On the 14th of November, an exciting art exhibition is opening in the Jewellery Quarter, showing the work of Sheila Fawkes, and supporting our work at Anawim – Birmingham’s Centre for Women.
Sheila – from Moseley – is a driven and flamboyant artist who uses a wide range of media – including painting, sculpture and textiles. Her work is about trying to make sense of a feminine existence in a male dominated world.
“The exhibition is something that I’ve been working on, I suppose all my life really, but it’s about women’s issues. Women go through a lot of very difficult things in their lives, and my work is about myself, but it is universal. It isn’t about my story, it’s about the story of women.”
Sheila told us she came across Anawim by chance, popping into our shop in Moseley, and from there decided to open the exhibition up, and support us through it. She’s relishing the opportunity to show her work to a wider audience, and in a perfect location.
That venue is Location29, a historically significant former jewellery factory restored by Jan Arkwright and her husband Malcolm, with many original features retained. As well as being a non-commercial private gallery space, it is also their home.
They say having the gallery where they live is a means to share it, to encourage people to engage with others – especially those who occupy different social spaces – though artwork. We are incredibly grateful that Jan and Malcolm subsidise the exhibitions they put on, to maximise the money made by the charities involved, and that because Jan was aware of Anawim through her own legal work she was happy to support us.
Alongside an opportunity to donate on the night Anawim will receive a proportion of sales. This will help to fund our work with Birmingham’s women. Last year we worked with more than 1700 women through advocacy, counselling, crisis intervention, holistic and intensive long-term specialist support and other practical resources, in the community and in prison. Our drop-in service is used by around 100 women a month, with the top needs being domestic violence, financial assistance and use of the food bank.