A COLLECTION of artwork celebrating the residents of Oxford Road is being exhibited at HolyBrook Gallery, featuring works by Caroline Streatfield.
‘People of Oxford Rd’ aims to engage with the community of the road and its surrounding area, and explore the effects of the immigrant population on Reading.
Ms Streatfield, who taught at Reading College for 20 years, says that the project was all about accessibility.
“The whole premise of the project was that art is accessible for all.”
She said that this was also why the HolyBrook Gallery in Reading Central Library was the perfect exhibition space.
“It’s central, and what better place for a community project?”
As well as painting five life-sized portraits, Ms Streatfield also ran workshops for children, adults, and a number of multi-ethnic communities.
The 12 workshops were also opened up to speakers of English as a second language, and those with special educational needs from Oxford Road School.
Ms Streatfield said that the workshops she ran helped groups who can struggle with maths or English, “but with art they came alive.
“They’re young and fresh, so they notice things you’ve never noticed before, and I think it really meant a lot to them.”
Members of the workshops produced self-portraits, and children from the Oxford Road Community School created a group portrait.
Now Streatfield’s five portraits are joining the self-portraits of the community in an exhibition celebrating their identities and exploring the rich diversity of culture in Reading.
“I’ve lived in Reading since I was 12,” Ms Streatfield said, “and we need more spaces, more studios, and of course more funding.
“Art brings people together, because it is all about community.”
The paintings were first toured along the Oxford Road, stopping at Battle Library and the Biscuit Factory, before settling at the HolyBrook gallery.
The works are a mixture of self-portraits by attendees of the workshops and portraits of residents of Oxford Road.
Subjects include a worker at the pharmacy, a hairdresser, and an assistant at a menswear shop.
Ms Streatfield says that there has always been elitism in the art world, but that people are taking control of it.
“Anyone can be an artist, and I want to break down any barriers early on.”
Ms Streatfield also says that the project feels like a shift in her own work.
“I used to paint my own past, but in this project I’m portraying the people of this town as they are right now.
“Before, I was painting ghosts.”
The People of Oxford Road exhibition will be showing at the HolyBrook Gallery in Reading Central Library, floor 2, until Thursday, March 31.
