A Seasonal Message from the High Sheriff of Surrey – Shahid Azeem DL, who visited Artventure Trust, and met the Artist who designed his Christmas Card.
Shahid Azeem, High Sheriff of Surrey made a special Christmas visit to the Artventure Studio in Merrow last week. He met participants, staff, volunteers and trustees of the charity, that celebrates 40 years in the services of our community this year.
Artventure provides creative art sessions for learning disabled adults. They offer their services in their own purpose-built studio in the grounds of St Peter’s School, Merrow and they have just started to operate their second studio at Gosden House School in Bramley. 55 clients from all over Surrey visit their sessions weekly, where a team of practicing artists, artworkers and volunteers guide them to explore the visual arts and socialise in a safe and fun environment. The most important thing at Artventure is the creative process but they also like to show the produced artwork to the wider community at local exhibitions.
The High Sheriff has also chosen a Christmas Card designed by Helena Palma-Clarke, one of the artists at Artventure to be his official ecard this year!
Helena is a young artist devoted to nature. Her favourite mediums are watercolour, acrylics and oil pastel. She is also a keen and talented photographer, and her embroidery is remarkable as well. She attends sessions at Artventure Trust to practise her art and to be part of the Artventure community.
The High Sheriff was pleased to meet Helena in person and Helena was happy to tell him about which medium she liked best and what topics were her favourites. She also talked about what it meant for her to attend Artventure sessions.
“The best thing about Artventure was that it was like a big family, and once you became member of the Artventure family you would be part of it forever.” said Helena.
The High Sheriff met other clients and volunteers and even joined in creating a piece of his own.
“Seeing the phenomenal work that this fantastic organisation does is inspiring! They have clients from all over the county and help them with drawing and painting, I am blown away at the standard of the fabulous artwork I have seen here today. It really is a very special place and a place where people feel safe with the opportunity to get to know other creative minded people.”
The High Sheriff also chose the occasion to record a special seasonal video message (Above), wishing the people of Surrey a very happy Christmas and New Year.
Photos/Video by Andy Newbold
