Today we visited Darwin Court, one of the Peabody community centres in Walworth, just off the Old Kent Road. We were lucky enough to arrive just at the beginning of an art class, free and open to all. I was overwhelmed by the welcoming feeling Darwin Court had. The hugely varied types of people using the centres made it clear to see what the challenge brings for this project, and the breadth our work needs to cover.
The library - a shed installed in the garden used to store reference books for the art clubs, old work and photographs of people that use the centre.
Having conversations with the people who run the art class and participants was invaluable. I was staggered to find the majority of people attending the class have been almost every Monday for 2 years - this to me shows the importance of these centres and the activities within to these people. Darwin Court is sheltered housing for retirees, and the community centre also holds a swimming pool and gym where fitness classes are held. The atmosphere of the centre was great. It being half term, kids were running around after swimming lessons with lots of chatting coming from our art class, it was clear why people frequent the centre so much.
During the art class participants used the books from the library as visual reference, some copied images and others made up what to draw/paint. Colouring in sheets were also provided for the less brave and children around the centre.
We met some great characters who I'm going to revisit throughout the project to gain more of an insight and personal perspective of the community centres.
This is Jeffrey, a trained potter and artist currently working with bands drawing and painting their rehearsal sessions. He has been running the art class for Peabody at Darwin Court for 2 years.He showed us some of his notes and gave some really honest insights into how he feels about the centres and running these classes. I will transcribe his words and carry out a more in-depth interview during the next few weeks also.
These are the artworks made by John, who runs a bingo night at another Peabody centre in Walworth, on a Thursday after the '£3 dinner' programme. He met Jeffrey at the Lidl in Walworth 2 years ago and they have worked together in the community ever since.
After this visit I feel even stronger about focussing this project solely around the people in the community centres - as they are at the forefront and the most important part of Peabody's ethos. Jeffrey runs 3 of these classes a week, and I am planning to go and visit another and have a more specific line of questioning and take some better photographs for use in my project work.
Details and dates for the other art classes -
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