THE deadline is fast approaching for submissions for A Year Of Change: My Bubble, a York community art project run by South Bank Studios artists Donna Maria Taylor and Katie Hill.

The closing date for an exhibition open to all is March 23, a date chosen to mark the first anniversary of Britain going into lockdown with the Government edict to Stay Home, Protect The NHS, Save Lives.

Launched to “help people through lockdown and isolation”, the project invites you to make a small artwork at home, for exhibit initially online at southbankstudios.co.uk/onlinegallery and then at Southlands Methodist Church, once the lifting of restrictions permits the Covid-safe reopening of the church building in Bishopthorpe Road.

“So that we can put all of the artworks together in 2D – and possibly 3D – forms for the physical exhibition, we’re asking that they should be a specific size and shape,” say the organisers. “So, the design must be contained within a circle, somewhere between 12cms and 21cms in diameter.”

Submissions are limited to one per person; each artwork must be lightweight enough to Blu Tack to a wall and should be personal to you and inspired by your life in York during Covid-19 times. 

“We’re hoping for a range of responses but some of the ideas and themes you may wish to explore as initial lines of inquiry include neighbours; home school; working from home; loss; support for essential workers,” say Donna and Katie.

“Or how about hobbies and interests; walks or exercise regimes; your garden; view from you home; family and friends; specific objects that are important to you; home comforts; a close-up of a room in your house or your lockdown clothing/footwear?”

Bubble-shaped works must then either be delivered to Southlands Methodist Church letterboxes on the Southlands Road or Nunmill Street entrances, marking the envelope FAO My Bubble, or posted to My Bubble  (South Bank Studios), Southlands Methodist Church, 97, Bishopthorpe Road, York, YO23 1NX.

Donna came up with the idea for the exhibition because she decided she “wanted to give something back”. “Being involved in a community art project was at the top of my ‘To Do’ list at the beginning of this year,” she says.

“For personal reasons, I wasn’t in a position to get involved in any of the projects many artists were getting involved in during the first lockdown: making masks, scrubs, painting portraits for NHS Heroes etc.

“I contacted Katie in mid-January to ask if she'd be interested in working with me on the project and we launched it by the end of that month.”

Katie came up with the timescale idea, March 23 becoming the project’s deadline date, and she suggested the title of A Year Of Change too.

“We were originally looking at asking people to produce designs within squares but then the ‘My Bubble’ idea suddenly came to me in the middle of the night, as these things tend to do,” says Donna.

“Initially we were going to limit the project to adults, but actually we soon realised that it would also give families a chance to do something creative together while they were stuck at home doing home schooling, so we opened it up to cover all age groups.”

What drew Katie to becoming involved as a project leader? “I’ve worked on a lot of community art projects in Leeds and only moved to York in January 2020, just before lockdown, so it’s been a strange time to arrive in a new city,” she says.

“But this project was an opportunity to get involved in something with the local community, to get to know people and do something positive during a very challenging time for everyone.”

Around 40 bubble designs have been sent in so far. “We’re expecting quite a few more will arrive in the next week. People love working to a deadline,” say the organisers. 

“We’ve been in touch with a number of groups in York who we hope will get involved, such as York Carers, York Mind and Refugee Action York, but we really don’t know how many we will receive until the deadline.

“We’d love to get 365, one per day of the year, but however many we get it will make a great exhibition.”

Already Donna and Katie have set up the online exhibition at southbankstudios.co.uk/onlinegallery, adding "bubbles" as they come in. “We’re also doing regular posts on our social media sites, and we’re planning to have a physical exhibition of all the ‘bubbles’ together at some point over the summer months and we certainly hope to coincide this with the two York Open Studios weekends: July 10/11 and July 17/18,” they say.

All the works must be circular, matching the shape of a bubble. “We wanted a format that would unify all of the artworks, so that people could do a range of art in different styles, but they would all fit together, so we knew we wanted everyone to do something that was the same shape,” say the organisers.

“Obviously the ‘Bubble’ idea links to social bubbles in lockdown, so the circle fits with that idea too. We’ve received some gorgeous artwork so far: the circle idea is working really well.”

My Bubble’s artworks certainly capture a year of extraordinary change. “The Covid crisis has highlighted many things, including the importance of connecting with your community, taking action to maintain your physical and mental wellbeing, and the value of creativity for mental health,” says Katie.

“Hopefully, this project brings those things together. Community projects are so important to create opportunities for people to connect with each other and to express themselves and their experiences.

“We were really aware that the last year has been a very mixed experience, with some severe hardship and distress, and as artists we really believe that doing something creative can help during challenging times.”

For full details on how to take part in My Bubble, go to: southbankstudios.co.uk/art-project.