Older People Being Celebrated in Art Project

A Life Well Lived is a partnership between local artists and Age UK Ealing

Stella Tooth interviews her portrait sitter Marie

A new art project has been launched in Ealing to celebrate the stories of older people living in the area.

This summer, artists who are participating in the Borough of Ealing Art Trail (BEAT), have been working with Age UK Ealing in the ‘A Life Well Lived’ project which aims to draw on the experience and achievements of senior citizens.

Over the past few weeks, a series of portraits have been painted with the intention of telling the inspiring stories of eight members of the Age UK Ealing community.

Each BEAT artist has been paired with an older person who has a connection to Age UK Ealing – a Volunteer, Day Centre visitor, or someone who has accessed the Befriending or Information and Advice services – and asked to create a piece of artwork to tell their partner’s story.

The result should be an eclectic collection of vivid pieces that reflects the range and diversity of experiences among our older community members. A Life Well Lived aims to amplify the voices of a community that we don’t always hear reflected– despite their breadth of knowledge, their wisdom, and the stories they have to tell.

The artists and their partners taking part in the project are:

• Alex Ebdon, Chair of BEAT and an experienced painter, and Patrick, who arrived in England from Jamaica in the 1960s

• Gareth Hurley, an artist who specialises in using oils, and Carol, a former Age UK Ealing Trustee and volunteer

• Kerry Kent, an artist who works across mediums including film, animation and textile collage, and Jaishri, a widow and mother and grandmother. Kerry is also working with Stephen an Age UK Ealing Customer Services Volunteer who has travelled to more than 40 different countries with his wife and has met a number of famous people

• Sally King, a mixed-media licensed artist who works across many styles, and Joy, an opera lover with a strong interest in all things spiritual

• Maggi Marmion, a portrait artist and street photographer, and Liz, a former BBC employee who is Age UK Ealing's longest-serving volunteer

• Consuelo Radclyffe, a sculptor and ceramic artist who also creates textiles using the heat press technique, and Christine, another dedicated Age UK Ealing volunteer

• Joel Sydenham, a self-taught visual artist and poet, and Maria, an Ealing resident for 54 years who arrived in the UK from Poland in 1968

• Stella Tooth, a portrait and performer artist who also draws on her experience as a journalist to tell her sitter’s story in words, and Marie, an orphan brought up in an Irish nunnery before moving to London

Portrait in pencil on cradled gesso panel by Stella Tooth

The finished artworks will be on display for the public to view at Ealing's newest cinema and multi-functional community space, The Ealing Project, from 3-7 September. Each piece will also be displayed at the London School of Film, Media and Design, as part of BEAT's annual art trail, which takes place on 10-11 and 17-18 September.

The project has been enabled with the help of the University of West London, The Ealing Project, Tetley's, Everyone Active and Bread Street Café Ealing.

Speaking about the project, artist and Age UK Ealing Trustee Kerry Kent says, “We’re thrilled to be working on such an incredible project. It is a joy to be able to highlight some of the wonderful stories our staff hear regularly from our community members. A Life Well Lived is a real celebration of the older people who live in and around Ealing, so we are also very grateful to the partners and sponsors helping us shine a light on these marvellous individuals.”

Alex Ebdon, Chair of BEAT, says, "We are really excited about this project and working with Age UK Ealing to unleash the power of art for social good. Art is so powerful in the way it can connect people emotionally to different ideas. We can't wait to see how the connections between our artists and their partners unfold, and the stories they will bring."

The BEAT art trail will provide free entry to over 68 art venues around Ealing Borough over two weekends.

For more information on the event and individual artists visit BEAT’s web site.

To contact BEAT email info@ealingbeat.org.uk

August 25, 2022