Press release, Social Knitwork, April 2021
Social Knitwork: 1st May – 7th June 2021
The Art Cohort is an award-winning Artspace at 13 Chelsea Road, Bath. We champion emerging art and artists and exhibit new artworks in our exhibition space, showcase work from local artists and makers in our art shop and run art classes and workshops in our learning space.
Social Knitwork is a collaborative project between The Art Cohort and artist, Lou Baker, supported by Bath Spa University Harbutt Fund. The project focuses on how art can be used to build connections between local communities after the extended isolation of lockdown.
Lou Baker will create a web-like installation in The Art Cohort Exhibition Space, drawing in space with wool. Knitting transforms a line into a network of multiple connections; Baker will be in residence during the exhibition, knitting and adding to the installation which will develop throughout the month inside the Artspace, making visible those growing connections. Visitors will see the installation grow like an organic body day by day.
During the exhibition, a number of outdoor installation sites will be set up in Bath, near The Art Cohort. Members of the public, walkers, families, neighbours and passers-by are invited to add their thoughts and objects to the installations physically the next time they pass that way or send messages virtually via social media. The location of the external installations will enable a walking tour of these temporary art installations.
An ‘Imagination Station’ with art materials will be accessible to the public at The Art Cohort throughout the exhibition to make something to add to the installations.
Participants will become part of an ongoing socially distanced ‘conversation’, sharing ways we can work together to develop creative strategies for recovery and regeneration as we move beyond the ‘new normal’ of the pandemic.
Programme of Virtual Events
A programme of free events will take place online alongside the exhibition:
Thursday 13th May, 2pm – Virtual Artist Talk with Lou Baker – Social Knitwork: Thinking of the Future
Tuesday 18th May, 2-3pm - Instagram Live Walking Tour with Lou Baker and Kat Dawe Schmeisser
Thursday 27th May, 6-7pm - ‘Knit Together’ Virtual Knit Along Social with Lou Baker
The Art Cohort and Lou Baker look forward to cultivating connections with and between local communities. We’ll ‘knit together’ people and places, countering the isolation of current social distancing restrictions and exploring ways to move forward into a post-pandemic future. It will be empowering, fostering a sense of belonging, giving people a chance to have their say and to make art together.
The Art Cohort Press Contact: Kat Dawe Schmeisser
Tel: 01225 635017
Visit online: www.theartcohort.co.uk / www.loubakerartist.weebly.com
Instagram: @the_art_cohort / @loubakerartist
The Art Cohort is an award-winning Artspace at 13 Chelsea Road, Bath. We champion emerging art and artists and exhibit new artworks in our exhibition space, showcase work from local artists and makers in our art shop and run art classes and workshops in our learning space.
Social Knitwork is a collaborative project between The Art Cohort and artist, Lou Baker, supported by Bath Spa University Harbutt Fund. The project focuses on how art can be used to build connections between local communities after the extended isolation of lockdown.
Lou Baker will create a web-like installation in The Art Cohort Exhibition Space, drawing in space with wool. Knitting transforms a line into a network of multiple connections; Baker will be in residence during the exhibition, knitting and adding to the installation which will develop throughout the month inside the Artspace, making visible those growing connections. Visitors will see the installation grow like an organic body day by day.
During the exhibition, a number of outdoor installation sites will be set up in Bath, near The Art Cohort. Members of the public, walkers, families, neighbours and passers-by are invited to add their thoughts and objects to the installations physically the next time they pass that way or send messages virtually via social media. The location of the external installations will enable a walking tour of these temporary art installations.
An ‘Imagination Station’ with art materials will be accessible to the public at The Art Cohort throughout the exhibition to make something to add to the installations.
Participants will become part of an ongoing socially distanced ‘conversation’, sharing ways we can work together to develop creative strategies for recovery and regeneration as we move beyond the ‘new normal’ of the pandemic.
Programme of Virtual Events
A programme of free events will take place online alongside the exhibition:
Thursday 13th May, 2pm – Virtual Artist Talk with Lou Baker – Social Knitwork: Thinking of the Future
Tuesday 18th May, 2-3pm - Instagram Live Walking Tour with Lou Baker and Kat Dawe Schmeisser
Thursday 27th May, 6-7pm - ‘Knit Together’ Virtual Knit Along Social with Lou Baker
The Art Cohort and Lou Baker look forward to cultivating connections with and between local communities. We’ll ‘knit together’ people and places, countering the isolation of current social distancing restrictions and exploring ways to move forward into a post-pandemic future. It will be empowering, fostering a sense of belonging, giving people a chance to have their say and to make art together.
The Art Cohort Press Contact: Kat Dawe Schmeisser
Tel: 01225 635017
Visit online: www.theartcohort.co.uk / www.loubakerartist.weebly.com
Instagram: @the_art_cohort / @loubakerartist
