Visual Artist Jamila Walker
Project Portfolio
Detailed reports on some past projects
Diversity project work, Shrewbury Museum & Art Gallery,
Aug 2016 - March 2017
Sourcing and commissioning a maker for a collaborative project. Designing marketing.
Distributing marketing, inc social media. Administration.Designing resources.
Devising, running and evaluating participatory art sessions
Creating and curating new art pieces.
Creating products for outreach museum collection work, for local community groups to access, in order to inspire self determined, group centred activities. Setting up museum events.
Working with local agencies. Hosting pilot sessions to assess how resources that I've created could work and amend accordingly.
Journeys - Poetry & Photography project . Switch Project & Elixir Arts
Jan – April 2019
An 8 week Spoken word combined with Fine art photography project
focusing on creative self-expression for a group of young adults who attend various wellbeing and educational sessions at the Switch project in Wolverhampton. The session were devised and run by artists Emily Wilkinson (& poet) and Jamila Walker. Jamila and Emily prep included, producing
relevant, supportive resources and making examples. The project was tailored to give the participants the opportunity to challenge and showcase how they would like to world to view them, as well as their home city of Wolverhampton, through visual art (photography) and spoken word.
The work produced will be collated to create a book to gift to young people, parents and carers. The project gives the young people and staff a chance to take part in weekly two-hour sessions, one hour or spoken word activities and one-hour photography activities. At the end of each session, in a supportive space, we shared work produced and made editorial decisions, in order to strengthen the visual and/or word based messages. Each session had a loose theme that was open to personal interpretation. Often participants were encouraged and supported, to take the themes as a starting and create and develop self-determined works. Participants often directed staff and each other, to hold objects, lighting, and reflectors so they could see their visual ideas come to life.
Jamila edited the photographic images, considering the guidance and direction of the young artists each week. Jamila brought in edited prints from previous sessions, so the participants could take that opportunity to further discuss the work and/or further develop certain ideas, request that particular images are not used in the final book. Emily often started and ended each session with You tube film, showcasing various spoken word artists, as an opportunity to experience different styles of poetry and performance.
Participants confidence grew each, week and most of them often were happy to share their visual and poetry work with the group in the latter part of the session. Jamila created a small exhibition area of some of the photographic and ink and text based artwork, for display in the main area of the Switch project.
‘THIS WAY UP’ Nov 2017 – Aug 2018
Films from this wonderful project - https://vimeo.com/user53112326
I was very proud and happy to be involved in this programme; I have made some positive and long lasting changes to my practice from being a part of ‘This Way up’. This creative development project involved peer and professional mentoring sessions, from Creative Health CIC staff, which helped built my confidence and drive to evaluate and my work and work indifferent and new ways that suit me. I relished the opportunity to collaborate with more artists. Idea sharing and support was encouraged and embraced by all.
The mentoring often involved interesting and person centered tasks and challenges. One of the main outcomes for me, from this project, has been that now view and treat my community art and fine art practice as self informing and, one and the same. ‘This Way Up’ was a visual art and wellbeing project by Creative Health CIC for adults and children living and working in Wolverhampton and Staffordshire. The project gave various community groups the opportunity to take part in free art workshops, including asylum seekers, refugees, migrants, people with dementia as well as the general public. Artists involved supported and led sessions with each other.
The aim was to give participants and staff an opportunity to develop various artistic skills (painting, print making, drawing and more) as well as social in a safe, fun space. a sense of wellbeing and escape, a break from every day life and an opportunity to develop their creativity. ‘This Way Up’ was led by three artists, Ben Sadler, Sarah Taylor Silverwood and Justin Wiggan. The six other artists, including myself have been given the opportunity to develop their own practice by working alongside the lead artists as part of a ‘Professional Development Programme’. These artists are Carolyn Morton, iLdiko Nagy, Emma Price, Alice Thatcher and Priya Mistry. Selected works was exhibited in Wolverhampton Art Gallery for the public to view. Limewood residential home for those living with dementia also held an exhibition of the work produced during this project. I devised and ran various art workshops, (producing resources and making examples) including drawing, experimental printmaking, collage work and more. Each session had a loose theme that was open to personal interpretation. Often participants were encouraged and supported, to take the themes as a starting and create and develop self-determined works. Participant’s confidence grew each, week and most of them often were happy to share their work with the group in the latter part of the session. There was a lot of positive feedback, the Open sessions at Wolverhampton art gallery was often over subscribed, so we needed a waiting list.
The opportunity to utilize Wolverhampton art gallery’s collection within our workshops, was an inspiring addition. The staff at the gallery were very supportive and communicative.
