In January 2025 we will launch a residency by Project Art Works across the Bethlem Gallery and the National Autism Unit. The exhibition (Jan 28th – Feb 7th) invites visitors to experience an environment informed by the strengths and interests of people who have been before them. Supported sessions in the pop-up studio will enable a range of people to represent themselves on their own terms through authentic responses which become part of an evolving installation.
Work in Bethlem Gallery runs in parallel with a closed art-making residency at the National Autism Unit (NAU). Here, patients and staff will share space with the Project Art Works team, communicating through the language of materials – viscosity, colour, texture. Marks made as part of these wordless conversations are re-presented within the context of the gallery exhibition.
This project is a collaboration between Project Art Works and Bethlem Gallery, and forms part of a wider creative research and engagement programme to inform the Arts Strategy for the new NAU Building at Bethlem Hospital.