A Belfast art gallery has received an award of £25,000 in recognition of their work with asylum seekers and women.
Golden Thread Gallery was one of three organisations to share the prestigious £150,000 Award for Civic Arts Organisations from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
The gallery's Deputy Director Sarah McAvera said that the money will help them with their move to a new city centre location.
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"13.5% of the population living in Northern Ireland weren't actually born here," she told Belfast Live.
"We find it really important to incorporate their voices into the work that we do. Our aim is to make art as accessible as possible and we took the idea that we weren't creating projects for people, we were creating them with people.
"We have been working with groups of women and children refugees and asylum seekers and we had a bit of a mix were some who were coming to us had a bit of experience with art and others did not.
"For us, it was about creating a space where people can express themselves through the likes of screen printing or making tote bags with images of flowers from their country."
Sarah said that the money will allow them to have a space in their new premises which will be dedicated to their ongoing engagement work.
"This will be a space for communities to come, express themselves and connect with the artwork," she said.
"We have an amazing team here and we have worked with women from over 26 countries including Somalia, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
"We have been able to work with hundreds of people through the project including creating welcome packs for nearly 350 children arriving here.
"The packs included a newsletter with recommendations for local foods to try and explaining some of our local colloquialisms, art supplies and a Welcome to Northern Ireland colour book."
Sarah said that looking to the future, they are planning on working with schools who have higher numbers of newcomer children and their families to give them a space where they can come and participate in activities.
"There were 336 applications for this year's award and we are the only group in Northern Ireland to have ever been shortlisted which helps to put Northern Ireland on the map," she added.
Baroness Deborah Bull CBE, chair of the judging panel said: “In the Award’s third year we received more applications than ever before, reflecting the breadth, diversity and reach of the UK’s cultural sector.
"The quality was universally high, which made selecting three from among the initial 336 a significant challenge. The organisations we chose to receive this year’s award stood out for us because of the ways in which they are pioneering and embedding new ways of co-creating with their communities, putting people at the heart of their thinking.
"Each one offers an inspiring example of how arts and culture can make a meaningful difference to communities and to individuals, and we hope that this award will support them in doing even more to enhance and transform lives.”
Luís Jerónimo, Director of Equity at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation added: “We were impressed by the breadth of work shown by this year’s Award applicants and shortlisted organisations.
"It is a testament to how much the civic arts movement is growing, and how essential culture is to society. The Foundation is committed to supporting and nurturing this movement in the UK, Portugal and beyond.
"We are extremely pleased to help the recipients expand their work and can’t wait to see what they do next.”
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