Venture Arts : Narratives is an exhibition of art at The Lowry in Manchester. The exhibition is a collaboration between 12 artists using different mediums to share the perspectives on their memories and the world they grew up in.

The programme brings together a range of learning disabled and non-learning disabled artists, for reciprocal learning, and to develop collaborative and creative exchanges.

The event runs from 14th January to 26th February 2023. We were lucky enough to be invited to the preview day to take a look around the gallery and meet many of the artist, so huge thanks to The Lowry for the invitation.

Venture Arts – The Exhibition Area

There are three main areas to the Venture Arts exhibition. The first area was set up to replicate the party held in memory of Julie Cruise, with an interactive jukebox and seating areas. The main wall also showcased many fancy dress costumes made and owned by one exhibitor, Jackie Haynes, whose collection exceeds over 800 costumes. The artists in this area are Jackie Haynes, Millie Loveday, Deborah Makinde, Horace Lindezey, Dominic Pillai and Alice Merida Richards.

The second area featured a long tapestry, interactive audio exhibits and a video. Artist in this area are Deborah Makinde, Jennie Franklin, Laura Nathan, Sarah Lee and MillieLoveday.

The third are contained larger artwork. There were free-standing pieces, ceramics, short video pieces and a wall of intricate artwork by Leslie Thompson (featured below). The art on display in this are was by Parham Ghalamdar, Leslie Thompson, Omid Asadi, Jennie Franklin, Millie Loveday and Sarah Boulter.

Venture Arts – Leslie Thompson Artwork

Leslie uses paint, ink or ceramics to illustrate his life, his past, his family and his most cherished moments. During the exhibition Leslie was continuing his artwork and documented the days event in art form. The photos below show him at work.

Venture Arts – Laura Nathan Artwork

Laura Nathan’s tapestry piece incorporated historic documentation belonging to her Grandparents from the Second World War, along with letters from her parents. From a distance the piece appears to be woven fabric, but when you approach it you realise it is actually intricately woven strips of historic, personal family documents, displayed in a way that resembles a scarf. Click on the images to see the woven details.

Follow Laura on Twitter – https://twitter.com/LauraNathan2
And on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/paperstitchart/

The Venture Arts exhibition is at The Lowry in Manchester, and runs from January 14th to February 26th. Entry is free.

Check out more events at The Lowry here – https://thelowry.com/

To learn more about the Venture Arts project, check out their site – https://venturearts.org/ and their Twitter feed – https://twitter.com/VentureArts