PRESS BIO: BECKY SHERAIDAH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ARTHOUSE MEATH
-arts social enterprise in Godalming, Surrey showcases talents of adults living with severe epilepsy, learning and physical difficulties
-founder and director is 38 -year-old single mother and Fellow of Royal Society of Arts
-ARTHOUSE Meath ethical art products are ideal for Christmas gift guides
-Becky Sheraidah available immediately for profile/interview features
Becky Sheraidah is an artist, mother and visionary social entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to what you might call “outsider art”. Except the term doesn’t really apply to ARTHOUSE Meath, because the ethos driving the project is inclusion, acceptance and celebrating differences. Sheraidah is changing attitudes towards adults living with severe epilepsy or learning/physical difficulties, one artwork at a time.
At ARTHOUSE Meath, these people are no longer outsiders. They are uniquely talented artists, whose fresh, vital work adorns a range of prints, T-shirts, cards, mugs and other items that make perfect gifts or statement pieces.
Founded by Sheraidah in 2005 and based in Godalming, Surrey, ARTHOUSEMeath is a thriving non-profit business that boasts over 200stockists in the UK, Holland, Switzerland, France and Australia, and has worked with such names and brands as Conran, Tate Modern, Lush andFatFace. Sheraidah was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2014.
“ARTHOUSEMeath’s work is real, honest and innocent,” Sheraidah says. “Combine that purity with skilled art instructors and designers using the right materials and colours – that mix is a winner.”
Customers get that rare combination of feel-good ethical spending and genuine artistic merit. The products would be must-buys even if they didn’t provide priceless validation and encouragement to peoplewho, Sheraidah says, are too often needlessly marginalised.
“Feeling truly purposeful through the use and recognition of your own skills is important to everyone. Each ARTHOUSE Meath artist’s contribution has real financial value; they develop self-belief from that. A huge part of the appeal for the buyer is you’re changing people’s lives, and the ripple effect is that you’re changing views on how people should be treated. If you’re buying as a gift, you’re spreading the word. And all the money goes back into the project.”
“When a customer and an artist meet it is quite often a tear-jerking moment. When I see the artist thinking, ‘I did that, I am good at this,’ I crumble!”
Sheraidah came from a working-class background, with an Iraqi father and British mother. Having left state school at 15 to study fine art,she became a travelling artist, including spells at the Bidyadange Aboriginal community in Western Australia, the Salamanca Arts Centre in Hobart, Tasmania, and as a resident artist in Fremantle, Western Australia.
“In 1999 I started to run workshops for adults with severe epilepsy, learning and physical difficulties,” says Sheraidah, recalling the period following the completion of her own studies in the UK. “I loved getting to know each personality, each individual’s way of working, each person’s refreshing outlook.
“They didn’t have much belief in themselves and their skills were not recognised, just because they needed 24-hour care. They werecolouring in someone else’s drawing or sticking tissue on paper, all of which was thrown away at the end of the day. I felt we could easily make a change.
“Each person’s unique style came with a fresh, raw, honest feel, a style which I knew mainstream artists were striving to achieve. I knew there was room for this work in the marketplace. I knew people would want it in their homes.”
The majority of ARTHOUSE Meath artists are residents of the Meath Epilepsy Trust, a charity offering housing and support services for people aged 19 and over living with severe epilepsy, learning and physical difficulties. In 2005, the Trust accepted Sheraidah’s proposal and funded the foundation of Arthouse Meath.
When she’s not working at ARTHOUSE Meath, Sheraidah is a portrait painter, specialising in capturing children's essence and innocence by encouraging the child to make their own marks on the canvas alongside Sheraidah’s work.
“I am a single mum of a lovely six-year-old daughter and I live in Hove, so work/life flexibility is very important. I must be there for my daughter. From 7pm when my daughter is asleep I have long evenings of uninterrupted work. The majority of our team are parents of young children.”
Sheraidah names Jean-Michel Basquiat as her own favourite artist. “I love seeing the essence of the soul within artworks, within the marks. That interest, that excitement, that passion – it cannot be taught.”
On the future of ARTHOUSE Meath, Sheraidah says: “I would like to see it develop, with help from external funding, in new areas. I’d like to franchise, so we’re offering people across the country the opportunity to work in an ARTHOUSE Meath way. Ultimately, my vision is for ARTHOUSE Meath to be a household name: for people to realise that if they buy a mug, a T-shirt, a painting, they are accepting adults with learning difficulties into their lives.”
ARTHOUSE Meath artist Grace Oakley and Founder Becky Sheraidah
FURTHER INFO AND IMAGES: Jenny Calvert or Katie Abbott
Arthouse Meath, 96 The High Street, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1DW
01483 411064 • arthousemeath.com • @The_ARTHOUSE_UK