about us
Positive Light Projects is a not for profit organisation using the visual arts to engage and inspire a diverse range of audiences and communities as well as developing emerging practitioners and aiding them move their practise forward in exciting and innovative ways. We have a focus on and strong belief in community based, socially engaged creative practise.
We enhance people’s wellbeing and skills by offering engaging, collaborative, participatory, immersive and high quality practical creative opportunities, enabling people to take part and have a go at exciting activities.
We support local community groups as well as independent creative practitioners, especially those with an interest in and commitment to socially engaged participatory practice, helping them to build on and develop their skill sets and expertise, working towards a more sustainable and resilient professional practice.
We have a commitment to diversity, inclusion and accessibility, embedding this in all our planning and production so it reflects the full range of backgrounds, perspectives and abilities within our society.
Positive Light Projects is committed to delivering excellence and providing the very best opportunities for everyone to engage with the arts.
JOURNEY
In December 2019 we had our first meeting where we sat down with someone from Exeter City Council and proposed our vision for a new community arts space in Exeter. One year later, almost to the day, we got the keys to 184-187 Sidwell Street!! This was made possible by the incredibly generous support of The Crown Estate, joint owners of Princesshay, who supported Exeter Phoenix through providing the space. This journey in itself was long and full of ups and downs (the C word happened in the middle of this!) but we would not have got to this point without the help and advice of a few key people. A huge thanks goes out to Hannah Overton, Michelle Menezes, David Rhodes, Sophie Allen, JP Hedge, Glen Woodcock, Dave Wright, Olya Petrakova, Charlotte Evans and Patrick Cunningham for their support and guidance during this time.
Now we had a space the real fun began! The building had been empty for about five years and needed a LOT of work! Dodgy electrics, crumbling walls, leaky pipes, damp, mould and rot galore to attend to! We initially raised just over £35,000 through a Crowdfunder campaign which allowed us to start work renovating. This money went towards mains electrical distribution and power outlets throughout the building, lighting & emergency lighting, building wide heating, a new fire detection system, plumbing works including a street level accessible toilet and plenty of cleaning, painting & decorating. Further support came from locality budgets held by Devon County and Exeter City Councillors as well as funds from Exeter City Council's Strategic Fund which helped us finish off this work and make the building safe, warm and accessible. There are too many people to thank everyone individually for their support during this period of the project but special thanks must go out to Amal Ghusain and multiple other Exeter City and Devon County Councillors, Mahi Ahmed, Sarah Campbell, Lara Goodband, Nigel Watts, Poppy Harrison, Matt Burrows, Volkhardt Müller, Ceri Johnson, Belinda Dillon, Stuart Crewes, Simon Timms, Erin Cox, In Exeter, Dawn Eckhart, Val Wilson, everyone at CoLab, and all the people who so generously supported the Crowdfunder and / or offered us help, encouragement or guidance along the way. A huge thank you also to Kev, James, Jack, Steve, Pete, Aaron and Les from MAT Electrics, John Barton, Ben Harris from Aspect One Developments, Liz and James from Totex Cleaning and our amazing team of volunteers for all their hard work transforming the building as well as James and Jon for all things fire safety related!
Once the building works were well under way we applied for and then were lucky to be awarded grants form Arts Council England Project Grants and the National Lottery Community Fund. This money is going towards all the activities we have lined up over the summer running our pilot project(s). This is essentially to test out and explore how the space will work best by running a variety of community based projects and workshops, commissioning work by local artists, partnering with other local organisations and institutions to deliver meaningful activity to a number of local community groups and finally being able to pay ourselves to organise and deliver all of this! This work will result in a large exhibition and launch party in October.
So now we have a city centre three story building with a large workshop space, meeting room, reception, reference library, photographic studio, 2 offices, 6 artist studios and what will in time will be a photographic darkroom (that needs a fair bit of work yet but we hope to have it up and running in early 2022). The fun continues!
MEET THE TEAM
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CO CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Brendan is a photographer, educator and camera builder whose creative photographic practice combines elements of construction, education, performance and participation. His work is mostly concerned with the transformation of different objects and environments into spaces capable of viewing and capturing a photographic image, using the mechanics of photography as a tool for exploration and collaboration. Brendan is the founder & director of Positive Light Projects and has a keen interest in socially engaged creative participatory practice.
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ARTS ADMINISTRATOR
Erika is an artist working in printmaking and photography. Her practice aims to engage people with local environments in Devon through research and socially engaged practice. Alongside her arts administrator role, Erika has recently created Traction Project Space, an artist-led gallery in the left-side window of Positive Light Projects, which aims to provide opportunities to artists at the early stages of their career.
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CO CREATIVE DIRECTOR
George is an illustrator and printmaker who has a love of history and this has resulted in a number of successful projects, including working with local youth groups to produce the animated short story of the famous hero war pigeon ‘Mary of Exeter’. Alongside his Positive Light Projects Projects Role, George is a Tutor and Director of Double Elephant Print Workshop with a specialism in screenprinting, a Director of The Pelican Project and leads Exeter Phoenix’s Freefall and Freefall+ youth groups.
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SUPERVISOR AND PAINTING ASSISTANT
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EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION LEAD
Maia is a 22 year old award winning Equality Activist, EDI Consultant (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion), International Speaker, Social Media Consultant & Instagram Influencer. Maia has worked with over 75 schools across the South West on EDI, delivering assemblies / workshops and mentoring teachers. Maia specialises in decolonising the classroom, the curriculum and ensuring schools are a safe space for all pupils to thrive and not just survive. Throughout her consultancy role she has worked with Devon County Council, many business leaders and leading organisations. One of her latest projects -Feed Our Community, delivered over 2500 free food packages to those in need within the first 6 weeks. Maia strives daily to make long lasting positive change in society. Her work has featured on CNN, BBC, ITV, Sky, The Morning Star and other platforms. Maia has been recognised by winning the Ron Todd award for Equality and featuring in the Mirrors Top 100 Inspirational Women 2021.
Current studio holders
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Erika Cann
Erika Cann is an artist whose home lies between the granite tors of Dartmoor National Park and the dynamic cliffs of the Jurassic Coast. She is a recent graduate from the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford. Her work investigates place through accounts, both historical and contemporary, within the guides and maps of an area. The work takes the form of photography, and printmaking, which is often imbued with language. She hopes to engage local communities with the landscape in a position of care and enjoyment through exploration, which is ecologically considered yet adventurous. Erika has worked with Campaign for National Parks, and recent group exhibitions include: A New Folklore (Penryn), RE:Wild (Exeter), and The Anxiety of Interdisciplinarity (Bristol).
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Hannah Berrisford
Hello there! I’m Hannah, a freelance artist living and working in Exeter, Devon. I graduated from Falmouth University with a degree in Drawing and have since become an independent small business-owner. I’m primarily a pet-portrait artist, creating paintings of all sorts of pets, ranging from dogs and cats to ravens and hedgehogs! This is a very important part of my work as an artist, as animals have always held a special place in my life. They are companions that offer unconditional love, and the conversations I have with their owners are very precious. I work mainly in watercolour, but am currently enjoying experimenting with gouache, creating some of my own original pieces inspired by the wilder side of nature. You’ll usually find me in my studio juggling paintings, with my headphones on. Yorkshire tea is practically part of my bloodstream now, and I can never fit enough plants into my room.
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More Positive Me CIC
We love watching people flourish and grow when they start to believe in themselves. Hi, I’m Jeanette and showing people there is life after domestic abuse is my passion. Every project we take on is embraced wholeheartedly, and with total dedication. Whether we’re writing books and eCourses or delivering sessions, we invest our hearts and souls in ensuring that you feel empowered and believe in yourselves. We provide personal development training, online and in person, for people who have experienced domestic abuse to help them break the cycle, feel empowered, move forward and live more positive lives. We recognise the long-term effects of domestic abuse and its impact on self-esteem and self-worth. We work to rebuild that self-belief. We see time and time again, when this improves then lives improve. We believe in the journey from Victim, to Survivor to Thriver. Our goal? To make sure that anyone impacted by domestic abuse finds the strength and skills within them to lead fulfilled and happy lives. We have over 10 years experience in the field working with individuals and teams, helping people find their voice and enabling them to move forward.
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Youtube
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The Pelican Project
What is The Pelican Project?
On leaving school, learning-disabled young adults face a devastating drop-off in support and opportunity and enter a gruelling process of transition to adult provision. The social networks, passions, interests, identities, wellbeing and opportunities for individuals to grow that were once nurtured by a familiar school environment are lost. The search for a new place to belong becomes punctuated by scrutiny and rejection. Families endure this process on top of the already pressured experience of supporting the complex needs of their loved ones.
The Pelican Project (TPP) aims to change this story. Our current members enjoy a program of groups and social activities, run in collaboration with Exeter’s key cultural spaces. These include art, digital design, drama, caravan holidays and gatherings at the pub. Our team of facilitators includes qualified SEN teachers and industry professionals, making sure our members diverse needs are understood whilst immersing them in mainstream activities and networks. Exhibitions and performances are amongst the ways that our facilitators promote our members as equal and valued citizens.
What change is The Pelican Project trying to achieve?
Our membership of young people (fondly known as Pelicans) includes individuals with a host of physical and cognitive disabilities, including profound, severe and moderate learning disabilities, autism, cerebral palsy, downs syndrome and a range of mental health conditions. Some Pelicans are augmented and alternative communication (AAC) users. These young people typically arrive at TPP with low self-esteem, exhausted and mistrustful of a community that has failed them.
The overarching aim of TPP is to improve quality of life for the Pelicans and their carers. Our program offers the opportunity for members to try, learn, fail and succeed and in doing so, build an identity that goes beyond their disability. Previously marginalised individuals feel a greater sense of belonging as they take ownership of spaces, build relationships with peers and make connections across the community that thrive beyond TPP activities. Stagnated members can grow again, with powered wheelchair users walking lengths in swimming sessions, Pelicans who rarely leave the city feeding the pigs and AAC devices being put to use at bustling city bars.
Our program is not just about giving our members something to do, it aims to change the wider community. We work with future generations of carers, offering rare experience programs to Exeter College’s Level 1 Health & Social Care and NEETS programs. Linking our members with mainstream students is unique to the Pelican Project and provides opportunities on both sides.
Supporters & Partners
Positive Light Projects wouldn’t exist without the help and support of so many amazing people, not least the incredibly generous 405 who contributed to our Crowdfunder campaign that allowed us to start work renovating the building and getting the practical stage of the project off the ground. We owe each and every one of you our eternal gratitude.
As well as all the individuals who have got behind us there are a number of organisations and institutions that we owe a huge thanks to. None of this would have been possible without the continued support of Exeter Phoenix who facilitated our occupation of this building and are our main partner and collaborator.
There are multiple other organisations and institutions we have partnered with on various projects including but not limited to The Pelican Project. Exeter City Council, Devon County Council, Arts Council England, RAMM, Co Lab, The Urban Learning Academy, Exeter Community Initiatives, Exeter Homeless Partnership, Exeter College, Exeter University, Double Elephant Print Workshop, Co-Create, Alright Mate?, St Sidwell Community Centre and Devon Recovery Learning, Recovery Devon, The Bill Douglas Museum, Art Work Exeter, Exeter Culture, Arts and Culture Exeter, Exeter City of Literature and many others.
FAQs
Do you just support the visual arts?
No, we are open to all sorts of things happening within the space, however we want to compliment and not compete with other local cultural organisations and what they offer and there are many that are better suited and more experienced in programming music and performance based activities for instance. But try us, if it’s a good fit we’re open to it and if we think somewhere else might be a better option for you we’ll put you in touch.
Can I do work experience with you?
We are a very small team with limited time and resources so unfortunately we are not right now in a position to offer work experience positions.
Can I come visit?
We are not open to the general public on a day to day basis, except for when there is specific activity programmed. This is down in part to staffing but also there are a number of things to do with security and safeguarding that we need to have in place before we will be fully open to the public. This will be a gradual thing so bare with us and keep an eye on here and / or join our mailing list for updates.
WHO CAN HAVE A STUDIO?
The studios that we offer for hire are for local visual artists and organisations from any discipline.
How do I get involved?
If you have time / energy / resources / materials you would like to donate or if you are interested in volunteering please feel free to email us.