OPEN STUDIOS EVENT PREVIEWS WESTMINSTER ART EXHIBITION

Artists Melanie and Martin Swan are among those taking part in the Island Open Studios public art event, this weekend.

It is a chance for Islanders to preview work by the pair from Newport that will be shown at the House of Commons, in December.

The Island’s MP Andrew Turner has arranged for them, alongside four other local families affected by autism, to exhibit work at the seat of power. He also opened the Inside Outside exhibition at Newport’s Quay Arts Centre (PICTURED), where the work was first shown.

Paintings, sculpture, bespoke furniture, drawing, photography and poetry, created by parents, their autistic children and siblings will be displayed at Westminster. The show is being dedicated to the dad of one of the children, Malcolm Houghton, who died in 2005.

Artist (and IW Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services) Cllr Melanie Swan says Andrew Turner “has been a tremendous advocate for children with Special Educational Needs, over many years, and we are thrilled that he is giving the young people such a fantastic opportunity. It’s also a chance to spread the word about the creative contribution families with autism can make.”

The exhibition will be shown in the Upper Waiting Hall of the House of Commons, between 3rd and 7th December this year.