Latest News

LOCAL GIVING GOING LIVE

If you have a few pounds to spare, please donate. Every little helps...

As of 1st March The Localgiving.com March Match Fund begins, where monies donated will be matched.

Please find the Southbank Mosaics Local Giving page here.

Many thanks!

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

February 2012.

Tracey Ford lost her son Andre a few years ago, and on Friday 2nd February, she will be in our gallery to collect a portrait of him. Plus talk to a small group of young offenders and a few people from the press.

Please read about her foundation in her son's memory here.

SOUTHBANK MOSAICS FEATURED

January 2012.

Thanks to "Social Enterprise London", we have been featured for January.

sel

After our "article" appearing in "Be Engaged" the online magazine for the "National Council for Voluntary Organisations", we will also be featured on 9th January on their website as Member of the Day.

Great that the word is getting out there. Thanks, everyone!

A great start to 2012! Happy new year, all!

CHRISTMAS 2011

A big thank you to everyone. And a merry Christmas and a happy new year from all at Southbank Mosaics!

YOUNG OFFENDERS' WORK TO BE SHOWN IN WEST END GALLERY

December 2011/January 2012.

The piece made by the London Probation Trust & Lambeth Youth Offending Teams: "The London Polo Team," will be shown at Westbank Gallery from the 10th of December.

Well done, everyone!

Website for the gallery "London Westbank."

Address: 133-137 Westbourne Grove, W11 2RS.

VIDEO TO HELP RAISE FUNDS FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY THE RIOTS

Please support this, share the link and buy/download.

Every little help, helps: Video on Youtube.

Website for "Project Underdog."

SOUTHBANK MOSAICS AT MORLEY COLLEGE WINTER FAIR

4 December 2011.

We will be there, so please come and say "Hi" and see a few of our wonderful fine art mosaics. Maybe even buy a small, unique Christmas present from our table.

When: Sunday 4 December between 11.30am - 3.30pm.

Where: Morley College, 61 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7HT.

The event link.

And the event flyer .

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ST JOHN'S GARDEN'S NEW BEEHIVE

October 2011.

Groundwork UK has awarded St John's Sculpture Garden a grant from the Western Riverside Environmental Fund. The grant will be used to increase the bio-diversity of the garden by developing the planting to attract a range of small birds and other forms of wildlife; a focal point will be the introduction of a beehive.

Sponsored and funded by Groundwork and WREF.

SOUTHBANK MOSAICS GALLERY & STUDIO OPEN WEEKEND

Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October 2011.

Southbank Mosaics, since 2004, have been transforming the public realm with colour, rhythm and artistic form - in an aim to make London beautiful. We practise mosaic as a uniquely social art form, allowing fine artists to work alongside artisans, students, community volunteers and beginners - to name a few.

Come and see the mosaic studio in action. Plus visit the art gallery with all the Southbank Mosaics' wonderful work. Maybe buy some art; and see how you might be able to volunteer in this community based Social Enterprise.

The event is in conjunction with Lambeth Open Studios Weekend.

Gallery and studio are open Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 October.

Times: 10am - 5pm.

Southbank Mosaics, St John's Crypt, 73 Waterloo Road, Waterloo, London SE1 8UD.

TEL & FAX: 020 7620 6070

E-mail: info@southbankmosaics.com

Travel:

Tube: Jubilee, Bakerloo and Northern tube lines with Waterloo mainline station.

Bus travel info:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/waterloodr-2289.pdf

SOUTHBANK MOSAICS TO BE EXHIBITED AT GOLDSMITHS at "CULTURES, CONFLICT AND CREATIVITY"

29th August - 2nd September 2011.

The event is being organised by The Group-Analytic Society (London).

Group-analysis seeks to understand the many facets of culture. An analytic group has a culture, and so does a family, an organisation, a community and a society. We live in a time when cultures are increasingly interconnected while also striving for separateness to preserve identity. Most cultures are anxious about the global economy, climate change, and how to live together in the context of continuing wars, genocide and terrorism. Not only must we work with our personal conflicts but also with those that arise in interpersonal relationships, in organisations, and within and between societies and nations. How can the creativity of group-analysis respond to and work with this complex matrix of cultures and conflict?

Southbank Mosaics has been invited to display some of the artwork we are making in our group sessions with offenders. The organisers were looking for exhibits that were created within the context of a group and near to the location of the venue. The silhouettes series reflects well the theme of the symposium, and we are working in the locality of the venue. We are delighted to have the opportunity to display some of our work at Goldsmiths.

Please note that unfortunately this exhibition is not open to the general public, but to delegates of the symposium only.

The exhibit above and one of the series art pieces below.

SOUTHBANK MOSAICS ARE ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AT THE SOUTHBANK CENTRE'S "FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN"

Through to 4 September 2011.

We are presently Artists in Residence along the Southbank Centre as part of the Festival of Britain.

Our hut is along by the river where we've displayed some wonderful mosaic work, and enjoy the attention and buzz of this well renowned arts and cultural quarter.

Please come along and visit us. You'll see the completed "Thames" mosaic, made by the studio and Coin Street Community, on the outside of the hut. And more...
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FUTURES THEATRE COMPANY WINS LAMBETH BUSINESS AWARD

June 2011.

Futures Theatre Company won the award for Best Cultural and Creative Business at the 2011 Lambeth Business Awards!

And finalists in the Best Small Business category at the South London Business Awards 2011.

Well done, Futures!

futures-award

ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING

April 2011.

Southbank Mosaics has been awarded a grant from the Arts Council to create a series of mosaic portraits. This is to celebrate the achievements of significant women who have lived or worked in the Waterloo area. The portraits will be installed throughout 2012, on sites with close links to the women.

Mary Seacole, a prominent, inspirational nurse who helped in the Crimean War.

SOUTHBANK MOSAICS ARE BACKED BY THE BIG LOTTERY AND SAINSBURY'S FOUNDATION

25/02/2011

Southbank Mosaics has received three years funding from The Big Lottery Reaching Communities fund and The Monument Trust, part of the Sainsbury's Foundation. The funding will enable the studio to develop its work with active citizens, ex-offenders and the homeless creating mosaics to make the town beautiful.

"Mosaic is a uniquely social art form and it has a brilliant future. A growing number of people realise we can make our streets more attractive by adding art works of character and detail, that link to our history. Mosaic is also a wonderful companion to planting and can enliven parks and estates," says Dee Smith, one of the regular volunteers at Southbank Mosaics.

Over the next three years the studios expect to train at least 600 people in mosaic artisan craft, install 50 new works on the streets of Lambeth and the neighbouring boroughs (to add to the 130 already there) and to work with a range of new partners.

If you want to get involved making the Southbank look better then come along to the studios on a Thursday evenings between 4pm and 9pm (not during half-terms or school holidays) and learn the techniques of a mosaic artisan. That will be a first step towards leaving your mark on London.

For further information:

email: info@southbankmosaics.com
Tel:020 7620 6071
Address: Southbank Mosaics, St John's Crypt,
73 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UD.

SATURDAY SESSIONS BEGIN AT SOUTHBANK MOSAICS

10/07/10

Saturday sessions are now available for Active Citizens who want to learn mosaic craft and work on our public realm projects.

These sessions will run from 10.00 - 16.00 each Saturday throughout the Summer of 2010. From Saturday 11th September 2010 onwards the sessions will also include participants being sent to us on Community Service Orders. The aim is to support the rehabilitation of offenders through a positive work experience, where they leave their mark on the neighbourhood through our public realm projects and have the opportunity to take accredited courses in Artisan Crafts. The role of Active Citizen is crucial in what we offer: a) to take part in constructive conversations; b) to model a meaningful approach; and c) to help us make London more beautiful with our installations for the public realm.

CONGRATULATIONS TO CAROLINE OF FUTURES THEATRE

23/2/10

Caroline Bryant, Chair of Southbank Mosaics Board of Directors, receives Business Woman of the Year at Lambeth Business awards.

PROJECT BLAKE

February 2009.

Installation of 24 mosaics of William Blake's work in Centaur Street, London SE1. Centaur Street runs into Hercules Road at the place where William Blake lived 1790 - 1800.

Blake wrote that he wanted his work installed into public space and enlarged, so the artists and volunteers at Southbank Mosaics are fulfilling his wish. Over 100 people have contributed to this Heritage Lottery Funded project, which ultimately should see the area around Blake's old house designated as "Blake's Lambeth".

Included with the installation are poetry boxes, with local people reading out some of the poems Blake wrote, and four ceramic plaques with interpretations of William Blake and his work in Lambeth, as well as details of some of those who helped with the project. Futures Theatre Company and Southbank Sinfonia have partnered Southbank Mosaics, reaching out to 10 local schools with workshops in music and drama and running a Blake festival.

project-blake-logo

St. John's Sculpture Gardens

Summer 2007

The summer of 2007 saw our studios branch out into sculpture. The gardens of the church where we are based (St John's Crypt, 73 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UD) have been designated London's first Sculpture Gardens. We want to work on several projects with local residents and have already completed a memorial to the rough sleepers who have lived and died in the gardens at St John's and in the vicinity. See the gallery page for sculptures from St. John's Gardens.

Our online gallery can be found here:

Archbishop makes "Dove of Peace" Mosaic

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has helped to make a Dove of Peace mosaic with the artists of Southbank Mosaics. Although the Archbishop had never made a mosaic before, he was able to work with artists David Tootill and Zahir Shaikh laying tiles on craft paper, which were then installed into cement in Archbishops Park.

The Dove of Peace is part of a larger mosaic which has been made with many local volunteers depicting a Tree of Life (an Oak Tree) with several symbols of Lambeth within it. For example there are Lambs at the foot of the Oak Tree, in respect of the origins of the name Lambeth, as the berth where lambs were brought to be bought and sold to supply Londoners. There are also pineapples in the Oak Tree, because Lambeth resident John Tradescant grew the first pineapple in England.

Local Youth Groups from children at Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre and the Archbishop Davidsons Institute have helped make the mosaic, as well as casting a dozen paving stones, which will all be installed into the children's play area in Archbishops Park.

The Archbishop said, "I was grateful to David and his colleagues for sharing their expert skills on mosaic making. I hadn't made a mosaic before, but am very pleased that I have been able to contribute to what is an excellent piece of artwork. The creative process has already brought many different parts of the community together and it will be a landmark for Lambeth residents as well as Archbishops to enjoy for many generations to come."

The mosaic should last for hundreds of years. Funding for the project came from Waterloo Community Regeneration Trust. The artists and volunteers used the indirect method to make the mosaics, so that the design could be made in the studio, and then turned over into cement when installed. The young people who made these mosaics will be able to return with their own children and grandchildren and show them the work they did when they were young.

New Ceramics Studio

Southbank Mosaics CIC has expanded and opened up a new ceramics studio where workshops are being run and ceramics produced. The equipping of the ceramics studio was supported by Awards for All, and by The Foundation for Sports and The Arts.

More than 50 mosaics and ceramics made by the artists and volunteers of Southbank Mosaics have already been installed into public space around the Southbank area. Look out for them!

6 Mosaic Portraits of the Black Prince (Black Prince Road)
5 Mosaic Portraits of Salamanca and one of Wellington (Salamanca Street)
14 Ceramics inspired by Doulton's Lambeth Wares (Black Prince Rd & Salamanca St)
9 Mosaics of William Blake's works (Carlisle Lane South & Waterloo station)
Bus & Train signs at Waterloo station Signage outside the Creative Crypt (St John's Church, Waterloo) Signage along the South Bank promenade (for Waterloo Book Market and Gabriel's Wharf) Sculptural mosaics in St John's Garden, Waterloo

Download the sbm-walk-pdf.

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Southbank Mosaics: An Example of Good Practice

A Government Report on Offender Management in London, by HM Inspectorate of Probation June 2008.

SHARING GOOD PRACTICE Below are examples of good practice we found in London:

Unpaid work placements.

OMI Criterion: 2.4 Ensuring containment and promoting compliance Southbank Mosaics was a charitable organisation providing innovative unpaid work placements. The project was funded through Skillsweb, which was supported by ESF, led by Kensington and Chelsea College and managed by Lewisham College.

Offenders attended for up to two days a week and worked on designing and making mosaics that were used as paving stones, pictures on walls and bridges and monuments in the Borough of Southwark. The work helped them to develop a range of technical, creative and research skills and work towards a qualification at

Level 1.

Accreditation in literacy and numeracy was also linked to the work on the project. Offenders worked on individual and group projects which involved research into local history and art techniques, agreeing the overall design and making the mosaic.

One offender said, "I am learning a very marketable skill of tiling. I have developed a better understanding of colour and design; I know who Gaudi, Seurat and others are, and I am making something that contributes to the local community."