Art by Post

We’ve joined a network of national partners working in collaboration with the Southbank Centre on Art by Post as the project expands this autumn and winter. The Philharmonia are offering this opportunity to our community partners to join thousands of other participants across the UK.

The Southbank Centre developed Art by Post during the Covid-19 lockdown to engage those most isolated by social distancing measures, with a particular emphasis on reaching older adults living with dementia and other chronic health conditions. To date, Art by Post has reached almost 2,000 people aged 18 – 103 across the UK, from Aberdeen to Truro and Bangor to Dover. So far, care homes, hospitals, charities, arts organisations, specialist dementia services, prison facilities and housing initiatives have all referred people from their communities onto the scheme.

Art by Post is very simple: participants receive a free creative booklet through their letterbox or via email every four weeks. The booklets, created in collaboration with artists, spark the imagination and help participants stay connected to others via the growing Art by Post community. Included in the packs are Freepost envelopes, encouraging participants to share their artwork and creative responses with the Southbank Centre. The artworks that the Southbank Centre receives in response will form an Art by Post exhibition, scheduled for 2021.

In this next phase of the project, the network of partners include HOME Manchester, The Barn, artsdepot, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Age UK Camden, Age UK Oxfordshire and Nightingale House. Art by Post has also been confirmed as one of the National Academy for Social Prescribing’s core projects, part of the government’s wider £5 million social prescribing agenda. All will work with the Southbank Centre to deliver an enriching experience for participants, using the booklets as a springboard for further creative exploration.