Teulu: Aberystwyth Arts Centre wins national award for inclusive exhibition

Aberystwyth Arts Centre picked up the award for Best Family Arts Activity Award at one of the UK’s most prestigious national awards ceremonies for their groundbreaking exhibition, Teulu/Family.

The Fantastic for Families Awards 2024  national awards celebrate outstanding opportunities created for families and older audiences to access creative opportunities and enhance wellbeing through arts and cultural activities.

Teulu/Family was a unique six- month project where four families worked with Aberystwyth Arts Centre to co-curate a major art exhibition.

It was a project that aimed to be innovative, break new ground and which tried to find new models of working that put the public at the heart of decision-making. At its core, the aim was to break down the barriers that prevent family audiences from enjoying and taking part in the arts.

Engagement

Teulu/Family was an Arts Council of Wales funded exhibition with commissions funded by CELF, the national contemporary art gallery for Wales.

CELF is a partnership of eleven venues across Wales, including Aberystwyth Arts Centre, working together to create and deliver opportunities for people to be able to enjoy artworks from the national collection.

Jack Sargeant, Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership, said:“Llongyfarchiadau to all involved in Teulu / Family!

“This fantastic – and now award-winning – exhibition shows the benefits and potential of CELF’S new dispersed model, with items selected from across the national collection displayed alongside newly created items.

“By involving families so closely in its creation and curation I’m sure the exhibition will have inspired many more to enjoy and engage with the arts, possibly for the first time.”

Ambitious

Award-winners were selected out of over 150 applications, initially shortlisted to 26 organisations from across the United Kingdom.

Each of the shortlisted projects were recognised and celebrated by the Family Arts Campaign through sharing their Stories of Family Arts engagement, ahead of the winners being announced.

The Best Family Arts Activity Award celebrates creative events and activities developed especially for families. The judges for this category were Sarah Mears, Programme Manager at Libraries Connected and Zoe Dennington, Head of Learning and Participation at the Crafts Council.

Zoe Dennington, Head of Learning and Participation at the Crafts Council said: “We loved the TEULU/ FAMILY Exhibition—we thought co-creating an exhibition with families was really ambitious.

“The final show looked so vibrant and inviting—you can really see that the families’ choices shining through.”

Sarah Mears, Programme Manager at Libraries Connected added: “It was really inspiring to see the range of activities in this category.

“We were particularly impressed by how the shortlisted organisations had involved families in the planning and development of activities and the real care and empathy they had shown in creating inclusive and accessible high-quality family arts.”

Responding to the award win, Ffion Rhys, Curator Aberystwyth Arts Centre and Elin Vaughan Crowley, Artist and Project Co-ordinator said: “ We are so happy to receive this award, thank you so much to the 4 fantastic families that worked with us over 6 months to realise this co-curated exhibition, they opened our eyes to new ways of working and transformed our gallery into a welcoming and inclusive space for the whole family.

“A huge thank you to all the artists in the exhibition, our partners Amgueddfa Cymru- National Museum Wales, National Library Wales, School of Art Museum and Galleries Aberystwyth University, Culture Colony, Plant Dewi, Flying Start and Families First.

“Thank you to the Arts Council of Wales and CELF- National Contemporary Art Gallery Wales for funding this project.”

Increasing access

Fantastic For Families Awards are given by Family Arts Campaign, which is the largest national, cross-art form initiative to increase access to arts and culture for families of all ages.

The Family Arts Campaign is funded by Arts Council England and is a National Portfolio Organisation within the national Let’s Create strategy.

Visit here to find out more and see the full list of Fantastic For Families Awards winners.