Creativity for all of the Community

Interview with Christopher Mike, Art in the Docks

This month, we were delighted to catch up with Christopher from Art in the Docks (AitD), a thriving artist-led organisation based in Newham, East London. Born out of a need for connection during the pandemic, AitD has since evolved into a force for creative community engagement, inclusion, and opportunity in the local area. As they join The Big Draw Festival for the first time this year, we spoke to Christopher about their journey so far, the impact of their Creative Pathways and Health & Wellbeing programmes, and their Big Draw plans for 2025.

Hi Christopher! Thanks so much for chatting with us today. To start off, could you tell us a bit about Art in the Docks and how it all began?

Art in the Docks (AitD) came into existence during the Covid pandemic. Before this, we were a group of artists that just happened to be renting studios from the same landlord. AitD was born out of the need for real and meaningful connection at a time when the value of community and relationships became clear to so many. One short Zoom meeting later, a new community had been born.

Art in the Docks is based in Newham - one of the youngest and most diverse areas in the UK. What does it mean to be embedded in this community, and how does that shape the work you do?

Diversity and youth bring so much to our local community including separate voices, a willingness to accept mutual differences and a thirst for knowledge and new experiences. With diverse communities, come challenges with belonging and inclusion. Whilst London has a lot to offer in arts and creativity, some communities feel that this is not relevant to them. Surrounded by one of the youngest and most ethnically diverse populations in the UK, we connect the cultural margins to the mainstream.

Your Creative Pathways programme is all about opening up access to careers in the creative economy. We’d love to hear more about this - are there any particularly memorable stories you can share about the impact this has had on young people?

We set up the Creative Pathways Programme to motivate young people to consider careers in the creative economy, at the same time showing them how to do it. One of the biggest barriers to entry is the need for further education and qualifications. Another is the lack of confidence and representation. We help to make the connections between teenagers and university students, establishing them as role models. There is no greater motivation to a 15-year-old than a meeting with their 20-something future self. We have significantly changed the landscape in terms of aspiration amongst local teenagers, several of these now work directly with us, and some of the university students have also joined us.

What do inclusive, community-rooted events look like at Art in the Docks? How do you ensure local voices are part of the process?

Our success as a community arts organisation relies entirely on the connections that we have made. Everything we do is informed by our local community. In every workshop or session that we deliver, we invite people to tell us what they would like to do next. We always try to make it happen. We have regular meetings with residents and community representatives. We work closely with the local authority (Newham), also the Royal Docks Team, the organisation tasked with promoting the Royal Docks area as the New Cultural Engine of London.

In an area with historically low investment in the arts, how do you make the case for cultural provision and ensure it remains valued?

‘Build it, and They will Come’ is an expression we have all heard before. Before Art in the Docks came into existence, there was no comparable alternative offering. We have witnessed the passion that local people have for cultural activity. Their increased confidence and willingness to engage is all down to the fact that they now have a credible opportunity to access and experience this world. This could easily be recreated in new locations.

You emphasise the therapeutic benefits of creative activity while being careful not to define it as art therapy. Why is that distinction important - and how do participants respond to this safe, open, and welcoming environment?

We do not claim to be ‘Arts Therapists’ as this has a very specific meaning and normally refers to something that takes place in a clinical environment. We instead offer people the opportunity to experience and explore the therapeutic benefits of engaging in creative activity. Groups that we have worked with include stroke survivors, people living in social isolation, bereaved mothers and family members, and people living with various trauma. All of this is delivered in a safe and inclusive environment as part of our Creative Health and Wellbeing programme. Like everything else we do, it is free at the point of access.

We’re so excited to have Art in the Docks joining this year’s Big Draw Festival! This year’s Big Draw Festival theme, ‘Drawn Together’, is all about how creativity unites us, placing collaboration and connection at the heart of making and creating. What does ‘Drawn Together’ mean to you? And how does it resonate with the work that you do at Art in the Docks?

We are super excited about being involved in this year’s Big Draw. Not only is this a first for us, it is also a first for Newham. The underlying ethos of The Big Draw - bringing everyone together in a creative activity - is 100% aligned to our values of community engagement and widening access to the arts. We want this to be a success for everyone involved and for it to become an annual event.

Looking ahead, what are your hopes for the future of Art in the Docks? Are there any upcoming projects you're particularly excited about?

We have some exciting upcoming projects this summer, including an expansion of our Saturday Kids Club into new locations, as well as two major community projects. One of these, ‘Bells and Whistles’, is a heritage project focused on the sights and sounds of the former working docks. This will involve over one thousand Newham residents in a series of community events in and around the Royal Docks area in the autumn.