Bill Taylor-Beales
Community and commercial artist
DOB: 14-03-65

I am an experienced community arts practitioner, visual artist and musician based in Roath, Cardiff. I have been engaging local communities (including health care centres, schools and youth groups) in collaborative cross-arts projects since establishing a community arts company, CollectiveAM, in 1996. The company now runs alongside a new initiative, the ‘People Around Here’ community arts charity, which has arisen out of my interest in people’s relationships to their neighbourhoods and my commitment to enabling them to express and explore issues of identity, place and aspiration through visual art and music.

Relevant Skills

Visual Artist: Mixed media, painting, drawing, sculpture, digital and video. Teaching art to all ages. Large scale murals. Design and project management.

Manager: Co-ordinator and communicator. Project manager. Team leader. Tour manager. Workshop creation and delivery.

Musician: Vocalist, guitarist and percussionist. Composer, original songs and theatre music. Guitar Tutor. Performer. Session musician/recording artist. Extensive touring and gigging experience. Producer of studio CDs for singer-songwriter and an Audio Book.

I have a proven track record in:
• Delivering publicly sited artworks
• Initiating, realising and managing large-scale projects
• Engaging local people in the creation of new work
• Working with children and young people
• A commitment to inclusion, particularly among disadvantaged groups
• Working in a variety of cultural contexts, both in the UK and internationally
• Incorporating multimedia disciplines within community arts initiatives
• Innovation and enthusiasm which delivers!


Recent Projects

Community Murals: All of these are currently on public display.
Abersychan Youth Centre: I worked with local young people aged 12-16 in transforming their youth building. After taking photos of key local hang-out places we then converted these images and projected them onto walls as the basis for a large interior painting featuring the young people in their own environment. This work was commissioned by The Prince’s Trust.
Keppoch Street, Roath: I engaged local people in the creation of a mural reflecting their understanding of the locality.
Maindy Leisure Centre: I worked with five primary schools and one high school workshopping ideas for images and text for a large-scale public mural on the side of Maindy Leisure Centre.
Llanedeyrn Community Café: The mural depicts the range of people who use the café/charity shop. I used a gallery of images from workshops held in the café for local schoolchildren and parents alongside street maps, local architecture and portraits of café customers.
Woodland Walk: a collaboration between Llanedeyrn primary school pupils and myself, together rejuvenating a rundown area at the back of their school by painting a large woodland scene. This includes creating planters, 8ft ‘trees’ to decorate and opportunities for continuous workshop experiences based on curricular studies.
Tremorfa park: I worked with a local youth group to design and create a mural on a large metal container situated in the park. This was a collaboration with Communities First.

Community Installations: Two recent examples of community installation work include:
Captain Morgan Pirate Ship and Pirate Playground: Created by the community at the Llanrumney Family Fun Day. Parents and children worked together to decorate the sails and the ship. We designed and built a 6ft long by 10ft high galleon from marine ply and ran workshops on the life of local historical figure, Captain Morgan.
Sparkhill Interfaith Project: A youth interaction day to explore faith and cultural issues through various mixed media workshops. We created a 3 dimensional structure for the young people to decorate following an art/faith workshop. The structure had space for monitors, blackboard graffiti area, sound installation and opposite faces to allow workshop ideas to be painted.

Can Do: This initiative engages local volunteers in making a contribution to the improvement of the physical fabric of a community facility. Local volunteers join in with the creation of murals for places in need of some investment. ‘Can Do’ at the Court School (a special needs school in Llanishen) was a great success… they even asked us to do another mural for them a year later!

Marie Curie Hospice Project: This was devised jointly with the Hospice in order to enable staff, patients and carers to be involved in the creation of new artwork for the Hospice. As part of this residency I have completed POVA training.

Ty Coch Nursing Home: I undertook a three month residency working with a small group of clients on a collaborative art project, to be displayed on the walls of the Nursing Home. I also delivered a series of talks on art history.

Scratch the Sky: This is an ongoing, multimedia, cross-art, international project, which uses the symbol of a kite as a metaphor for hopes and dreams. This project links a number of initiatives of the People Around Here charity with my own work as a visual artist and a musician. The project has included an album of original songs, an art exhibition, dance workshops, performances, art workshops with young people in Palestine’s West Bank, and an art project with shopkeepers in Roath. Through this project, different groups from communities in Cardiff and Palestine have taken part in workshops enabling them to express through art, digital storytelling and the written word what it is like to live in their diverse neighbourhoods.

Teaching: I work as a tutor at The Gate Arts Centre in Cardiff, providing art workshops and courses for all ages and abilities in a wide range of media. I am also a freelance guitar teacher.

Commissions: Recent private art commissions include five large oil based paintings for private interiors.


Employment History
1986-1990: Edward Lawrence Studios: Project manager and studio artist, responsible for creative input and practical construction of a wide range of projects, including: large-scale bronze sculptures, exhibitions, museums, film, TV, Washington memorial museum, London Science Museum, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and working for international artists such as Eduardo Paolozzi, William Hunt and Kenneth Armitage.

1990-1991: Rockscapes: Project/Site manager, responsible for large-scale artificial landscapes out of ferro concrete (for example, the Cliff Face waterfall at the Garden Festival of Wales, Ebbw Vale).

1991-1995: Training for BA/BEd at Nottingham Polytechnic.

1996-1999: Youth worker for the Diocese of Melbourne, Australia.

2000-present: Self-employed.
Additional Information
I am self-employed with a full driving license, an up-to-date CRB check, Child Protection and POVA training, First Aid certificate and my own Public Liability insurance.


References

Elaine Matta
Educational Development Officer
Community Focused Schools Room 116
County Hall
Atlantic Wharf
CF10 4UW
029 20872723
ematta@cardiff.gov.uk

Dave Horton
Communities First Officer
Glyn Derw High School
Penally Road
Caerau
Cardiff
CF5 5XP
029 2087 3655
Dhorton@cardiff.gov.uk