Local legend and honourary Keele University graduate Neil Baldwin will participate in a live portrait sitting by award-winning artist Tanya Raabe-Webber at Stoke City Football Club this September – and invites you to join him in celebrating the diversity of our common humanity.
Portraits Untold, funded by Arts Council England and in partnership with The Big Draw and other national venues including National Portrait Gallery will see acclaimed disabled artist Tanya Raabe-Webber undertake the live portrait sitting on Monday 19 September with the national treasure, who was employed as a kit man at Stoke City Football Club for seven years before BAFTA Award-winning BBC drama Marvellous was made about his extraordinary story.
Once described by then manager Lou Macari as ‘the best signing he ever made’, Neil began his working life as a registered clown called ‘Nello’ for Sir Robert Fossett’s Circus – the oldest circus in England. Macari invited Neil to work as a kit man in 1991 after meeting him outside the club, where he went on to be employed for seven years.
Neil was diagnosed with a learning disability as a child, but hasn’t let it limit his opportunities. With more famous friends than most celebrities, his portrait sitting promises to be full of interesting stories.
The sitting will take place in front of a live audience, who are encouraged to draw their own portraits of the sitter and explore their own creativity and diversity through traditional drawing and the use of digital drawing apps. The sitting will also involve a series of discussions about the lives of both Tanya and Neil and their thoughts on diversity, which audiences will be able to take part in.
The event, which will also be streamed live online, has been devised to reach new audiences through a variety of platforms to make art more accessible – something that artist Tanya Raabe-Webber feels strongly about.
Tanya Rabbe-Webber said: “As a disabled artist, the notion of my own diversity drives my interest in people and my belief that everyone has the potential to be creative if given the opportunity. I have developed this project to enable creativity to be as accessible as possible and am excited by the idea that both the physical and online audiences get to engage in the production of new work. I can’t wait to see how Neil’s story unfolds.”
Portraits Untold will take place in the Stanley Matthews Lounge at Stoke City Football Club across three two-hour sittings – for one of which, Neil will change into his clown costume. Throughout the sitting, Tanya will fuse digital and traditional drawings and versions of the audience’s drawings with her own to create a multi-layered portrait. Drawing materials will be provided, and audience members with smart phones and devices such as tablets are encouraged to download free drawing apps such as Sketch Book Pro before coming to the event. Audiences, both live and watching online will be able to send their digital and digitized drawings through to the artist on the day through social media.
Tony Scholes, chief executive of Stoke City Football Club, said “Neil’s life story truly is inspiring and underlines how strength of spirit can overcome any hurdles.
“We are proud of his association with Stoke City F.C. and we feel it’s only fitting that his live portrait sitting should take place at the bet365 Stadium.
“Neil is a well-loved member of the community in Stoke-on-Trent and we are delighted that local people will have the opportunity to attend the portrait sittings and actually join in and produce their own pieces of art.
“Tanya’s great passion is to make art accessible to people from all walks of life and we hope her sittings with Neil will capture the imagination of the people of Staffordshire, as well as those people watching online.”
Portraits Untold will take place across three other well-known venues with high profile sitters from July – October. At the end of the project, the completed portraits will go on display in each venue. For more information, visit www.portraitsuntold.co.uk. Like Portraits Untold on Facebook at www.facebook.com/portraitsuntold and follow @PortraitsUntold on Twitter.
