Spotlight on art at the Croydon museum

by New Worker correspondent

 Therapeutic production’s exhibition kicked off in Croydon last week. A spectacular day bringing definition to the term participatory art. On opening day some 60 artists, funders and partners joined a tour led by Michelle Lopez who guided them through a showcase of Therapeutic’s flagship projects: Dark thoughts, Prodigal monster and Burning breath. Projects that combine cultural heritage and mental health with artistic creation. During the journey she took our guests down she highlighted displays that include over 30 paintings, illustrations, photos and creations formed by artists over years. And at each stage of the tour guest speakers including a number of partners spoke about their work on the project. It wrapped up with a screening of productions, animations and music. The speakers included Jaspal Nangla  and Jasbir Nangla from Two Side Studios, author Mase Okor, animator Demari Joseph-Lawrence and musician Styler Rymes. 
The weeks leading up to this were long and hard, some of the team were pulling 20 hour days bringing this to life. The project began when months ago nine artists took part in design sessions to form ideas for the exhibition and then into following weeks a group of room designers, installation teams and graphic designers pooled from the Therapeutic team breathed live into the vision brought the exhibition at the Museum of Croydon into fruition. 
Therapeutic productions is an initiative led by a team of artists, project managers and social entrepreneurs who have chosen to use their artistic skills to raise awareness of and highlight social issues through film, music and art whilst using the process of creating art to assist those from under-represented groups. 
The exhibition was supported by Therapeutic’s funders, the Maudsley charity, Croydon voluntary action and the MSN fund, representatives from Asylum magazine, heads of the South London and Maudsley foundation, Forensic campus recovery college, the Involvement register and many other artists. from among the 200 we have worked with over the years. 
The exhibition opened on 7th October and it runs until February 2027 at the Museum of Croydon which is located within the Croydon Clocktower arts facility, Katharine Street, Croydon CR9 1ET. The museum is open from Wednesday to Saturdays from 10 am excluding Bank Holidays and entry is free.