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Birmingham and Solihull Mental health NHS Foundation Trust
Better Together
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World Community Arts Day at Birmingham Airport

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust has joined forces with the Creatives Network, to illustrate the role the arts play in mental wellbeing at Birmingham International Airport.

Artists and craftspeople, many of whom are service users, are displaying their talents in the run-up to World Community Arts Day, on February 17.

Holidaymakers, businessmen and airport workers are being urged to stick a postcard on a world map to remember a loved-one elsewhere in the world for Valentine’s Day as part of the exhibition on the arrivals concourse.

Frank WCAD
Artist Frank Johnson at World Community Arts Day
 
Among the exhibitors is Frank Johnson, an artist from Sheldon who has exhibited his dramatic oil paintings at the airport before, and the woodcraft group, which is staging public demonstrations in the art of wood carving.

World Community Arts Day aims to highlight ways in which creative arts can benefit those with mental health issues, by providing an outlet through which to express themselves.

Emma Marks, arts project officer with the Trust’s social inclusion team, said: “This is the first time Creatives Network has been involved in World Community Arts Day, the idea of people all over the world doing some community-based arts on one day really inspired the group.

“The airport is an ideal venue for this because of its obvious international links, and the idea of sending positive thoughts to loved ones around the world as Valentine’s Day approaches   seems to have captured the public’s imagination.”

Media are invited to come along to the World Community Arts Day celebrations at Birmingham International Airport on Tuesday (February 17) between 12pm and 4pm.

John Morris, the airport’s head of corporate affairs, said, "We are supporting World Community Arts Day as we believe that creativity can be a great way to engage with people and share experiences about issues that are sometimes stigmatised, like mental health.

“The airport sees around 18,000 people going through its doors each day so it’s an ideal place to hold activities, engage with people and increase awareness about issues that can affect all of us from time to time.”