The Big Issues - Michael Varah Artist in Residence
Sandy Curry
Michael Varah Artist in Residence 2009-11.
The Michael Varah Artist in Residence scheme at HMP Send, is the first of its kind at the prison and it is built on the success of the Watts Gallery Big Issues Workshops at HMP Send in 2008.
It provides a continuity and commitment to the learning for prisoners, both for those who took part in the Big Issue Workshops in 2008 and 2009 and a wider audience at the prison, through art workshops, open studio sessions and a summer art school.
The residency enables women to explore avenues of self development and expression through art, which links with the ethos of HMP Send as a resettlement establishment. Such experiences are often lacking in offenders’ lives.
Sandy Curry, the Fenton Arts Trust Artist in Residence at Watts Gallery 2006-07, leads the Big Issues Workshop at HMP Send and is the first Michael Varah Artist in Residence at the prison. As part of her residency, she created a body of work for her MA, inspired by working at the prison.
