Spring party fundraiser auction

You are invited to a fun evening that starts with a glass of bubbly on arrival, a yummy buffet and an exciting auction hosted by actor James Simmons with over 20 lots featuring local artists work including art from Royal Tunbridge Wells arts society alluminaries Suzy Phillips, Vanessa Kellner-Brown, Mike Truman & my own artwork Elaine Foster-Gandey plus artwork from painter and poet Gary Goodman, Jewellery from Robert Ketch, sumptous massage at the shepherds hut in Wilderness Wood and more.

The Hope project was born out of the lockdown years in 2020/21. As an inclusive arts practitioner I lost all my work teaching vulnerable adults. I wanted to create an artwork that would bring people together at a time when we were very much apart. I invited many vulnerable groups to write on up-cycled fabric strips of fabric donated by London College of Fashion, helped by my wonderful Intern Eve and my Mother Joyce, who cut up over 1000 strips of fabric and helped post them out to groups. Myself and other artists ran workshops that taught participants new skills and everyone involved wrote words of hope onto the strips of fabric. The final sculpture, with over 500 voices woven into the fabric of the piece, has toured the UK including the Resilience forum in Blackpool.

A dream for the hope dress was to get it shown at the world renowned Venice Biennale and last year I received an invitation to exhibit the dress sculpture at Personal structures, part of the Venice Biennale. I applied for additional Arts council funding, that was accepted, and now have to Fund raise the short fall.

I will be taking some of my original participants from vulnerable groups, who were involved in writing on the strips of fabric and helping me weave the dress, to see the dress sculpture at this amazing exhibition and supporting them to bring back ideas and run workshops with their own communities and show the resulting work in exhibitions in Kent and London.

By supporting this project you are helping me support participants to lead workshops and exhibit the artwork made, enabling them to be seen and have their voices heard in a high art context.