Two female artists have been shortlisted for the Pop-Up Performance and Site Dressing Commissions, as part of the WOW Festival.
Sam Cleasby (on the left) will showcase a new work 'Do you see me now?’, celebrating disabled people, whether the disability is visible or invisible.
Emma Wilson (on the right) will create an exhibition of portraits and eco-friendly banners to be displayed at the festival site.
Sam Cleasby is a disabled multidisciplinary artist from South Yorkshire. Her passion lies in accessibility, creativity and visibility. She’s a mature Fine Art student who has exhibited around Yorkshire. Her love of nature led to her being a resident artist at the Llano Earth Art Festival in Texas and she has performed workshops and installations all over the UK with art collective Responsible Fishing. She is interested in the connections between feminism, disability and race and the societal barriers in place.
Emma Wilson is a graduate of the renowned ceramics department Falmouth University. She is former Guardian Designer Of The Year and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She began her career as a designer and has been published in magazines including Elle Decoration, Marie Claire and the Guardian and Observer. Emma began working with people with autism in London in 2003 and over the next 10 years developed her unique approach to art as therapy using a wide variety of materials. She founded Artistic Spectrum with the intention of bringing her highly successful approach to as many people as possible. Emma has worked extensively in community arts with other client groups in London, Leeds and South Yorkshire.
Emma is also a photographer with an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from University of the Arts in London. She works with marginalised groups including older trans people from working class backgrounds. Her recent project “Dammit Janet, I Love You” has been Shortlisted for Gender 50/50, a winner of the Flow Masterprint challenge series, a Finalist in the Mother Art Prize, won Second Prize and exhibited Photo Oxford, exhibited at Exposure Festival in Canada and was a finalist Kuala Lumpa photography awards and Photo Israel.
As part of the project Emma will be working with women and girls in Rotherham to run visual arts workshops in the run up to the festival. If you have a group that would like a free workshop, just get in touch with [email protected]
