Outside In: Vawdrey Archive Project Guide

THE VAWDREY ARCHIVE PROJECT

JENNIFER MILARSKISTERMSEK

THE VAWDREY ARCHIVE

The Vawdrey Archive, now cared for by West Sussex Record Office, comprises approximately 194 works produced by patients in art therapy sessions run by Dr Brian Vawdrey between 1951 and 1971.

Taking place between 2018 and 2019, the Vawdrey Archive Project brought together seven Outside In artists with this unique collection to explore issues like copyright, consent, interpretation and cataloguing that surround such collections.

The project aimed to return some of the authority to those who were compelled to live in these settings and highlights the voices and perspectives of those that have their own lived experience of mental health issues.

As well as consulting on issues such as copyright and consent, the Outside In artists who participated in the Vawdrey Archive Project were invited to creatively respond to the collection.

1

Artwork from the collection, and the responses from the Outside In artists who took part

This guide showcases these responses, highlighting the journeys travelled by each participating artist and the impact the collection had on them and their creative practice.

Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to share any works from the Vawdrey Archive in this guide.

For more information on the Archive, contact West Sussex Record Office: www.wsro.org.uk

2

NATASHA HARRISON

ABOUT OUTSIDE IN

Outside In is an award-winning national arts charity working towards creating a fairer and more inclusive art world.

The charity supports artists who encounter significant barriers to the art world due to health, disability, social circumstance, or isolation.

Outside In provides a digital platform for artists to show their work, and three programmes of activity: artist development, exhibitions, and training.

The aim is to change the art world by supporting artists, creating opportunities, and influencing arts organisations.

For more information, visit:

Outside In exhibition ‘Under A Blue Sky’ ambassador room, Phoenix Gallery, 2022, photo: Phoebe Wingrove

outsidein.org.uk

4

ARTIST RESPONSES NATASHA HARRISON “To show my appreciation for the patient artists and their work, I stitched my own responses. I wanted their art works to be viewed as valuable alongside their own individual lives and I took the stance that these people were members of society who just were finding things hard at a point in their lives so they needed supporting.”

GAIL HOWARD

PETER BAKER

EMMA LOUVELLE “Revelations, friendships, self-discovery, learning, the many winding and widening conversations we had, the sense of responsibility and importance of the artists Vawdrey engaged with and with the work he undertook and more.

As a result, the reasons for my interest for participating prior to the project constantly grew as the project unfurled.

In fact, the project has not ended for me I am aware of its presence and influence in much that I now undertake. It is, and was, a fertile gift that just keeps giving.

I am forever grateful and respectful of this constantly producing harvest.”

SAMUEL McGANN

7

JENNIFER MILARSKI-STERMSEK “We really went on a journey, myself and my fellow artist participants, both those of us attending in person and the authors of the artwork themselves. I definitely feel we are all continuing that journey, there is just so much to unravel from mental health to societal norms, NHS funding to the price of nude pants, Alan’s bird jumper to biscuits.”

AMMAY TYE “My artworks centred around themes of identity. This was inspired by initial conversations in the project about the possibility of artwork being seen as a medical record in terms of its classification within archival practice.

This got me thinking about my own place in this discussion and I made my artwork a literal embodiment of both of these descriptions; medical record and artwork together.”

8

EMMA LOUVELLE

PROJECT DIARIES

Throughout the Vawdrey Archive project, a series of project diaries were produced.

The diaries reflected on the sessions at West Sussex Record Office (WSRO) and Wellcome Trust, as well as visits from art therapist Tim Hockin and editor of Disability Arts Online Colin Hambrook. Read the project diaries on the Outside In website: outsidein.org.uk/vawdrey-archive-project

Natasha Harrison and Rachel Johnston at The Art of Research event, Wellcome Collection

10

Sharing event to mark the end of the Vawdrey Archive Project

11

FURTHER READING

WEST SUSSEX RECORD OFFICE

WELLCOME TRUST

Research Resources Awards in Humanities and Social Science

Summary of activity

Read

Read

OUTSIDE IN

New Dialogues; British Art Network Research Group; Wellcome Collection; Graylingwell Heritage Project

Read

12

SAMUEL McGANN

THIS GUIDE IS AVAILABLE IN OTHER FORMATS. TO REQUEST AN ALTERNATIVE VERSION, CONTACT: info@outsidein.org.uk 01273 457716

Cover artwork: Peter Baker Unless stated otherwise, the photographs of these artworks are credited to Andy Hood.

We respectfully ask you not to replicate any part of this publication without written permission.

Please direct any requests of this nature, in the first instance, to: info@outsidein.org.uk