A Black Arts and mental health project
Visit the Inspire gallery in our ground floor cafe to see Inspired, Uplifted and Proud, a new exhibition presenting a collection of bold and colourful textile portraits. The embroidered and hand-sewn works were created by service users from Recovery Pathways during A Black Arts Project, a project designed and delivered online by Michelle Ayavoro during the national lockdown.
The work on show is a powerful testimony from those who have lived experience of mental ill-health and recovery.
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter Movement, Michelle had an overwhelming urge and drive to promote and celebrate positive images of Black people following the tragic death of George Floyd and rising exposure of inequalities and racism still prevalent around the world and in the UK today.
Michelle says, “My passion is using my creativity and ideas to design and create workshops that make a difference in people’s lives and enables them to recognise and express their creativity.”
About Michelle Ayavoro
Michelle Ayavoro is a textile artist. She runs a social enterprise called HerArt and works part-time as a Wellbeing Arts Tutor at Recovery Pathways.
Recovery Pathways supports you to build futures through art, people and places and find what you need to move on in life at your own pace, close to home by offering a unique and creative range of opportunities for positive mental health and wellbeing. For further information please visit: www.gmmh.nhs.uk/recovery-pathways