Every year, Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum’s Learning team works alongside an artist and local communities living within Merton and Wandsworth to produce a piece of art work in celebration of The Championships.
The aim is to open up the world of Wimbledon to those who may never have experienced The Championships, or tennis, and use their ideas and input to create something slightly different from the expected. The artwork is displayed throughout the Fortnight and year-round for visitors to enjoy.
This year’s Community Art project is inspired by the new No.1 Court roof and, more specifically, the eleven supporting trusses each weighing 100 tonnes that span the stadium. Focusing on the theme of support, the project explores the importance of building strong support networks in the community.
The Wimbledon Foundation, the charity of the All England Club and The Championships, supports more than 65 local charities across the London boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth each year. One of those is Hearts & Minds; a peer-led support group for young people aged between 14 and 25-years old who are experiencing mental health difficulties.
Together with artist Beatrice Morris, an undergraduate student from Wimbledon College of Arts, young people from Hearts & Minds spent six months co-curating a series of umbrellas to reflect what their peer support group means to them. Each of the eleven umbrellas symbolises one of the eleven supporting trusses of the No.1 Court roof.
Beatrice Morris said, “No.1 Court has just had this beautiful roof built and its almost fabric-like the way that the roof collapses and reopens. There are eleven trusses that support the roof and these eleven umbrellas are our own personal collapsible roofs. It’s all based on support; support of the roof and how these young people at Hearts & Minds support each other.” The finished umbrellas are on display in the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum and form part of the Museum’s new temporary exhibition ‘No.1: Not just a supporting act’ on until 2020.