The Big Interview
– With Lizzy Humber, Exeter Creative Producer, innovator and mother.
We meet Lizzy to find out why the time is now to help parents and carers access art and culture in the city and how she’s helping to make it happen with the Daylight Sessions.
Tell us about your work. Why is it important?
When I became a parent I realised I wasn’t welcome in cultural spaces with my small children. I began to feel invisible. Everything happened at night when I couldn’t get out. I knew that there were more people like me, so I started thinking about the ingredients you’d need to change things and talking to other parents. I developed a series of events for adults but where children feel welcome too. I included basic things like good baby changing facilities and spaces to play, I took the pressure off people so they felt they could arrive late, leave early, snack, walk around and make noise. And I wanted a place where children can see you as a whole person, for them to be able to say, “Oh, this is the music Mum really enjoys”, or to see you having a laugh. In a lot of child-centred spaces you might learn all the children’s names, but not the parents’, you might learn how the children slept the night before, but not about the adult’s interests, and that can feel incredibly isolating.
Come on in. You’re welcome. There’s a space for you here!
Why now?
Loneliness is a national crisis. Studies show that loneliness is having a real impact on parents and new mothers in particular, and can be as damaging to physical and mental health as smoking or lack of exercise. You might be surrounded by lots of people, but it’s the quality of those connections that’s important. Creating spaces to come and also be a parent, to have adult conversation, to meet new friends, to feel welcomed and seen as you are, makes those kinds of connections possible. I’m making a community where we are very firmly included and not always banging at the door to be let in. The door is just open and it’s, Come on in. You’re welcome. There’s a space for you here!
What are the Daylight Sessions?
I developed the Daylight Sessions to create a ray of sunshine; a series of high-quality, grown-up gigs, things like music, comedy, author talks and poetry that you can bring your kids to in the day and not have to worry about finding a babysitter. Over the autumn and winter we’ve got comedy from Jo Enright, music from Witching Waves and Sound of the Sirens and poetry from Lily Redwood and Liv Torc. It’s important to me to offer parents who are artists support to take part, so I’ll ask them what sort of hours they need to work, if they need to bring their kids along, and I’ll do whatever I can to make it happen.
Who can come to the Daylight Sessions?
Each event is designed for parents and grandparents to access with children, but you can come without your kids too! For gigs like the comedy there’s an age limit because of the sweary content. For some events I offer wireless headsets which are pretty revolutionary – it means that parents can move around with little ones without missing a thing.
Why are you the person to bridge this gap?
I think that as an artist and a creative thinker, it’s our jobs to keep imagining spaces that don’t exist, because if we can’t do it, the politicians aren’t going to. We have to lead the way. We have to say, This is necessary. These are the benefits, and this is how we change the world.
What inspires you?
The thing that really inspires me is when people tell me that coming to an event has fed them, has filled them up. What I do is a drop in the ocean; the ripple is what happens as a result. Sometimes it’s that people feel a reconnection to themselves. They might have met a new friend, or come to more events and be able to continue to develop themselves creatively. People tell me that they feel empowered to talk to employers about their needs and see that there are other ways of doing things. Just because there’s conventions doesn’t mean we have to stick to them; we can reimagine things. Someone is starting up a yoga group that people can bring their children to and someone else has started a belly dancing class for parents where children are welcome. There’s all sorts of ripple effects, and that gets me really excited. My own research has shown that 96% of participants felt more connected to their creativity as a result of taking part in my programmes and 98% said it had benefited their mental well being. That’s inspiring!
Recently you had art critic and curator Hettie Judah for your first Daylight Talk at Exeter Library. Why did you invite Hettie?
Hettie has written a book, Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood, which explores the way maternity is depicted in art throughout history, rarely including the taboos and domesticity, the real experiences of motherhood. I took a group of parents to see an accompanying touring exhibition at Bristol’s Anolfini in March and invited Hettie to come and tell us about her work and the artists featured in the exhibition; about mothers not being supported to be artists. I invited local artists to tell us about their work about motherhood in short lightning talks. We had so many applications to take part. It shows how many people with caring responsibilities who are also artists are out there, keen for opportunities. But so much happens around bedtime, school pickup time; you’re expected to work like you don’t have children when you’re an artist. And in general!
We’re working to reintegrate those voices and to amplify them, because they’re missing from our community and our dialogues. We need to rewrite these narratives, to write women back in. Just because you’re a mother doesn’t mean your art and voice aren’t important. 51% of our national population are women after all, and a big proportion of those will be mothers in their lifetime. We need to make sure that mother’s narratives are amplified.
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Learn more about the Daylight Sessions and book your tickets by clicking this link: https://www.lizzyhumber.com/daylightsessions
Learn more about Lizzy and her work
