For Christmas, my sister and brother-in-law were gifted an art experience at Splash Art Republic in Nottingham, this was to participate in ‘splash art’, if you’re unsure what splash art is, it’s where you use different materials to get paint onto a canvas, you could throw it, pour it, use a water pistol or sponges etc, anything you chose to make your own masterpiece. Lauren, my sister, thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and knew it would be something I’d love to try, unfortunately the Splash Art experience was upstairs in a listed building, so it just was not accessible for wheelchair users.
Lauren told me that Splash Art Republic also do a different workshop called ‘Pour Art’, which is downstairs and more accessible, not totally as there were steps to get it, but I could take my ramps with me in my WAV so a few steps to get in we’re not a problem. I reached out to the company to ensure the workshop would be suitable for a wheelchair user and how they could slightly alter it to ensure I got the most out of my experience. My Mum called the owner to explain my disabilities and to make sure our ramps would be fine to get entry into the building, the owner confirmed it would all work fine and he would block out a few spaces on the session I booked onto to ensure I had enough room to do the Pour Art Workshop. He also told me to drop him an email to confirm which session I was booked onto.
Booking the workshop online was super easy, I selected which size bear I wanted to paint and then what day and time, I also upgraded my clothing protector from an apron to a poncho, just to make sure I wouldn’t get paint on me or my chair, then paid online. Once this was complete, I emailed them to let them know it was booked and that I would be blogging about my experience. The owner replied quite promptly letting me know that they had blocked out some of the spaces on the workshop and asked if my wheelchair would fit under a standard height table, it was great that they were forward thinking, trying to eliminate any barriers I may face before I even get there. The owner also gave me some of the backstory of Splash Art Republic and some of the frustrations with their current building. The building isn’t really ideal for wheelchair users as it is Grade 2 listed with no disabled facilities, they did not take it on as an artist studio, it was originally leased as an escape room, however the escape room industry plateaued and they still had the lease on the building so needed to do something with it. The owner had the incredible idea of making it into a splash and pour art experience. In the email, the owner said ‘art should be accessible to everyone’ and I cannot agree more, so much so that the owners are looking at different premises to make their experiences completely accessible! How amazing is that!
When I arrived at the building we parked on the next street on double yellow lines as there was no specific disabled parking bays close by. We walked to the entrance and saw there were two very narrow steps, this was easy for the ramp to go straight over to get me inside. When I got inside, the room was open and easy to get around, the art table was right in-front of me so there was no manoeuvring needed. The tables were all ready to start the experience, once the assistant had fetched the correct bears for each person. My parents helped me put my apron on and they asked for the upgraded poncho that I had paid for. The paints were stored in a separate room, which was also quite easy to get into, I chose dark blue, mid-blue and silver I then went back to the table, to begin the activity. We was instructed to put our bears in the desired position to begin with as once they are dry they cannot be moved, she then told us how to fill our paint pouring pots, with the predominant colour in the middle and told us to brush the paint on the joints to make sure they were covered and then told us to hold the bear by its ear to ensure you get the paint in all the tight areas first before you pour the rest of the paint over the bear. I didn’t like it when I got paint on my hand, so I asked my Mum to help me. Once we were finished, we were told to shine our phone torches on the bears to make sure we hadn’t missed any spots, which we had, so we went back in and touched it up to ensure it was all covered. My sister and brother-in-law were also doing the experience alongside me, it was great to see how different each bear had turned out. I really enjoyed the social side of this experience, it gave us a relaxed arty atmosphere to chat and create something personal.
When we were all finished, we left our bears on the table and the staff told us they would be dry and ready to collect in a few days, so I will be going back to collect my bear on Thursday when the shop opens. I had a lovely experience doing the pouring art workshop with Splash Art Republic, the owners were really helpful in making sure the activity met my personal needs as much as possible.
I would definitely recommend it! I will post a photograph of my bear once I’ve got it home.
