School + Community Art Projects
My School and Community projects use arts and crafts to engage people creatively, break down barriers to participation, inspire and contribute to curriculum learning, personal and community development. I work with all ages from primary, secondary, youth, and adults of all ages.
Lets celebrate past projects
About me
I am a creative artist with wide ranging skills. I specialise in Hand-stitched textiles; Banners and Flags; and have also completed many other projects using wood, stone, glass and metal.
I work with all age groups and ability levels with a focus on enabling, inspiring, and empowering the individuals I work with.
Creative Arts Delivery
School and Community projects use arts and crafts to engage people creatively, break down barriers to participation, inspire and contribute to curriculum learning, personal growth, and community regeneration. Projects celebrate diversity and promote inclusion and include all ages from primary, secondary, youth, and adults of all ages.
Knowledge
I have a wide knowledge-base gained from experience working within multiple sectors. I understand the pressures and parameters that guide different organisations. My knowledge allows me to plan quality projects that focus on the needs of the individual participants and organisational needs – ensuring all round success.
Leadership + Management
I have worked with communities and organisations across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, and the North West for over 25 years. My skills include delivering creative projects as both lead artist and hands-on project manager, working within the community and education sectors.
Approach
I have a fully inclusive approach taking every opportunity to celebrate achievement. I fully support Diversity and do my utmost to remove any barriers to participation that may exist for workshop participants.
I have all the required supporting legalities in place to enable me to work legally, safely, and responsibly.
Experience
I have over 25 years experience of working with a wide and diverse range of organisations across multiple sectors.
Get in touch
Please get in touch to discuss your project ideas. I look forward to hearing from you.
Past Projects
START ART in Salford
A celebratory project with service users and staff at START Art in Salford. I worked with a number of adult groups to design, paint and make these multi-use 8m high banners for outdoor display at the opening of the new START Art building.
The style and subject matter of each banner was led by the group of participants. My role was to support, guide and enable a group of very capable and creative artists and allow their voice to be heard within the celebrations and at future outdoor events.
North City Sails
A primary school flag and banner making project for Manchester City council who commissioned me to work with an inner city primary school to create a series of 5m high sail banners as a celebration of the local community with its rich cultural diversity. The sail banners continue to delight as they are used at community festivals and school events on an ongoing basis.
I worked with year’s 4 and 5 on drawing and design workshops before the final hand painting stage which brought their designs and ideas to a vibrant conclusion. The sail banners are a celebration of everything the children value and enjoy about living in a culturally rich and diverse community.
Seeds of East Manchester
A secondary school and community hand painted textile flag and banner making project for Manchester City council who commissioned me to work with 3 different groups (high school pupils, a housing association group, community group of elderly residents) to create 25 sail banners for their annual community festival.
I delivered participatory design and textile painting workshops at different venues giving the participants the opportunity to put their own ideas onto the banners. The banners were finally sewn together in my studio and where enjoyed by members of the public on each annual community festival.
LGBT Pride
A young persons banner and arts project for Lancashire Youth Service who commissioned me to work with the Rawtenstall LGBT youth group to help prepare them for joining in with the Manchester LGBT community at the Manchester Pride parade.
I delivered a number of workshops to create a costume for the groups leader to wear and these banners for the rest of the group to carry when they took part in the Manchester Pride parade and flew the flag for Rawtenstall’s LGBT community with pride. I supported the young people through the participatory design and making workshops to ensure they took ownership of the artwork and felt empowered through the realisation of their own ideas.
St Agnes hand stitched felt applique
A primary school hand stitched textile and arts project for Oldham LEA who commissioned me to work with year 4 pupils at St Agnes primary school to design and create a textile wall hanging to celebrate their community links with a school in India. I delivered a number of participatory workshops in school teaching the pupils the art of hand stitching where they created portraits of their Indian counterparts and hand stitched felt hands with patterns inspired by Mehndi patterns.
The completed wall hanging is displayed at the school entrance to remind pupils, staff and parents of their links with a school and community in India.
Springbrook Primary artweek
A primary school textile and mixed media art project for Springbrook school who commissioned me to work with all the year 4 and 5 pupils during Artweek to create a large scale installation for the front entrance of the school. This was a great opportunity to show how primary aged children can think on a grand scale and achieve stunning results in just 2 days.
The workshops involved withy sculpture and collage and involved over 100 children. The floral artwork celebrating the local biodiversity took pride of place at the entrance to the school and demonstrates the schools links with the local community.
Springhead Primary: Kites Galore
A primary school kite design and installation project for Oldham LEA who commissioned me to work with year 3 pupils on a project to help the transition from Nursery school. We explored kites from around the world, learnt the science behind what makes them fly, and made kites to fly on the school fields. I translated the pupils kite designs onto wood panels and installed them outdoors for the pupils to interact with during break and the teachers to use as a teaching tool during lessons.
There is an installation at both the nursery and primary schools offering the pupils a familiar sights to help ease the transition between schools.
Oldham welcome sails
A primary school textile banner and flag making project for Oldham LEA who commissioned me to work with year 4, 5 and 6 pupils within a cluster of primary schools to design and hand paint a series of large-scale banners to celebrate the diversity within Oldham’s schools and communities.
The completed banners where displayed within each school and used at a variety of community festivals and events for a number of years that included the Festival of Diversity, Oldham Mela and Oldham Pride.
Plattfields Festival flags
A community flag making project with children and families for Friends of Plattfields who commissioned me to engage community festival goers with the task of creating a growing forest of flags during the 2 day community festival. I set up a pop up flag making workshop and worked with participating families and independent children up to the age of 14 to make reverse applique flags.
The flags were added to our forest which proved to be a popular place for picnics and play throughout the 2 day community festival.
Art in Hospitals
A primary school and specialist secondary school project for Stepping Hill Hospital who selected me along with several other artists to create a series of textile embroidered art works for a new building at Stepping Hill Hospital. I worked with 3 schools and colleges within the local community to create elements of the creative mixed media textile art works during participatory workshops.
I incorporated their work into the final textile art works that were then framed and installed as part of the new hospital building.
Bolton UCAN textiles
A secondary school textile inspired project for Bolton at Home who commissioned me to run several participatory workshops at a secondary school and community centre to facilitate greater understanding and co-operation between different members of the community. The art works they created was incorporated into a mixed media creative textiles artwork and installed in the shared community centre.
It is hoped that seeing their creative artwork come together will stimulate greater understanding and cooperation within the community.
Sarah
29 June 2021 @ 1:09 am
Hi my daughter is 14 ,and love arts ,I wanted her to do something unique snd creative as she loves to b active in projects.
artfulantics
22 July 2021 @ 8:39 am
Hi Sarah. Thank you for contacting me. I offer a class perfect for her on a Sunday during term time. If you are happy to go on the waiting list I will email you more information later on when I have planned the new dates for the autumn term. I hope this helps. Kind regards, Brian
B GALSWORTHY
12 February 2020 @ 2:12 pm
LOVING YOUR BIG BANNERS AND FLAGS, WJHO CREATED THESE? ARE YOU DOING ANY MORE LIKE THIS?
artfulantics
13 February 2020 @ 5:33 am
Hi
Glad you love teh banners.
I made these with community projects. If you live in Manchester, let me know if you’re interested and we may be able to organise a project.
Best regards
Brian
Cherrelle Bird
22 December 2019 @ 8:24 am
Dear Brian,
I hope you are well.
We work with education settings in Manchester and Liverpool, connecting them to workshops.
We are in process of setting up an offline community for workshops for networking and training, and we are currently looking for art workshops based in Manchester
Would you be interested in setting up a meeting in the new year?
Look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
Cherrelle