Art as Refuge Conference 2025

Art as Refuge is a two-day conference organised by Outside In, hosted by The New Art Gallery Walsall and funded by The Baring Foundation.

The event will run alongside the National Exhibition – Shelter, featuring the work of the Outside In artists that inspired the conference theme.

Through a variety of workshops, discussions and performances, our programme examines the importance of creativity in people’s lives provoking conversation around the following questions:

• How does art provide space, respite, comfort, escape and, collectively, refuge?

• Am I an artist? Who decides the role, intention or validity of an artwork and its creator.

• What role does identity and intersectionality play in creative expression?

• Why is art made in the context of mental distress pathologized?

• Where is the voice of the artist in galleries, museums and heritage collections?