2013
IMPACT ART FAIR - press release May 2013
Two years ago Annie Morgan’s life looked pretty straight forward – a home, ageing
parents, a beloved daughter, a job as a TV producer. However, depression isn’t
interested in ‘straight forward’ and like 10-16 million other people in Britain a year she
was suddenly gripped by its profound effects - so profound that in October 2010 she
threw herself under a train.
Annie survived the train but the depression remained. Thankfully for Annie her recovery
plan included making art and she was immediately inspired and uplifted. Somehow,
making art had a positive impact on her and helped dissolve her depression.
Now an artist, Annie is currently preparing to exhibit at the Impact Art Fair, the UK’s
first art fair which displays work only by artists who face challenges such as mental ill
health, disability or social exclusion. The fair’s director, Simon Powell, says “The artists
are unsung heroes, doing battles no-one sees. The work they make is unique in its
honesty and courage. The artists don’t lack talent, they lack opportunities.”
Organised by charity Creative Future, the Impact Art Fair will display up to 250 artists
across 49 stalls with submissions coming from as far as Germany and the USA.
Organisations that use art to help people such as Studio Upstairs, South London and
Maudsley (SLaM), Bethlem Gallery, Shape, Other Side Gallery and Outside In will also be
taking stalls.
Says talented artist Philip: “I’m on benefits because I suffer from bi-polar disorder. I
could never afford the rates normal art fairs charge for a stall. The Impact Art Fair
gives me a chance to show my work on a level playing field.”
IMPACT ART FAIR – 26th, 27th, 28th July 2013
Open each day 11am-6pm
Admission: £2.00 per person
Address: Block 336, 336 Brixton Road, Lambeth, SW9 7AA.
Preview: 6pm Thursday 25th July 2013
Impact Art Fair is delivered by Creative Future - a registered charity and company limited by guarantee
Charity number: 1132889 Company no: 6891365
2013
The first Impact Art Fair in 2011
‘Hitchcock’s Other Birds’ ‘One Step at a Time’
Terence Wilde Kim Noble
‘On the Catwalk’ ‘Nature’ ‘Christ on Cross’
Esther Thomas Russell Jones Annie Morgan
Impact Art Fair is delivered by Creative Future - a registered charity and company limited by guarantee
Charity number: 1132889 Company no: 6891365
2013
Notes to editor
1. Impact Art Fair website http://www.impact-art-fair.org.uk/index.html
2. The Impact Art Fair is organised by the Brighton-based charity Creative Future,
founded by Simon Powell and Dominique De-Light. The charity uses creativity to help
people who face mental ill health, disability or social exclusion. Creative Future run
courses, master classes and a mentoring programme. They also organise high-end and
off-beat exhibitions, so far seen by tens of thousands.
http://creativefuture.org.uk/index.html
3. Studio Upstairs is helping to deliver this years event. Studio Upstairs are based in
London and Bristol and provide studio space for people with mental health problems
4. Funds to organise this year’s fair have come from the Maudsley Charity and the Arts
Council.
5. Annie Morgan has recently featured in the Mail On Sunday (24th March 2013).
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2297030/In-2010-plagued-severe-depression-Annie-
Morgan-tried-end-life-leaping-train-platform--miraculously-survived.html
6. This year’s selection panel will include:
Jennifer Gilbert from Outside In (UK’s largest agency for marginalised artists).
John Maziels, founder of Raw Vision magazine - the world’s leading forum for self-
taught artists. http://www.rawvision.com/
Victoria Hume, chair of London Arts and Health Forum http://www.lahf.org.uk/
7. The venue: Block 336 is an artist-led gallery and promotes engagement and critical
discussion of contemporary art and ideas and, as a not-for-profit organisation, will
partner with local charities and other institutions to offer their ‘Access to Art’
Programme.
Impact Art Fair is delivered by Creative Future - a registered charity and company limited by guarantee
Charity number: 1132889 Company no: 6891365