In the middle of June, I organised and curated the first art exhibition along with an emerging break-out artist Angus Forbes-Cable, who specializes in drawing and oil painting. The exhibition also featured my film photographs and collages. Some works are added into the digital archive: photographs & artwork.

The exhibition was a great success: over three days we had almost 600 attendees, with the basket-making workshop being fully booked, and four pieces of artwork being sold!

The ‘Beautiful and Useful’ exhibition was a part of the annual E17 Art Trail, run by Artillery CIC, celebrating local artists in Walthamstow. An exhibition was open to the public for three days, from the 14th to the 16th of June, 2024, attracting almost 600 visitors over this time and was available on the Bloomberg Connects App map. The event could not have happened without generous support of the William Morris Big Local.

Located in the William Morris’s garden, we wanted to draw a strong connection between his ideas of practical objects being not only practical but also beautiful. Most of the exhibited pieces were directly inspired by the landscapes of the garden. Our guests were able to combine a trip to Walthamstow with a visit to the William Morris Gallery and a stroll in the garden, before or after attending the ‘Beautiful & Useful’ exhibition at the Winns Gallery.

Our public programme allowed visitors to actively engage with the exposition each day of the show. On the first day, Friday 14th June, we organised an opening party to gather all the creatives and local business owners to foster the feeling of an art community. Refreshments provided by Neckstamper Brewing kept conversations lively, accompanied by a live violin performance by Zanna, a cabinet of beautiful and useful objects, provided and curated by Michael Bowles was a great addition to the exhibition, responding to its’ title directly. As many of the pieces were reflecting on Walthamstow’s nature, Borrowed Light Floral Studio provided a gorgeous flower arrangement, which made the space feel more refreshed and green.

On the second day, a basket-making workshop, led by a local weaver Mark Bushell, was taking place throughout the day with one session in the morning and one in the afternoon. Despite the rainy morning, the first session was booked out by 10 am. This traditional craft was widespread in the area due to the proximity to the Walthamstow Wetlands. As this craft wasn’t considered to be artistic, no records of it being popular in Walthamstow can be found now. The workshop was a complete success, because of the high numbers of people who joined, we needed to restrict the numbers for the afternoon slot.

To allow the visitors to stay longer at the gallery, and to create their own art piece, we programmed free drop-in collage workshops, delivering the message of art accessibility. Art materials were available all the time, when the gallery was open. This activity allowed visitors to reflect on the exhibited collages, using them as a source for inspiration. On the last day of the exhibition, contributed collages were exhibited in the workshop area.

Huge thanks to Alice, William, Mel and all the people who were supporting us!