Many of us here at Greenway Centre know Betty. She is a well-loved regular in Community Corner at our free activity groups including Sporting Memories on Tuesday mornings, and Horizon Disability Friendship Group on Wednesday evenings.
What you might not know is that Betty is also a multi-talented artist; she is a photographer, object maker, and collage creator. She also designs and makes large scale crochet works and one of her pieces, the_dress, was exhibited at the Arnolfini.
Betty has a learning disability and cannot read patterns, so she makes all her own designs and can crotchet anything from a whole dress to a piano. She says, “I just go away and make it, I don’t know how, I just do it!”
Betty’s artwork has also taken her abroad on trips to America and Spain, she told us, “I love travelling, I enjoy it so much, looking around different places. When travelling things take me by surprise. I like heights when going on a plane – I was nervous at first but then enjoyed it. It’s something I never thought would happen in a lifetime.”
Betty is one of the artists at Art In Motion (AIM) – a not-for-profit arts organisation based in Bristol. She has been working with AIM since 2015 and they have supported her to develop her art practice.
If you would like to see Betty’s artwork then you are in luck! You will be able to see her wonderful creations as part of Spike Island’s Open Studios from 3rd to 5th May, 11am to 5pm. Betty will be showing her artwork alongside other artists as part of the AIM exhibition.
Book your free place at the evening preview on Friday 3rd May, 6-9 pm HERE.
If you are not able to come to the Open Studios show, then Betty will also be running a pom-pom making workshop at the My Community Bristol celebration event on Saturday 18th May at The Ardagh centre. This is a celebration of Mencap’s My Community Bristol work. Some of the AIM artists will be exhibiting on the day and four fine art prints of Betty’s collages will be on display.
As part of my role here at the Southmead Development Trust I have been working in partnership with The Ardagh Community Trust and My Community Bristol. To find out more about the event and our partnership work click HERE
We are so proud of Betty and all that she has achieved; look out for more of Betty’s story in future Mead magazines.
Everyone is warmly welcome at any of our free activity groups in Community Corner at the Greenway Centre. If you would like to find out more, do not hesitate to call me on: 0117 950 3335, or email me: evepayne@southmead.org. You can also see all our groups listed on our What’s On HERE
We are always looking for volunteers to help run our groups, so if you can spare time to come along and help do contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Alex Bennett: email: alexbennett@southmead.org
Betty’s ‘the_dress’ courtesy of A.I.M