Some of the most celebrated artists of recent times have joined together to donate and create over 30 works for the Art for AT The Bus exhibition at Sotheby's this month.
Works by Grayson Perry, Patrick Hughes, Bob & Roberta Smith and Maggi Hambling, among others, will be on sale at Sotheby's in London from April 29th to May 7th. The exhibition will be a lively combination of old and new pieces, including the vivid Wild North Sea by Maggi Hambling (2024) and a classic optical illusion piece called Studio Edition by Patrick Hughes (2023).
Proceeds of the sale will go to AT The Bus charity, an initiative which helps young people get access to vital therapy at school. “We currently work with over 200 children each week,” commented the charity's founder and joint CEO Juli Beattie, “the money raised by this auction will help us sustain our current activity and build our future mobility.”
Founded in 2018, AT The Bus partners with schools to provide easy access to therapy at school, either on one of their mobile buses or in a bespoke studio within the school grounds. The initiative currently works with nine schools, running 46 sessions each week. The charity focuses on art and its therapeutic powers, which makes the exhibition yet more pertinent.
“AT The Bus encourages creativity and imagination in children and young adults. The work of AT The Bus makes a profound and direct difference to the lives of young people, which is why I’m honoured to be a patron of this charity,” commented AT The Bus patron and legendary artist Jenny Saville, who was an integral part of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement of the late 20th century.
Young people's mental health has become a growing concern in recent years, with data from the NHS suggesting that around 20% of 8-16 year-olds reported mental health problems in 2023. The initiative uses relationship-based group interventions and art as therapy to help children re-engage with their education by building ‘self-esteem, confidence, resilience and independence.’
On the exhibition, artist Grayson Perry said: “Art can reach parts of us that are inaccessible to other ways of communication. Art is medicine for our deeper selves. What better way to provide health-giving opportunities than for art as therapy to come to you in a bus?”
