Art Works

In November 2010, Turner Contemporary launched a new project called Art Works for 30 unemployed local residents. The aim was to upskill, train and prepare all participants for work in customer facing roles in the local business community. Art Works was a Thanet Works Funded project, where for 15 hours per week the participants did a variety of art based activities. These included artistic workshops with two professional artists; Ed Thompson, professional documentary photographer and Sarah Spencer, professional local painter. Participants also received weekly training from Thanet College and gained a variety of qualifications in areas ranging from customer service to disability awareness. Numerous site visits also took place to various galleries and customer focused visitor centres such as theatres and museums.

The project was an unprecedented success with a total of 17 participants getting work at the gallery, 5 of which are full time roles. Other participants have also gained employment in local businesses as a result of the project.

With the project ending in early March, a final exhibition has been organised to celebrate the great achievements of all the participants. The Art Works Exhibition will be open to the public between 2pm and 6pm on Saturday the 4th June 2011 at Pie Factory Margate. Each participant will be exhibiting both paintings and photography that they produced during the course. Collaborative pieces, sketch books and other work will also be featured, all representing different aspects of the great success story of the Art Works project.