PROVIDING UNIQUE CREATIVE WELLBEING SERVICES TO THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE & GOVERNMENT SECTORS
#HMPHOLMHOUSE
PROVIDING UNIQUE CREATIVE WELLBEING SERVICES TO THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE & GOVERNMENT SECTORS
#HMPHOLMHOUSE
Joanne Carroll is the Director Of Creative Arts at Fuzzy Bridge Ltd.
Her studio m a i s o n m a k e - d o , is currently based at HMP Holme House, Stockton on Tees, and specialises in providing unique creative wellbeing services to the Ministry of Justice & Government Sectors.
· Joanne has 13 years experience working in the Offender L
Joanne Carroll is the Director Of Creative Arts at Fuzzy Bridge Ltd.
Her studio m a i s o n m a k e - d o , is currently based at HMP Holme House, Stockton on Tees, and specialises in providing unique creative wellbeing services to the Ministry of Justice & Government Sectors.
· Joanne has 13 years experience working in the Offender Learning Sector and 24 years teaching experience overall. She combines her teaching experience with her wealth of entrepreneurial skills through her latest Creative Arts contract at HMP Holme House and is proud to say that HMP Holme House is now a ‘Platinum Koestler Awards Establishment’ and one of the leading institutions in the country for Koestler Arts, with the highest amount of awards (73)and entries (218) for Koestler Awards 2022. As an establishment, they have also exhibited 50 of our winning entries at The Southbank Centre, London, in a Koestler exhibition named ‘Freedom’, curated by Ai Weiwei in October 2022. As a collective, learners have achieved over Koestler 150 awards since Joanne headed this creative post, back in 2019
· Joanne is a British artist born and bred in the North East of England and also creates her own music under the name of 'Keni Quade'. Her personal work spans vividly and expressively across art, design, and music territories. Joanne’s incredibly creative intuition enables her to work seamlessly between her work as a Surface Designer, Artist, Musician and Mother.
· Joanne’s portfolio of work includes working on international projects including designing embroidered, printed, and knitted textiles for fashion and also sustainable lighting solutions (ecoPETlite). Joanne is also the proud owner of a Granted British Patent for permanently colouring plastic substrates.
· Focussing intricately on the electronic music genre, Joanne constructs her work like a piece of textiles, whilst crossing boundaries and reassembling the results like a patchwork quilt and uniquely passing on these skills to prisoners, as part of an extensive rehabilitation process at HMP Holme House. She aims to pass on her creative vibe as an artist, to others through introducing them to the exciting world of Creative Arts. For many, this is the beginning of something very special and the start of a new life, lived from a new perspective, with creativity and wellbeing being at the heart of these new beginnings.
· During 2022, Joanne created a new prison project which is called T A F I E ( Textiles Art & Fashion for Interiors and Exteriors). Within the second successful year of TAFIE’s progress, the studio welcomed Community Artist, Shirley Wells of Shirley Wells Art to the team. Shirley and Joanne have many things in common, including studyi
· During 2022, Joanne created a new prison project which is called T A F I E ( Textiles Art & Fashion for Interiors and Exteriors). Within the second successful year of TAFIE’s progress, the studio welcomed Community Artist, Shirley Wells of Shirley Wells Art to the team. Shirley and Joanne have many things in common, including studying together on the BA Hons International Textiles & Surface pattern degree at Cleveland College of Art & Design. Both Shirley and Joanne also completed a creative Masters Degree over at The University of Teesside and this connection and friendship is the glue that cements their passion for creativity and most recently the success of the TAFIE group at HMP Holme House.
· Their aim is to also make more links within the community and to prove that the skills taught within the m a i s o n m a k e - d o studio can be utilised by the learners involved, beyond their time served inside the prison environment. Such skills include painting, drawing, printing, machine / hand embroidery/ punch embroidery, felt making, quilting and recycling.
· As a team, Joanne and Shirley are inspired by knowing that they can make a difference to the world we are living in and contribute in our own unique way, from behind steel bars. Joanne’s design studio often takes its inspiration from a 'make-do and mend' ethos.
. The team are heavily inspired by fashion, interiors, horticulture, m
· As a team, Joanne and Shirley are inspired by knowing that they can make a difference to the world we are living in and contribute in our own unique way, from behind steel bars. Joanne’s design studio often takes its inspiration from a 'make-do and mend' ethos.
. The team are heavily inspired by fashion, interiors, horticulture, magazines, books, and galleries and follow current and future trends.
· This site serves as a decorative showcase for everything wonderful that happens inside the m a i s o n m a k e - d o studio. It is also a visual reference for other creative things that Joanne and Shirley contribute to, both inside and sometimes outside of the prison environment.
Joanne states, ‘ I knew that textiles was the way forward where our learners were concerned. Working closely with Shirley Wells made me realise that we too could go back to our roots and share our skills and passion with our learners who have so much to offer. Starting with plastic needles, wool and canvas, we are now working with a range of 10 Bernina / Toyota sewing machines, punch embroidery tools, felt making equipment and other textile techniques. Many men come into the classroom stating they haven’t sewn a stitch in their life and then leave with 5 beautiful stitched exhibits which will usually be submitted as entries to Koestler, London. This whole kit and caboodle has taken me 4 years to build and is still developing on a weekly basis. Never before has HMP Holme House had 'Platinum Award' establishment status. Our learners have achieved over 150 Koestler awards since 2020 and we are all ready to do it all again this year. Learners exhibiting in the London Southbank Gallery 3 years in a row has been a massive achievement and our more recent ‘Mind Over Matter’ community exhibition with Navigator North has confirmed that the work produced from the TAFIE group learners is creating a very positive response in the local and wider communities. We now realise that our connections with Navigator North, Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency and Safer Communities is potentially the beginning of something very special for HMP Holme House and it is a case of 'watch this space’ for future creative collaborations where we are all involved.'