– by Matthew Delaney –
March 2026
Setting the Scene
As part of Centrepieces’ 2026 project, “Birds on a Wire”, a team of Centrepieces artists and volunteers collaborated to produce a rolling landscape scene that would form a jigsaw puzzle-style collage comprised of canvases painted by members of the community. The scene, based on our borough, was loosely themed on a bus journey – featuring some key points from the local area. Over two days, we planned, sketched and painted the extended scene which was then divided into A6 canvas-sized tiles for participants to replicate.
Alongside the visual backdrop, a series of templates (and examples) of wire birds were made in order to accentuate the project’s overall theme of individuality and community – being unique and still part of a flock – having a social network help support when difficult times arise.
Art in Action
On Wednesday 25th March 2026, our team of “Bird on a Wire” volunteers and artists flocked to Hurstmere High School in Sidcup. Working with multiple groups of Year 9 boys as part of their art enrichment activities, Centrepieces demonstrated how to make the wire birds intended for the final exhibition, and supported them in replicating sections of the (now divided) extended backdrop scenery.
It was a fantastic day, with Year 9 thoroughly enjoying the activities. An entire flock of beautiful wire birds were made – ranging in size and accent colours, with some of the boys showing tremendous skill and ability when attempting 3D birds.
The landscape scene was recreated section by section, with participants choosing their section and recreating it on an A6 canvas as accurately as possible in their own style. This has led to a fantastic collage-style recreation of the original scene: showing an artistic glimpse of our local area by some of the members of our own community.
It was extremely enriching in meeting these fantastic budding artists and working with them to help create a larger piece of work that celebrates our community and the value that each member brings to it.
Another crucial aspect of the project, and the trip to Hurstmere High School, was to promote mental health awareness and wellbeing. Birds are central to this project because, whilst beautifully individual, they are a social animal just like humans; they rely on the flock and this analogy to the value of community and support networks is extremely important when exploring mental health awareness and working to reduce barriers and stigma relating to mental health, particularly in adolescent males given society’s traditional perspective of “acceptable” male identity. Because of this, a central thinking point the team posed to the Year 9 boys on the day was “what helps you when you’re having a bad day?”. This was intended as a reflective, critical thinking exercise for the boys to engage in whilst creating their wire birds or canvas sections. The aim was to provide a safe forum where the boys could consider and discuss their own strategies and thoughts among their peers in order to promote and empower positive mental health resilience. The insights shared from Year 9 were both heartwarming and uplifting. Here are some of their responses to what helps them navigate bad days…
- “Baking my favourite food to feel good.”
- “Having quiet and reflection time to myself.”
- “Fishing and being in nature.”
- “Praying”
- “Football! I feel great when we win but when we don’t I feel a little sad, though we talk it through as a team.”
- “Going out with my mates and chatting to them.”
- “Watching something I enjoy on Netflix.”
- “Playing golf with my Dad.”
- “Drawing my feelings in my sketchpad.”
- “Cooking with Mum and spending time together.”
- “Playing computer games like Minecraft.”
- “Playing Formula One on the PlayStation against my friends.”
- “Going out on my bike and getting fresh air.”
- “Chilling in my bedroom and playing music.”
- “Playing tennis.”
- “Spending time with my brother, like going for a drive.”