A community reeling from the murder of a child in her own home were supported by an award-winning arts group.
After the death of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, shot in her Dovecot home on August 22, local residents went to community space The Drive for moral support.
There, while adults grieved, collage artist Olga Snell looked after the children. Together, they created a tree made out of colourful paper birds. On each of them, they wrote a message in memory of Olivia and in support of her family.
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“Fly high, Liv”, read one of them.
“I’m stunned by what people have been through,” said Olga, who had been working at The Drive community hub for just over a month when Olivia was killed.
“Those little children were her friends,” she said.
“They told me about Olivia’s rabbit and how they used to feed it with her.
She added: "You just have to listen.”
Olga got in touch with The Drive through dot-art, an independent gallery and arts organisation based in Liverpool which helps some of the most deprived communities in the country.
Joanne Kennedy, who has been a manager at The Drive for the past two years, said: “The children were able to express their feelings through art that they had struggled to verbalise.”
It’s not just children benefiting from these workshops. Isolated members of the community, adults suffering from trauma and anxiety, and others in need of a breather from daily hassles also come to The Drive.
Laleh Kamalian, a colour-pencil and pastel artist, teaches painting and drawing to a few of these adults. Some of them, she explained, have been through traumatic events that left them chronically anxious, making it difficult for them to leave their homes on their own.
“If no one comes to the course but one person, it’s still worth it,” Laleh said.
“Because that means this person is coming out of her house.”
Before The Drive, Laleh had never taught beginners - even less an audience that had so recently been struck by tragedy. This, she explained, motivated her to invest an important amount of resources into making sure participants got the most out of the workshop.
“Because it’s a deprived area and because this course was for absolute beginners, I thought: let’s give them everything ,” she said.
With pride, she shows a picture of the sketches her students have done. “This is actually the first time they’ve touched a graphite pen,” she said. “Isn’t that amazing?”
At the end of last month, dot-art won the 2022 Merseyside Independent Business Award (MIB) for Community Impact.
“That’s a wonderful and humbling recognition,” said Lucy Byrne, the founder of dot-art.
“It means that people are seeing what we’re doing and the impact that we’re having on these different communities.”
With funding in place, the arts and crafts courses are set to continue for several months into 2023. They will culminate into an exhibition showcasing the works of participants.
Manager Joanne added: “It has been wonderful to watch the participants' confidence grow over recent weeks. Not just in their artwork but in their general behaviour and interactions with others.”
Nine-year-old Olivia was fatally shot in the chest with a .38 caliber revolver inside her own home on Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot at around 10pm on Monday, August 22. The schoolgirl's mum Cheryl Korbel, 46, was injured as a gunman chased convicted criminal Joseph Nee into their home.
Thomas Cashman was charged with the murder of Olivia, the attempted murder of Ms Korbel and Mr Nee, and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. The 34-year-old, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, first appeared in court on October 3. He was not asked to enter a plea - and a four-week trial was set for March 6 next year.
Paul Russell, of Snowberry Road in West Derby, was charged with assisting an offender in relation to Olivia's murder. The 40-year-old is accused of driving Cashman to an address and disposing of his clothing.
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