I’ve been able to test out ideas and avenues for future works
Anna D – I realised that college isn’t for me
Chris – You gave me the first paid job doing what I love
Fran – I discovered that curating should benefit wellbeing in the community
Georgina – The space allowed for my practice to breath
Holly – I learnt so much without having to go to art college
Jake – I got one-to-one BBC-style training
Jordan – I curated my first exhibition before college
Klara – Grateful for the opportunity to explore, my confidence grew
Mia – This was a great testing the ground for new audiences
Nat – As a full time nurse, my confidence to make art again is back
Ness – Who’d’ve thought I’d enrol as an art student at 50!
Stuart – Arts Lab helped me realise that Art gives deeper meaning than business
Tansy – You fuelled my dreams of becoming a film director
Zanna – I made the Lab’s first films when I was still at school
Mental Health
Helping the 1 in 4 people in the UK who suffer from a mental health problem. Regular creative making in a safe and familiar environment, reduces anxiety and isolation in people’s lives, strengthening community, family and friendship connections. Together, we create some beautiful artwork, we talk and we laugh and confidence flourishes.