Judy started her CAGL by asking us all the same questions. I’ve included the answers I chose at the time.
Why do you make art? To make myself proud
What is art for? The soul
What is a moment that inspired you? When my art teacher told me he was proud of me for the first time.
Judy described that art helps her explore what it is to be human, that art should be outward facing and help each individual make more of life. Joseph Beuys ‘everyone is an artist’ then became the focus of Judy’s CAGL, and she described the ideology that every person is creative and creates, whether or not there is an intention to be creative behind that creation, is irrelevant. We shape the world we live in, and Judy believes we sculpt the word around us, and therefore we all have a part to play, artist or not, in the creative arts.
Judy described her passion in making connections through art which she has done by working with diverse communities, creating spaces for imagination, collaborating with many artist organisations, and being open to new opportunities. She believes what she does makes a difference to other peoples lives and happiness, and that we can all find something useful to express through art, and Judy is making it her mission to be a Mediator and mentor in every aspect of her life.
She works with Lines of desire, a collab group made up of a Stonemason, writer, actor, and Judy. They created a public art piece called ‘Dive in Movie’ which received 15000 visitors in five nights, with a movie screening each night.
Judy took part in Mortal fools theatre group, which worked on set design with many young children, creating dialogue and inspiring them to raise the expectations of other, making them future ready and allowing them a space for imagination. To use her own words, Judy is ‘outward facing’ and makes it her mission to help others above and beyond her capabilities, as an artist she is dynamic and responsible, but as a person she is wholly generous and inspirational. But the two tend to feed into one another which came through in Judy’s CAGL.
I think one of the most poignant images of Judy’s impact is when she talked about her artist residencies in a small town in Iceland, which since the start of the artist residencies, has received over 600 visiting artists, which has a huge impact on a tiny town of 400 people. She described her interest in seeing what art can offer these people and how she and others can make a difference to these peoples lives.
Angelica Jones 