The Outposted Project: connecting artists in isolation

It’s a wrap!

The Outposted Project was a participatory multidisciplinary arts project and platform for creativity and connection in a time of crisis.

Artist Susie Hetherington and myself began an experiment in Lockdown #1, an art-mapping project which saw Ordnance Survey maps passed house to house between artists, writers, musicians, performers and makers who created their own outposts of isolation by pasting a piece of work onto a square of the map. We began with a map that moved between over thirty artists in the Five Valleys area around Stroud, Gloucestershire, where we live. This included the work of much-loved local artists and writers including Nick Grellier, Daisy Murdoch, Rod Nelson, Adam Horovitz, Jonny Fluffypunk, John Holland, Emily Hall and many more.

Over time, new maps sprung up in Brighton & Hove, South London, and the Brecon Beacons, creating a connected community of around 100 artists across the southern reaches of the United Kingdom.

Right from the start, the Outposted Project was a totally DIY project, led by artists for artists. It has been artists who have propelled Outposted onwards and helped it grow and we were delighted to have had the opportunity to finally showcase this extraordinary project in an exhibition this March 2022 at the Three Storeys gallery in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire. The costs of the exhibition were crowdfunded by our supporters. Susie made some beautiful signed, limited-edition prints to commemorate the project and we put together a pamphlet of selected poetry and artwork.

The exhibition was a brilliant success and a great opportunity to share insights into a fascinating creative and social history. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who created, visited and responded with so much love to the show. It was a blast.