An alternative art school for artists from the recovery community, acknowledging the barriers to artists from this community to engage with or have access to pathways for professional creative practise, rather than only as a tool for therapy through the lens of recovery. Building recovery capital and agency. Reframing creative expression.

[ May 2025 - May 2026 ]

[ A B O U T ]

In 2023-2024 Asylum delivered an ACE funded project called Discursive spaces. It brought together Wolverhampton City Council, Art Gallery (WAG), 8 community groups, five artists and multiple creatives to regenerate a public underpass into a space where communities can program interventions and events.

One of our community board members was SUIT who invited their service users to contribute. The community led co-creation model in our artist studio spaces supported them to get involved in the artistic outcomes. They became co-designers of the final outcomes, took part in workshops and developed several outputs which fed into public celebrations and exhibitions. Earthen Lamps case studies showed that the process had given service users the platform to start seeing a creative outlet for recovery as a serious career pathway. Between May 2025 - May 2026 we delivered a programme that aims to better represent our recovery communities within existing cultural infrastructure, equips them with the tools needed to enter the sector, supports them to expand their artistic practise and continue being an artist beyond the programme.

About [ P R O ] F I L E

Referred through SUIT recovery, five participants undertook a programme where they accessed artist studios, skills workshops and develop their artistic practise within a program of activity co-designed with the cohort. Through multiple showcasing opportunities the focus was to raise the profile and experience of the individuals to enter the professional sector and include their lived experience in the cultural ecology of the city.

The programme included:

Studio space time
121 mentoring with Curators & producers about their art practise
Group crits & showcase of progress
Workshops with skilled practitioners
Contribution to travel, bursary for materials and production budget for events/exhibition
Partnerships with existing initiatives to showcase work regularly and a final showcase in the Spotlight gallery at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
Partnerships with local cultural organisations and artists for shadowing days and mentoring
Trip to two other galleries for a knowledge sharing day
Facilitating their attendance to local networking groups
IPS Specialist supporting accessing employment opportunities in the professional creative arts.
Professional documentation of their work
Informal mentoring through a peer buddy system and the support of creative arts lead from SUIT
Supporting the cohort to pursue a work opportunity as an outcome post completion