Dan Ronson writes

The East Sussex Recovery Centre manages Merrydown Park Hospital's Art Therapies Unit (ATU). 

Merrydown Park outpatient Telegram Sam Cамиздат has been attending the ATU for a number of years. He's street homeless and sleeps in an old Brighton Corporation tram shelter. That shelter is next to the stop from which I catch my bus to work each morning. A little while ago I passed the following note to Sharon.

 So, one morning around 5.30 am, I’m standing at this bus stop, waiting to catch my bus. It’s cold and it’s dark, and then it starts raining. So, I’m thinking about taking shelter in that shelter. On weekday lunchtimes that old shelter's used by school kids sharing cigarettes and crisps. In the evening it's often visited by street drinkers, drug users and people looking for somewhere to piss. But at 5.30 in the morning, Sam's sleeping there on a rolled out, threadbare Persian rug, under several soiled blankets and an old fur coat, next to a compact, battery powered coffee making machine. I don't want to disturb Sam, so I'm just standing in the doorway.

That dark green wooden shelter's regularly daubed in ugly graffiti. All its windows have been smashed. But Sam's printed on cellophane another copy of that Max Parrish picture, and he's left it to hang in one of those window spaces above a scribbled note. The note was was mostly incoherent, but I took a photo and got Natasha to translate. It said: 

I'm copying notes (see below) from what Sam's told Natasha about his numerous applications to launch exhibitions from that shelter.

1. He said he has made appropriate enquiries. Large national institutions - Arts Councils et cetera - have suggested he should begin with small local festivals.

2. Brighton Festival said "we programme work based on relationships built with artists". Sam said he does not have a relationship. They suggested he should contact the open access festival Fringe. But registration & inclusion in that brochure would be £134. Sam wants to know who has this money? Or they suggest he apply for a bursary. But (he said) bursaries have many applicants who can use word processors and showers before interviews.

3. Another festival organiser suggested Artist Open Houses, but Sam says he does not own a house. He said they said it would cost him £25 to apply to exhibit his work in the house of one of their other artists.

4. Sam says, "Last year we were given titles for ATU Exhibitions: Out of the Box and Blue Sky Thinking. Many years ago we are sleeping on London Embankment and then tipped out of our boxes by police. But it did not rain, and then we are seeing all very beautiful blue sky."

5. Brighton & Hove City Council require Sam to submit a comprehensive risk assessment for his event even though other homeless people in North Street & Western Road are exhibiting their art unattended on pavements for many weeks without being moved or vandalised. He has obtained help from Ygor Bedmitz unlicensed Legal Services to draft this application.

• Sam's first exhibitions

• origins of the Witch Star project

• return to ATU page