Arts charity invests '£10m in creativity'

A charity that started with only one part-time member of staff 40 years ago has said it has invested "£10m in creativity" in a town and engaged with more than 260 artists.

Bedford Creative Arts started as Bedford Community Arts in 1985 and works with artists and local people "to provoke positive social change".

Elaine Midgley, director, said it had helped "people feel seen, heard and feel at home".

Quilla Constance (known as QC), a Bromham-based artist the charity has supported, said it was not "afraid to take risks" and had given a voice to "diverse demographics".

Ms Midgley said the charity has over 400,000 beneficiaries.

"More than 140,000 children and young people have been given creative skills, it's created more than 150 projects, invested £10m in Bedfordshire creativity, had more than 263 artists engaged and has supported 113 educational institutions," she said.

Bedford Creative Arts currently employs six members of staff.

Over the years it has held theatre sessions for refugees, asylum seekers and first generation migrants in Bedford, created murals across Bedford, put on an art exhibition about artificial intelligence (AI), and organised exhibitions on the area's airship industry

Ms Midgley added: "In every single project we do, I feel like there is a lightbulb moment for someone in the community when they realise the difference that art can make to their lives or their community."

Emotional moments abound and she recalled a mother who cried when her non-verbal autistic child spoke about colour during an embroidery project.

Other highlights include another child who told the group that crochet "was better than X-Box" and a young black woman who said that the charity's AI photography project was "making me feel seen".

QC said: "I feel so privileged to have worked with them, creating art for feminist-activist projects such as Processions 2018 and my Teasing Out Contingencies Open Studio at Tate Modern - followed by my show at the Higgins."

She said it had "believed" in her work and offered support and opportunities "on a level I'd not previously accessed".

Artist Amina Pagliari, its newly appointed ambassador, said when she was studying fine art at Loughborough University when she had a chance to work on a community mural project in Bedford's Queen's Park area.

"Being at university and being paid to be an artist's assistant meant a lot both financially and learning about the arts.

"It built my confidence and led to other work with the charity including the Bedford River Project and as an art assistant on the Colour and Light exhibition."

It also led to her getting part-time job as a mask maker with St Albans based Trestle Theatre Co.

Her ambassador role gives her the chance "to give back and be a small part of the ideas and projects".

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