Collaborative drawings with Liz Atkin

Collaborative drawings and designs inspired by the work of Alma Thomas and Althea McNish, with Liz Atkin at Studio Upstairs

Liz Atkin is returning for her third and final in-person workshop in our series of three in-person and three online Reachout Create workshops for 2025. Liz is an award-winning artist and educator and friend of the Bethlem Gallery. These free workshops are open to adults with lived experience of mental health conditions. Liz will teach you how to explore your creativity without the pressure of perfection. All levels of skill and ability are welcome.

Join us at Studio Upstairs in West Croydon with Liz for two hours of relaxing creativity and mental health discussion. Arrive at 12pm to enjoy an hour of light lunch and some mental health campaigns activities before the workshop starts promptly at 1pm.

What should I expect? Liz will be teaching us drawing and design techniques inspired by the work of Alma Thomas and Althea McNish. You can see images of this work below. Liz will also share how she came to be an artist and how art shaped her mental health journey.

Who can attend? Any adults residing in Croydon with lived experience of mental health conditions. All levels of creative skill and artistic ability are welcome.

What do I bring? Just yourself! All materials will be provided. Feel free to bring anything that will make this experience more comfortable for and accessible to you.

Is the event free? Yes, this is a free event. As we are limited to 11 spaces, please only book a ticket if you are sure you can attend. If you book a slot and can no longer attend, please email create@hear-us.org to let us know.

We ask that all attendees arrange their own transport to and from Studio Upstairs well in advance. Unfortunately, our current capacity does not allow us to support attendees with accessible transport. We are open to feedback about this.

About Reachout Create

The Hear Us Reachout Create project is possible thanks to funding from the London Community Foundation through the Adobe Fund.

Our mental health Croydon community has shared with us that some people find it easier to tell their stories of lived experience in creative ways. We've decided to provide a series of free online and in-person creative sessions and workshops over the next two years. These will be run by artists with lived experience. With your consent the work that you create in these workshops will be used as training materials as part of our ‘ReachOut Challenge project’ which is our anti-stigma and mental health awareness campaign.

Our future workshops will include creative writing, photography, zine and banner-making, drawing and more. Visit our website to find out more. Contact create@hear-us.org to suggest workshops that you would like to see in the future.

About Hear Us

Hear Us is Croydon’s Mental Health service user group. We are your voice in mental health. Our purpose is to promote, educate, communicate and empower, for the benefit of people affected by mental health issues. Our organisation is 100% service user run. We have lauched Reachout Create, providing creative workshops led by lived experience artists. We run a range of other projects including peer support, welfare and benefit advice, campaigning and an Open Forum. To find out more about what we do, visit our website.

Above:

1. Work by Althea McNish
2. Work by Alma Thomas