Our #CroydonArtTrail is LIVE
The Centrale & Whitgift Art Trail has officially launched! Check all of our socials to see the amazing artwork that we and 7 other artists of our local community @yourcroydon #Croydon #MusicArtTrail celebrating Croydon’s music heritage and present.
We are delighted to present our contribution to the trail:
SoundScape celebrates the young people at Play for Progress in Croydon. It is an expression of the creative space we are nurturing within our community and represents the formidable power of being seen and heard.
It is framed on the left by one of our young musicians playing a Kurdish Ney, and on the right by an open hand which invites us all to share and to be open to one another — a crucial part of making music.
Between these images are representations (created and painted by our members) of what blooms in the room, our minds, and our hearts when we create together, and travel beyond words and borders to celebrate our togetherness here and now.
At Play for Progress we extend our open hand to everyone in Croydon. We welcome you to connect with us in creativity. We hope you will join us as we work to cultivate a more playful, peaceful, creative, and compassionate society in which we all connect, heal, and grow.
Creative communities are critical! We are so lucky to be in a borough that celebrates and invests in cultivating an environment where projects like this can flourish 🌱Learn more about the other artists and community contributors in our linktree.
We designed, developed, and painted this celebratory mural over the past 4 months and we are delighted to finally be able to share it with you. Please visit in person if you can and take a picture of yourself in front of it to help spread the word about the vital importance of community art projects.
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PRESS
Croydonist article “Painting the Town with Music”
Centrale & Whitgift’s guide through the trail
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Play for Progress is all about using the power of music and arts to celebrate diversity and fuel community. They are a small charity that runs therapeutic music and art classes to support asylum-seeking young people in Croydon and curates and hosts collaborative exhibitions and performances to encourage positive community bonding. They work exclusively with unaccompanied refugees and asylum seekers aged 15-21 from all over the globe who now call Croydon home.
ATMA (recently featured on BBC for his 200 nationalities mural) is an extensive collaborator having worked with renowned institutions such as the Lazarides Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum, Punch Drunk, and in association with Lufthansa, Dulux, Camel and HTC. He believes that mural art is a tool for social justice, it can change perception of a neighbourhood or community and can create a sense of belonging.
ATMA says of our collaboration trail piece, ‘I hope our mural “SoundScape” brings joy, ignites dialogue and reinforces community as it celebrates young refugees that call Croydon home and use music as a healing tool. It’s an honour to be part of the art trail and it was so much fun to paint at the Whitgift, transforming an unused space into a corner of colours and hope.’
