'This time round the wings aren't going to melt.'

Icarus, Geoffrey Clarke, 1851 Etching from the British Museum Collection

exhibited at City Arcade, Coventry until March 2022

This statement by Elana, a young person from Coventry, sums up what makes the city and its people special. Hope for the future and the resilience of a city which experiments and invents, manufacturing and doing extraordinary things with a confidence that new developments will solidify and improve.

At the end of January 2022 the new Show Windows exhibition of artwork from the British Museum collection went on display in city arcade, Coventry. It’s exciting to see these high-quality artworks on display in our city. The connections between the artists and the city show the importance of Coventry as a creative city. It is also nice to see my new work in progress in public for the first time, exhibited next to one of my Cov heroes. Beautiful tree studies by painter George Shaw showing the enduring Midlands landscape theme of trees. Attention to the detail of the ordinary, noticing what is often taken for granted around us.

images of artworks by Jo Gane (l) and George Shaw(r)

What is even more exciting to me as an artist and educator is the existing engagement of young people in our city with the artworks. For my commission I’ve decided to build upon the fantastic work that Quiet Down There(QDT), a participatory arts organisation, have done so far with young people from Positive Choices who are based in city arcade.

In November 2021 a group of young people from Positive Choices were taken down to London by QDT to visit the prints and drawings room at the British Museum. For some of these young people this was their first visit to London. Although I wasn’t with them on this trip, their enthusiasm and confidence in curating the exhibition comes through in their choice of works and their interesting comments and reflections upon the artist’s pictures that they have chosen to bring to city arcade. Pictures from George Shaw resonate with a heady combination of familiarity and skill whilst readings of Geoffrey Clarke’s image of Icarus is poetic and hopeful – ‘maybe this time around the wings aren’t going to melt.’ (Elana – see more on the Smartify app)

I want to use this opportunity to build on this existing confidence and equip the young people with skills to make artwork in their city. I’m planning a pinhole photography workshop with them on 25^th February and am excited to see what they make, inspired by the artwork they have chosen. Following the workshop day, they will be equipped with materials and knowledge to make more photographic images in their own time and spaces through photographic packs I'm making for them to take away.

It’ll be great to see how they chose to represent themselves and their city.  In the meantime, this pinhole image made on a previous workshop with young people in our city reminds me of Icarus. This time the wings won’t melt. I'm hopeful for the future of the next generation of creatives in the city.