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Arts
These pages are about the involvement of homeless people in various fields of the arts. Organisations working with homeless people, including some that have been set up and run by homeless people themselves, have shown the many talents that lie inside homeless people. Involvement in the arts can improve the lives of homeless people and improve their confidence and motivation. Art can also allow people to express their experiences of homelessness and can challenge negative stereotypes and show the contribution homeless people can make to society.
What's New?
- Streetwise Opera's latest production reviewed in the Evening Standard and the Times.
- Cardboard Citizens' Down/Out production reviewed in the Independent
Examples
- Cardboard Citizens is the UK's only homeless people's professional theatre company.
- Crisis Skylight is a centre where homeless people take part in free practical and creative workshops ranging from bicycle repair to performing arts.
- The Dragon Arts Centre in Swansea provides free arts and training classes and opportunities to anyone who has experienced homelessness or social exclusion. The centre is run by Cyrenians Cymru. It has opened a shop to sell art and craft work made by homeless people.
- Look Ahead has used arts as an integral part of its work supporting vulnerable people for over a decade.
- NightJam is a music and photography project exploring the London night by artist Scanner with MCs and photographers from the New Horizon Youth Centre, the day centre for homeless young people in King's Cross.
- Novas Arts is an arts and cultural initiative that showcases and celebrates the work of people experiencing homelessness or exclusion. It "invests 100% of profits into services to increase access to education, work and training for homeless and other excluded individuals."
- Solas-Cymru's Compass Project in Newport includes a fully equipped recording studio, an arts studio, drama and creative writing groups, a woodwork department and a ceramic workshop.
- Streetwise Opera runs over 400 workshops per year in homelessness centres across the country and its opera productions give participants opportunites to star in a major world premiere opera production alonside some of the top names in the field.
- Vision Impossible is Thames Reach's award-winning project for homeless, ex-homeless and insecurely housed artists.
The Impact
- In 2005, a research project by Broadway showed that homeless people benefit significantly from social and cultural activities.
- Streetwise Opera has developed evaluation tools to measure the outcome and impacts of participation in its workshops.
Further Resources
- Value of Art - the Tate Modern has prodcued on-line arts resources to support a range of adult community groups. It also offers a free on-line introductory course to modern art.
- Joining the Dots is the new online resource dedicated to artists and arts organisations working in the field of crime prevention.
- Anne Peaker Centre is the national organisation that promotes and supports the use of the arts in criminal justice.