An art organisation in Bunbury is eager to welcome creatives of all abilities into its new classes.
Not for profit Art Partners recently changed the structure of its art program in a bid to be able to cater for more artists of all levels within the community.
Art Partners coordinator Holly Wintle said previously the program had worked on a mentoring system where an artist would be paired with a mentor and they would go to a community class together.
“What we have changed to do is to be a bit more inclusive and run our own classes so that we can be more open and inclusive to people of all abilities,” she said.
“We wanted people to be able to come to a place where they felt comfortable and be supported if necessary and enjoy themselves and their art at whatever level.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re a beginner or really experienced we can cater for that – we’re trying to get the word out there that these classes are available for all people of all abilities and what we want people to do is come along, have a go and if they enjoy it to continue.”
Supported by Enable and Aqwest, Art Partners runs a variety of classes from Monday to Thursday each term including ink and drawing, digital and visual arts.
“The long term goal is ideally to have our own space that is identifiable in the community as an art partners centre,” Ms Wintle said.
“Art in itself has lots of benefits there is social, emotional, community, mental health.
“Our real focus is for people to feel included and for them to come along in an environment where they can express themselves – they can have a laugh, have a chat, some downtime but they’re also producing artwork as well.
“We just like to think that people will come along and be able to say that it is something that they feel a part of and are included in.”
Ms Wintle said classes were specifically designed to be small safe spaces that people would feel comfortable coming along to.
“They are community classes, open to everyone but at Art Partners we like to make sure that we are supporting people who have a disability, a mental health issue or are in aged care – so it’s a bit of both,” she said.
For more information contact 9792 7500.
