Art in Partnership

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B.A.S.I.S.

B.A.S.I.S. is a project to empower and encourage the personal self esteem of disadvantaged members of Barrhead local community through practical art workshops, focusing on Barrhead Housing Association’s Mission Statement: “Building and Sustaining our Community for a Brighter Future”.

Phase 1 - 2003-2005

Barrhead Housing Association initially commissioned Art in Partnership to produce a Feasibility Study for an Art and Social Inclusion Strategy. In 2003, Art in Partnership assisted the Association to secure funding from the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery and Communities Scotland to develop a twelve month programme of art and community involvement for Barrhead.

Groups with a history of mental illness or with physical disabilities have traditionally found it difficult to participate in the arts. Advised by Art in Partnership, artists were commissioned to research, develop and implement workshops and commission projects in collaboration with three disadvantaged groups with whom the Association already has close ties.

Causeway (Renfrewshire Association for Mental Health) worked with artists Andrea Roe and Richard Brown

Unity Enterprise worked with artist Jonathan Owen

BandF (Barrhead and Neilston Disabled Forum) worked with artists Helen McCrorie and Jennie Temple

The project created the opportunity for the groups to take part in well-organised, intensive workshops and to interact with other excluded groups in society. The workshops gave the participants the chance to work creatively with a professional artist and develop their ideas under the artist’s guidance. They aimed to:

encourage personal self confidence and self esteem

encourage the acquisition of new skills

assist in creating a positive public profile for the community group involved

See pictures of the workshops by following the link to more pictures in the right-hand column of this page.

In parallel to the workshop programme each of the artists was commissioned to produce an artwork that responded to the specific character of the locality. These commissioned works are located in a publicly accessible place in Barrhead, including the community libraries at Barrhead and Neilston and the cafe area of Barrhead Sports Centre. Click on the following links for more information on the commissions.

Andrea Roe & Richard Brown

Jonathan Owen

Helen McCrorie

Jennie Temple

As part of the project Art in Partnership have developed a dedicated project website. Through images, videos and text the website documents the workshops, the artists individual commissions and their involvement with the local communities. Click on the link below to explore the site and find out more about the project.

View the project website at www.barrheadarts.org

BASIS is funded through the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Access and Participation Scheme and Communities Scotland’s “Wider Role” with support from East Renfrewshire Council.