The project has been coordinated by Yo Tozer-Loft, who runs community choirs in Sheffield, with support from Church Action on Poverty. In this video Stephen and Yo talk more about the project and their stories.
DREAMS AND REALITIES
Let's End Poverty have partnered with Stephen Martin, an artist living in Sheffield, to take his powerful Dreams and Realities portrait exhibition across the UK alongside a series of community-led art events.
The paintings and their story
Stephen Martin, a local artist, has painted acrylic portraits of nine people living in poverty in Sheffield, including himself.
Each picture shows the person, something that depicts their economic reality, and something that represents the dreams and ambitions they would pursue if they were not held back by poverty and unjust systems.
Their journey so far:
SHEFFIELD
The tour began with a fantastic launch event at St Mary’s Church, Bramall Lane, Sheffield featuring music from local Sheffield community choirs.
The exhibition then remained in Sheffield until April 28th, receiving a write-up in The Star newspaper.
NEWCASTLE
Next, the exhibition went to Newcastle where it was displayed in second Newcastle City Library from May 2nd to May 16th
On May 11th Brunswick Methodist Church played host to a wonderful event which featured performances from the Phoenix Choir and Pedalers Band as well as an insightful panel discussion between people campaigning and working on the front line of poverty in Newcastle.
STOKE-ON-TRENT
On Monday May 20th the exhibition moved to YMCA North Staffordshire in preparation for an event on May 23rd.
With each launch event we are hoping to build the movement, make new local partners and celebrate the work they’re doing. YMCA provide a huge range of direct and hands on support to young people and families. With that in mind our Stoke event was more interactive, including a free community meal and an interactive choir.
YORK
The paintings were then taken to the annual Dignity For All conference in York organised by Church Action on Poverty, APLE Collective and the Joint Public Issues team. The paintings were displayed alongside a series of talks, discussions and workshops that focused on elevating the voices of people with lived experience of poverty ahead of the election
CAMDEN
Next on the tour was London, more specifically Camden Town Methodist Church. For this leg we have been lucky enough to team up with the wonderful ATD Fourth World UK, who have a history of using creativity and art as part of their anti-poverty work.
Alongside the paintings ATD Fourth World exhibited a powerful photography and poetry exhibition created by activists with experience of poverty.
LEEDS
Next we brought the exhibition up to Leeds for the annual Methodist conference which took place in the Royal Armouries Museum.
The paintings were displayed as part of the annual Beckley lecture organised by the Joint Public Issues Team. This year the event was titled: ‘What would it take to end poverty in the UK?’ And featured talks from Trussel lived experience activist Val Mckie and Trussel trust CEO Emma Revie.
GREENBELT FESTIVAL
Over the August bank holiday weekend the exhibition made its way to Greenbelt Festival in Northamptonshire, an Annual festival of arts, faith and justice. The festival saw over 10,000 people attend and fittingly this years theme was ‘Dream on’.
The paintings were on display at Church Action on Poverty’s takeaway stall
HALIFAX
The next stop on the tour was Halifax Unitiy’s community space on Queens Road Halifax. The exhibition and event were put on in partnership with Moms on a Mission, an incredible organisation who support families to break free from the vicious cycle of generational poverty.
Some of the support they provide includes fitness classes, wellbeing groups, youth intervention, advocacy and intergenerational projects.
On Thursday September 12th we ran an evening discussion session where local Halifax residents discussed the paintings as well as their own Dreams and Realities.
MANCHESTER
For the last 2 weeks of September, the exhibition went to Manchester where it was on display in the chapel of Methodist Central Hall.
Methodist Central Hall Manchester has been a key partner of the Let’s End Poverty movement from the very start so it was great to be able to host the exhibition there.
A preview event was held on Tuesday September 17th where Stephen shared his story and attendees discussed both personal and community Dreams and Realities.
BARKING
After the success of the Halifax leg of the tour we teamed back up with Moms on a Mission to put an exhibition on in there other hub in Barking and Dagenham. The Paintings were displayed in the foyer of the Ripple centre which houses the Barking & Dagenham CVS. The exhibition coincided with UK and Wales Challenge Poverty Week.
PORTSMOUTH
On Saturday the 19th October in celebration of both England and Wales Challenge Poverty week and the 30 year anniversary of St Simon’s Sunday Suppers program which provides free weekly meals for the Southsea community. Alongside the Paintings there was a photography exhibit featuring Sunday Supper attendees and a personal message.
For the event we were pleased to be joined by the two Portsmouth Members of Parliament, Stephen Morgan and Amanda Lewis. Stephen spoke passionately about child poverty. 6 local councillors also attended the event including the Mayor of Portsmouth and the Head of the council. We heard about local housing issues, and how local residents are being impacted by poverty. Alongside passionate talks were songs performed by a local barbershop choir.
RETFORD
For the final stop in the Dreams and Realities tour before the homecoming event in Sheffield the paintings went to Retford in Nottinghamshire to the recently refurbished Grove Street Methodist Church. There was a community meal as well as a surplus food hub organised by Rhubarb Farm where attendees could buy fresh surplus fruit and vegetables.
