Tucked in the centre of Canberra's famously creative Inner North district, Ainslie is nothing if not an eccentric suburb. At one end of the neighbourhood sits the Ainslie Arts Centre, the opening party of which featured a neon light display, a heaving dance floor and a karaoke machine in the ladies' bathroom. Up the hill from the setting of that raucous event sits the Ainslie Village, a community centre that provides accommodation and services for men and women with highly complex needs including addiction, mental illness and homelessness. In the middle of the Village sits the Art Haven, a small sunny studio where Tilly Davey, affectionately labelled the Sergeant Major by her troop of mainly male artists, works hard to create a supportive and dynamic space for the Village's residents to explore different materials and ideas. A world away from the neon-lit, champagne-fuelled parties of other galleries and studios, a foray into the Art Haven provides a unique perspective on the role of art in local communities.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Taking on the role of Art Director at the Ainslie Village proved an interesting challenge for Davey, a mixed-media artist who comes from a long line of community practitioners – her mother, grandmother and great grandmother have all been involved in community-based art projects around the world. She recalls, "It took time to build trust. I spent a lot of time chatting to the guys, so they could get to know who I was. Eventually, I started doing huge collaborative pieces with them, painting on the same piece of paper. Over time, different residents started coming to me with ideas about materials they were interested in, and we started experimenting together."
Davey quickly adopted a less didactic approach to teaching. "As soon as I decided to not be a traditional teacher and let them do whatever they wanted, things really developed. I realised that because they're vulnerable, you need to meet their needs, not the other way round. Outside of the Village, I work as an art teacher to a bunch of kids. Children try to find answers and approval. At the Art Haven, it's not about finding answers – it's not about saying you're right, you're wrong, that's good, that's bad. Instead, I put my energy into encouraging my guys to explore different materials and ideas, totally freely."
This freedom to experiment is one of the reasons the Art Haven has become a favourite site for the Village's residents. Greg, one of Davey's regulars, admits that although he's 65 and prone to just "tolerating things", he genuinely enjoys spending time at the Art Haven. "It's very easy going. The Sergeant Major isn't that pushy. It's a place where you can go and express – in shape, form and colour and with your hands – your way of looking at life. Your mind tries to develop something differently." Greg, a landscaping aficionado, notes that new and exciting ideas are continually being explored in the studio, including certain ideas and shapes that he's never seen before on canvas. Davey agrees, and tells me that that's one of the pleasures of working with individuals who are trying to come to terms with their difficult backgrounds. "People who face roadblocks produce things that are raw and real. Sometimes it's like watching them rip out all the bad things that have happened to them or that they've done and put it on a canvas or a piece of paper."
As a practising artist, Davey enjoys creating work alongside the Village's residents. "The best times at the Art Haven are when we're all in the studio together, working on our own things, and there's a moment of friendly silence, and I can see them smiling and just quietly getting into something." It's this experience of quiet, genuine comradeship that motivates Davey to encourage her students to show their work to the broader Canberra community. "A lot of the guys face huge roadblocks like mental health issues and addiction that stop them from getting involved in the community, which in turn puts huge pressures on them. When they're doing art, they get really passionate about it. Seeing that drive makes me want to help them show their work and tell their stories."
The Village's residents have exhibited at the Belconnen Art Centre and Community Centre, and recently came third in the Tenants' Union Art Prize. At the moment, Davey is overseeing the production of work for the Village's latest group show, entitled Make Stupidity History. "It's chaos in the studio!" she laughs. "When we're in the room and everyone's working on their pieces for the show, there's paint being thrown around everywhere – it's just wild! The art that they're producing is a part of that chaos, and it's so alive."
The theme of the group show was developed by the Art Haven's regulars, who decided they wanted to create material that would enable them to reflect on the past and think about the future. "They were sitting around one day trying to come up with a concept for the show and said, 'Well, we've all done really stupid things'. My work at the studio revolves around talking to people who think that nothing is going to change in their lives, and helping them realise that they're not stuck. Even if my guys just finish one drawing, it's a feeling of accomplishment that they mightn't have felt for a long time. Art helps them think about what they've been doing and what they want to do. It's a really reflective process, and a process that can provide people with a lot of hope."
By helping her students bring their art out into the community, Davey aims to encourage Canberrans to form a genuine connection with a group of men whose personal struggles mean that their talents are often hidden from view. "When the guys take their work out of the Art Haven and that chaos, and you see it outside of the studio, it makes you really think about the soul who created it."
Make Stupidity History opens on Tuesday, October 6, at 7pm at The Front Gallery and Cafe. Sales and donations from the week-long exhibition will be used to fund the continued running of the Art Haven. To donate directly to the Ainslie Village Art Haven, email tillycdavey@gmail.com.
