Sophia Leadill
Sophia Leadill is a Wrecsam-based artist who specializes in Arts in Health and Community-engaged projects. She has a BA in Fine Art, and an MA in Arts in Health from Wrexham University.
Her practice is best described as community-engaged and responsive, and she uses a range of media with a particular interest in printmaking, photography, film, sound and installation. Her main areas of interest are people’s stories, community mapping and the impact of shared creative activity on health and wellbeing.
In 2021 during the pandemic she set up a CIC called Cyswllt Crefftau Wrecsam / Craft Connect Wrecsam, enabling people to craft and connect through shared creative activity. Unintentionally this led to an interest in Arts in Health as she observed the impact of shared creative activity on health, wellbeing, the easing of social isolation, and benefit to community cohesion. Observing the impact of skill-sharing, not only on health and wellbeing but also on increased self-esteem and managing emotional distress, developed into a deeper interest in the benefits of working co-creatively from a trauma-informed perspective.
Following research into the impact of suicide on the rail network on train drivers, rail staff, emergency services and the wider community, Sophia has recently been working with 3CCCRP (3 Counties Connected Communities Rail Partnership) and Transport for Wales on a project with Wrexham General Railway Station to support health and wellbeing in the local community, working with groups from Housing Justice, The Wallich and other community groups via a series of conversations, workshops and field trips. The mural that was produced following Phase 1 can currently be seen in the waiting room at Wrexham General Station.
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Insta: sophia_leadill_artsinhealth
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Brief description of workshop – Sophia Leadill
Relaxed and informal drop-in photo-montage workshop for all ages, drawing inspiration from past and present-day Trefor and Cefn and considering the different elements that have made Trefor and Cefn the places that they are today - the people, the industries, the homes, the shops and the well-worn paths. There’ll be a range of images and materials for you to work with . . and plenty of scope for adding your own unique touches with artist Sophia Leadill on hand to offer as much or as little support as you feel you need.
There’ll be plenty of free materials available to use, and if anyone would like to bring any photocopies of photographs, maps or postcards of Trefor or Cefn to incorporate into your photo-montages then this would be fantastic too! You could bring photographs of yourself , your family, or your ancestors or of how the local buildings used to look – but please make sure that you bring photocopies rather than the originals, so that you can incorporate these into your photo montage without using the originals.