It takes a village… art exhibition by mums in Stockport
Launch Jan 25th 2020 11:00-15:30

An exhibition of artwork by Arc’s ‘Just For Mums’ group: support through motherhood.

Featuring artwork by a group of women who have come together to explore creativity and support each other through motherhood. Their work exemplifies their individual personalities, their relationships with one another and wider community relationships that provide support for raising a child. The exhibition will launch from 11:00-15:30 on January 25th with a special community-themed Saturday Art Club.

Arc’s “Just For Mums group” provides the opportunity for participants to come together in a supportive “village”. Less about the physical aspects of traditional village childcare, the group is a chance to talk, to create, for time for themselves and a place they can get the backing and validation from other mothers who are experiencing similar issues.

“Through our exhibition we aim to illustrate how our ‘village’ is made up of completely unique houses, representing the individuality of each member of our community, however, when we come together we create a supportive whole.” –Jane, participant

“It takes a village to raise a child” is an African proverb which illustrates how a community of people coming together can increase the chances of a child growing up in a safe and healthy environment.
Traditionally, women had a group of friends and relatives close to them to help to bring up children; following in their mother’s, aunt’s and sister’s footsteps, not knowing anything different, but since jobs have developed and since the 1980s when opportunities for women having careers grew and attitudes towards working mothers began to change, many people in our modern society are choosing to move away from their family to study or find work. Life is getting busier, so often mothers don’t have the time to make the same connections with immediate neighbours and they don’t always have that ‘village’ of support around them.

Mothers are constantly bombarded with conflicting advice and ever-changing guidelines from “parenting experts” and professionals about how to be the “perfect mother” and for some this has created a more stressful experience under constant pressure to make the right decisions and leading to doubt of the “mothering instinct”. Shocking statistics show that suicide is the main cause of death in women between six weeks and one year after pregnancy (MBRACE-UK, Confidential Inquiry into Maternal Deaths, 2016) and that an estimated 58% of postnatal depression cases go unreported (Metro, 2018), which suggests that coming together as a supportive community could have an impact perhaps even more than historically.

The exhibition will continue in the Gallery Cafe Weds-Fri from 10:00-16:00 until 16:00 on Friday February 7th 2020. Follow the event on Facebook and see the visit us page for art gallery information.