Words by Smiley Team
Art therapist Juli Beattie came to England from Hungary as a child refugee amidst the civil unrest of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. School played a vital part in her integration and led her to a career in children’s education. Today she is creating an innovative double-decker bus that will visit schools offering art therapy to children and their families post-lockdown.
As a child starting out without any English language skills, Juli gravitated towards art as a universal way of communicating and thanks to the inspiring teachers who helped her early on, she developed a passion for education.
“Art is accessible to anyone,” she said, “it’s fundamental to our well-being and mental health, as fundamental as having breakfast. Too early, people think they can’t do it but there’s no such thing as ‘can’t’ for art. Looking at art in a gallery is a feast, it encourages communication and it is absolutely something every child and adult should do.”
The skills and interests she gleaned from her early experiences still influence her work today. After training as a teacher she spent over 40 years supporting children in mainstream and specialist schools and hospitals.
In addition to AT The Bus she founded another charity called The Art Room. Her work won her an OBE in 2016, the Champion of Women Award and an Honorary Doctorate from Bath Spa University.
Set to launch in Cherwell School, a secondary school in Oxford, the bus will offer a calm space where children can express themselves freely through art and crafts projects. From there Juli hopes to drive the bus to Barlby Primary School in West London to share her enthusiasm for art with even more children of diverse backgrounds.
The exterior of the bus was painted in bright block patterns by visual artist Camille Walala who met Juli and lept at the opportunity to work with her on AT The Bus.
Supported by patrons including Camille as well as fellow artist Grayson Perry, AT The Bus is a nonprofit run entirely off donations.
To support AT The Bus, head to the donation page on atthebus.org.uk.
Readers can also help by buying a signed print created by photographic artist Joanna Vestey. Priced at £150, each print purchased provides five hours of art therapy to improve children’s mental health and well-being.
