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EASTER CLOSURE
All Bedford sites except Balyana will be closed over Easter, reopening on Tuesday 2nd April.

Bedford's SALA 2021 theme Freedom of Expression offers the opportunity for our Clients to creatively express their thoughts, feelings, goals or hopes through a variety of artistic media. Be it painting, drawing, sculpting, or using elements from the natural environment, each piece has been made with pride and reflects our Clients’ lives.

The Freedom of Expression exhibition will be launched on August 20 at TEN22 Boutique. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this is an invitation-only event - however everyone can enjoy the 2021 SALA entries through the online gallery below.

In 2019 we launched a fund-raising drive to pave the way for an Art Space at Bedford Panorama. This involved clearing out and renovating a disused gym to create a new area dedicated to art. We had a target of $70,000 to lay new floors and ceilings, windows, work benches, a wet area and a toilet block.

At the end of the campaign we didn’t just hit the $70,000 target; over $100,000 was raised by our generous Bedford donors. That meant that not only would the new Art Space go ahead, but it also paid for art resources and supplies for the first few years of operation. The extra funding also meant we could help our clients stage exhibitions, even sell their beautiful creations and, best of all, earn their own commissions.

Rachael Griffiths, General Manager of Community Access and Lifestyle, says the Art Space not only gives Bedford’s budding artists an opportunity to be creative, but also expands their skills and knowledge.

View the video below to learn more about the fundraising, and the amazing outcomes that our Day Options and Community Access and Lifestyle clients get from using the Panorama Art Space.

"Within Day Options, creative and performing arts has just been seen as a ‘thing to do’, rather than an opportunity for clients to make a business out of it, and empower them to sell their own pieces, make some money, to create something outside of the traditional employment opportunities."

— Rachael Griffiths, Community Access and Lifestyle General Manager