Making Space for Joy
September 2023 to July 2024
Making Space for Joy was a programme of Family Day takeovers accoss the 2023 - 2024 academic year, rethinking Towner's approach to intergenerational engagement.
As Turner Prize 2023 took over the whole gallery, Towner challenged artist Amy Leung to do the same. In collaboration with Towner's Learning team, Amy trialled a new model of working, testing materials and installations that disrupt imagined boundaries of what we can and can't do in the gallery, enabling families to do the same.
Towner's foyers, corridors, our huge lift, studios and exhibition spaces transformed into making activations that encouraged intergenerational collaboration, reflections and ownership of gallery space.
Amy's approach created a sense of joy, belonging, creative confidence and collaboration with accessible routes into complex subjects explored across the year.
Amy identified and explored themes responding to her pratice, Eastbourne's local landscapes, Turner Prize 2023 (October 2023, February and April 2024), Maria Amidu in the perpetual back and forth, Emma Stibbon Melting Ice | Rising Tides and Florence Peake FACTUAL ACTUAL (May 2024).
October 2023 - Support Structures
February 2024 - Water Bodies/Crossings
April 2024 - Presence
May 2024 - Time
About the artist
Amy is a London based artist working across sculpture, drawing and workshops to explore the articulation and communication of joy. As an arts educator, she is interested in the intersections in which community, craft, objects and cultural identity meet. Material exploration and playing collaboratively are key to her practice, with ideas emerging through making together. Senses and bodies mingle with materials; delighting in the responsive nature of stuff and spaces.
Amy has previously worked with schools, families and communities on projects at Camden Art Centre, Firstsite, the Royal Academy, South London Gallery and MK Gallery. She has a MA in Art and Design in Education from the Institure of Education, University College London.
