WATCH CREATE: a new BSL friendly art series for children launching soon!

‘Watch Create’ is a brand new art series consisting of six episodes filmed, edited and presented by Christopher Sacre in BSL with English subtitles.

Each episode shows a simple art activity using easily available materials to create at home for children – and adults can join in too if they wish!

The artist responsible for creating and delivering this new series, Christopher Sacre, is profoundly deaf and has worked as a visual artist and art facilitator for over 20 years.

I caught up with him to find out more about ‘Watch Create.’

Hi Christopher! Firstly, can you tell us a bit about you?

I was born hearing into a hearing family and I became deaf at the age of 2. I was oral with speech and attended a mainstream school.

From the age of 11, I attended a boarding school for the deaf. That was my first experience and access to BSL through my peers and when I discovered my true Deaf identity.

I continued my education with 7 years of further creative education and in 1999 I was awarded my degree. Following this I moved to London to work then in 2005 I decided to move back to Kent where my parents still lived.

Over time I met various local artists in Medway and built up a network. To date I am still in Medway working as a full time visual artist and art facilitator.

In 2016, I established SEE and CREATE (seeandcreate.org.uk), enabling deaf families to have greater opportunity to participate in accessible family-friendly creative events, and jointly founded the MESS ROOM (messroom.org.uk) with artist Wendy Daws – a creative community art studio based at Sun Pier House in Chatham, with a special emphasis on providing access to creative events for the Deaf and people with hearing loss, the blind and visually impaired people.

My partner is deaf and we are parents to three children. Our youngest daughter is also deaf. The children are bi-lingual and communicate both through BSL and spoken English. I love cooking and creative stuff!

How did you get into art in the first place? Who or what were your inspirations?

Being profoundly deaf I am more reliant on my vision and am drawn to visual forms. When I was young in 1980s there weren’t subtitles on the television so I spent a lot of time drawing and making stuff which I really enjoyed.

I did watch Tony Hart and Blue Peter as a child which were very visual and creative. I think these were the early inspirations for my love of art and creativity.

I have met a lot of creative individuals over the years and these people, their stories and experiences have also inspired me and shaped me into the person I am.

As you’re launching ‘Watch Create’ on the 10^th April, what can people expect if they join in?

The whole series is accessible by a link to a new WATCH web page. WATCH delivers fun family-friendly programmes with creative activities for children to view and have a go at making from home.

Families miss out on creative events held at different locations which are far from home and for a variety of other reasons.

WATCH means children don’t have to miss out on the fun, and provides access to creative activities which can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere! We’d love to see what you make, and you can check out other creations at the WATCH Gallery.

Anyone can join in! ‘Watch Create’ series is aimed at children aged 5-11. However, anyone of any age and ability is able to access the programmes at WATCH and be creative.

All ‘Watch Create’ episodes are presented in BSL and have English subtitles. Working within a limited budget we couldn’t do voiceover for this series but we hope to add this in future productions.

The programmes have a high level of visual content and include lots of visual demonstrations which I hope both deaf and hearing can easily follow.

I imagine as an artist the last year has been very difficult due to the pandemic. So, where did the inspiration come from to create the ‘Watch Create’ series?

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, I was gutted and missed working with children, families and schools. The pandemic put the brakes on everything from March 2020 which had a profound affect on my work. All creative workshops and events had to be postponed or cancelled.

Each lockdown affected my income and created a lot of uncertainty with not knowing how long the restrictions would be in place and what the future would hold. It did, however, give me the time to breathe and reflect on my creative practice and plan short and long-term strategies for years to come.

It was exciting to see one of the positive things to come out of the pandemic in how people increasingly switched to digital platforms and took opportunities to reach out to a wider deaf audience and BSL users.

Before the pandemic struck I was conscious of the low numbers of deaf children and families that could make it it to live creative events and I was already thinking about how this could be addressed digitally.

However, I was quite stubborn in avoiding the digital world! I guess the pandemic has given me a nudge to get over my reluctance and explore the possibilities it offers to reach out to deaf audiences and improve access.

I noticed how more and more people were adapting their creative art practices and working online and through social media platforms. Some of these were not accessible, either being too fast, with no signing, no BSL translation or subtitles.

Even when auto-generated subtitles were there they weren’t always ‘spot-on’. It made me think of my own, and other deaf families and how it wasn’t accessible to them and that social media was often an unsuitable place for children to access and view content.

It gave me the idea of producing ‘WATCH’ for everyone to access at home on the internet at anytime during the pandemic but also in the future. ‘WATCH’ would provide flexibility for families to access the SEE and CREATE website whenever it suited them and mean the children wouldn’t miss out on creative activities.

This was how the idea came about and I decided to apply for an Arts Council England, National Lottery Projects Grant to fund the project. Thankfully, I was successful and received the funding to develop a new WATCH web page and Watch Create series.

This is my first attempt at film making and I’m really keen to receive feedback from viewers to evaluate its success and help me make refinements and improvements. I plan to develop it further in future filming more ‘Watch Create’ series and developing new creative programmes with museums and galleries that can reach out to BSL users and the wider deaf audience across the UK.

What do you feel the benefits are for those engaging in art or creative pursuits?

I feel the benefits for those engaging in art and creative pursuits include; creativity, exploring the use of different materials and learning new skills, overall wellbeing, resourcefulness, participation and a sense of achievement.

Art and creativity have given me opportunities of huge variety including numerous collaborations and projects. I have had the pleasure of meeting so many creative and inspiring people. Most importantly, I love to see the enjoyment and satisfaction in the faces of those who engage in art and creativity, especially children and young people.

What do you hope participants will gain from watching and joining in with the creative videos?

This is my first attempt at making a ‘Watch Create’ series and I hope the participants will find the creative videos accessible and engaging. I hope they enjoy creating the art and find the themes interesting. The aim is for them to send photos of their creations by email, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the #WatchCreate. It will be great to receive feedback from the children and their families of what they felt went well and any areas for improvement.

I am looking forward to celebrating their creativity and seeing their works of art!

Finally, do you have any tips or words of advice for budding artists?

Have fun, be creative and don’t worry about what others think. The most important thing is to enjoy the art and creativity and don’t compare with others as yours is unique. Be proud of your creations and keep on creating. And don’t forget to share with us!

You can find out more about the ‘Watch Create’ series which launches on 10th April here: www.seeandcreate.org.uk/watch

Interview by Rebecca-Anne Withey.

Christopher Sacre studied BA (Hons) Fine Art Sculpture at Wolverhampton and has been a visual artist and art facilitator for over 20 years. Currently based at Sun Pier House in Chatham (Kent), he specialises in providing creative workshops and activities that are accessible to deaf people, families, schools and supporting other facilitators to improve the accessibility of their provision at galleries, museums, and other creative events for everyone including those who use British Sign Language (BSL) and spoken English.

Photography credit to Rob Harris.