Lawrence Badman, Social Work Practice Teacher at Livewell Southwest, has been commissioned by The Box in Plymouth to produce a series of ‘polaroid’ paintings, telling his LGBT+ story.
Lawrence was chosen along with three other Plymouth-based creatives to celebrate the diversity of the city’s LGBT+ community.
The four works mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of Plymouth’s award-winning ‘Pride in Our Past’ project and LGBT+ History Month. As well as being featured at The Box, they will be added to the Plymouth LBGT+ archive for future generations to experience and enjoy.
Lawrence paints under the pseudonym “Arth Lawr”, finding it a useful meditation tool as part of his mental health maintenance. He paints a world that is filled with happiness and humour. He is passionate about human and animal rights and he hopes that his art reflects the increasing social awareness of how life is more colourful and vibrant when people and animals are respected.
Lawrence said: “Katy Else, a fellow Social Worker told me that The Box were looking for commissions and she suggested I apply for it. I didn’t expect to get chosen, so it was a big surprise when I got the call to say the judging panel were unanimous in selecting me.
“When I found out I’d been chosen to take part I was really excited. The concept of my project is deeply personal, so I needed to be mindful of the upsetting memories it triggered. I took my time to write the text that accompanies the paintings. In true artistic style I scrapped all the paintings 10 days before the deadline! I wasn’t happy with them, so I started from scratch. I’m really pleased with the way they’ve turned out.
“I’ve lived through a bumpy journey but have accomplished a life I never thought possible back in the 1980s and 90s. I wanted to document how my life, my hopes and my self-acceptance emerged over the years. My ‘photos’ are accompanied by a short, written narrative and show me attending my first Plymouth Pride, meeting my husband, getting married, adopting our son, being a family and overcoming my anxiety.”
To download all six of Lawrence’s polaroids, click here.
And Lawrence will be supporting his colleagues at Livewell Southwest too, to learn more about his journey in his new Pride in Practice (PIP) Champion role.
As part of Livewell Southwest’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, PIP Champions will be established across the organisation. After recently completing his training with The LGBT Foundation, Lawrence is one of our first PIP Champions.
The aim of the training is for our PIP champions to confidently demonstrate leadership in the field of equality, diversity and inclusion, feel more knowledgeable supporting LGBT family, friends and colleagues, consult on equality, diversity and inclusion within the workplace and continue learning and developing through a compendium of online resources.
Lawrence said: “The training with the LGBT+ Foundation was incredibly insightful. As a gay man I thought I knew it all; how wrong I was! The subject is diverse and the training covers all the detail. I really enjoyed it and learnt about contemporary LGBT issues.”
PIP Champions will act as ambassadors for inclusion at Livewell Southwest, by developing and sharing knowledge and supporting staff in developing their own confidence and cultural competence when working with people from minority groups such as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, members of the LGBT+ community and people with disabilities.
