OPEN SPACE 70: CREATIVE WORKSHOPS AND COURSES
We are proud to provide varied creative opportunities for our local community. Open Space 70 is an environmental arts project in Calderdale and beyond, but creativity begins at home. We want to make change happen through art, storytelling, vision, and empowerment.
These creative courses were run from April to June 2023 to connect you with nature, our local environment and environmental change, to appreciate what we have on our doorstep, interpret what is happening, and inspire you to act.
Work made in the workshops and courses was shared at the Open Space 70 Arts Trail on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 July.
These creative courses were run from April to June 2023 to connect you with nature, our local environment and environmental change, to appreciate what we have on our doorstep, interpret what is happening, and inspire you to act.
Work made in the workshops and courses was shared at the Open Space 70 Arts Trail on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 July.
TEXTILE REPURPOSING WORKSHOPS
Sat 17 and Sun 18 June 2023 | Northlight Art Studio, Hebden Bridge | 10.30am-3.30pm
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BODIES OF WATER - MUSIC WORKSHOPS & PERFORMANCE PROJECT
Tues 20 & 27 June; plus performance Sun 16 July 2023
The Space, Hebden Bridge Town Hall | 7PM-9PM - only 15 spaces | £Pay what you can afford
Join percussionist, composer and producer Delia Stevens as part of a small ensemble of people who want to be able to use our local waterways safely. Help to create sound pieces and soundscapes over two Tuesday evening workshops, to be performed as part of Open Space 70 festival in the Town Hall on Sunday 16 July (you'll be needed from 9am to 1pm on this day).
This short course is suitable for age 16+ |
Are you concerned about the pollution of our rivers? An environmental champion that feels frustrated? A wild swimmer who understands the importance of nature? Or just someone who wants to make a difference?
In the UK no river is currently safe to swim in due to pollution. In 2022, the River Calder was reported as the UK’s second most polluted. In 2021 alone, 30,000 hours of sewage was released into our river. We think that this is unacceptable! Amplify your voice, create a splash and make some noise! It’s time to use the power of music to start a movement. It’s not too late to reclaim our rivers! Join in our "we care about our water" percussion ensemble. Workshops: Tue 20 & 27 June, 7-9 Rehearsal: Sun 16 July 9-10am Performances: Sun 16 July 10.30am & 12.30pm |
Delia Stevens Delia Stevens is a percussionist at the forefront of her generation: a pioneer of future-facing ideas, visionary of sound and generous collaborator with “burning chops and a cosmic imagination”. Bodies of Water is a public performance project conceived of by Delia and working with SheChoir, Fantasy Orchestra & Choir and a public percussion ensemble. |
POETRY MASTERCLASS
Sat 24 June 2023 | Terrace Room, Hebden Bridge Town Hall | 1.30PM-4.30PM | £15/£10
‘How like wishes to reveal themselves, even when they’re buried - the way ripples on an ocean wheel like fins’
(Katherine Horrex) |
Water features frequently in poet Katherine Horrex’s work. From a social standpoint, she is interested in how water can become part of the process of gentrification, becoming a thing for which we have to pay. For Open Space 70, Katherine will be inviting participants to look at Hebden and its waters in new ways, to draw from past and present-day local experiences and to put these into poetry which ebbs and flows.
In this 3-hour poetry masterclass, led by Katherine, a range of techniques will be used to produce new poems for Open Space 70. We’ll be brainstorming, reading, spending a little time by the river running alongside the Town Hall, and looking at local history, as well as how water has shaped the town. |
Katherine Horrex Katherine Horrex has been published by The Guardian, Poetry London and The Times Literary Supplement, and has work forthcoming in The Poetry Review. Her collection Growlery (2020) is published by Carcanet and was shortlisted for The Seamus Heaney First Collection award, as well as commended in The Forward Prizes Anthology. |
ARK WORKSHOPS by Wilson/Pike (Amanda Dalton & Amanda Stoodley)
Hebden Bridge Bowling Club Pavilion | £Pay what you can afford
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ARK is a unique site responsive installation created by the artist and writer duo Wilson/Pike and members of the public. Inspired by its watery position and the riverside and woodland approach walks, ARK transforms the Hebden Bridge Bowling Club Pavilion into an exploration of the idea and meaning of an ark, referencing not only the story of Noah’s boat, but also ‘ark’ as a place of refuge, and as a chest or repository. – here containing precious fragments of the natural world all gathered from the nearby landscape.
It will be open as part of Open Space 7O Arts Trail happening on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 July (10am-5pm) with drop-in creative activities for everyone and a warm invitation to view, wander, read, listen and explore. |
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ARK: Treasured - Little Pieces of the World. Led by theatre designer/artist Amanda Stoodley of Wilson/Pike
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ARK: Mapping The Beaten Track. Led by poet and playwright Amanda Dalton of Wilson/Pike
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Amanda Dalton Amanda Dalton is a freelance poet & playwright, & currently visiting lecturer at Manchester University and MMU’s Writing School. Her poetry collections are published by Bloodaxe and she has recent pamphlets with Arc (2021) and smith|doorstop (2022). |
ARKCourse Leaders: Wilson/Pike Wilson/Pike are writer Amanda Dalton and theatre designer and artist Amanda Stoodley, both based in Hebden Bridge.
As a creative duo, they have collaborated on several large-scale projects for Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, including work for performance, festivals and interactive installation. All of their collaborations have involved co-curation and facilitation with communities and audiences. |
Amanda Stoodley Amanda Stoodley is an award-winning set and costume designer, working in theatre, opera, installation & exhibition. Previously studying and working in illustration, graphic, interior & stained glass design, she trained in theatre and performance design at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts graduating in 2009. |
CERAMIC PROTEST PLAQUE AND PLATES WEEKEND
Sat 10 and Sun 11 June 2023 | Northlight Art Studio, Hebden Bridge | 10AM-1PM | £60/£42
Experience Level: All levels including beginners
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BIRD WILLOW LANTERN MAKING WEEKEND
Sat 3 and Sun 4 June 2023 | Big Tin Shed, Victoria Road, Hebden Bridge | 10.30AM-4.30PM | £40/£28
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Join Hebden Bridge Arts and Sue Walpole for this weekend course to create art on the theme of climate emergency for the Open Space 70 festival.
Through these two sessions you will create a moorland nesting bird (Curlew or Lapwing) which will become part of an artist Installation for Open Space 70 arts trail. As part of the environment and nature theme of the festival we're focussing on nesting birds, which are of significant interest to this area, with the moorland so close by. |
Sue Walpole Sue is a lantern maker who creates giant puppets for Light Night and day parades, performances and theater predominantly using natural, compostable or recycled materials. |
GENERATION HOPE: ENVIRONMENTAL ZINE MAKING PROJECT
Half term course with CLOUD YOUTH for ages 11-16
Tues 30, Wed 31 May & Fri 2 June 2023 | Machpelah Mill, New Road, Hebden Bridge | 1PM-4PM each day |
FREE
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If you're aged 11-16 and like getting creative and sharing your passions, come along to Cloud Youth on three afternoons in May half term. You will work with others to make your own zine about climate emergency and the environment.
The world of Zine making is a largely underground. Zines are a perfect way to express ideas or feelings that are not fit for the main stream due to their personal content or unpopular ideas. Zines are the fastest way for writers and artists to produce self published works. This project is generously funded by The Rotary Club of Hebden Bridge which means it is free to join in with. |
Alex Abel Alex is a local artist and illustrator who loves working with young people. She believes drawing and graphics are a great way to get your point across. |
DIGITAL STORYTELLING BIKING ADVENTURE DAY - for ages 10-19
Thurs 1 June 2023 | Ash Green School, Mixenden, Halifax, HX2 8QD | 10AM-4PM | FREE - booking essential
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Led by Kate Edwards (Time Out at Healthy Minds Calderdale) - Creative writing exercise in response to themes explored with Paul Knights. Led by artist Alex Harwood - Storyboarding and audio recording - We will visually plan the video footage we aim to capture while out on our bike ride while also taking it in turns to create audio recordings reading our pieces of creative writing Cycling led by West Yorkshire Police Early Intervention team, through CI Adventures and Alex Harwood/Cargodale staff - Bike ride/filming video footage exploring nature and wildlife in school grounds and local community. |
Participants must be able to ride a bike confidently. Lunch and refreshments and a bike to ride are all provided.
A digital storytelling project with Time Out utilising bikes to explore and celebrate the natural environment and wildlife in our local community and think about how we can sustain and improve these natural habitats in the face of climate change. The day's activities will include sessions as follows: Led by Paul Knights - 'Climate, Nature and Your Community' - We'll look around the school grounds and surrounding streets at the nature that's already here, and then look into the future at how things could be better, for wildlife, for the climate and for people.' |
Alex Harwood Alex is a visual/digital artist and filmmaker with an experimental and multidisciplinary approach to his practice, and a strong focus on producing collaborative, socially engaged work. Working in a broad range of media including paint/mixed media, drawing, collage, digital arts/animation and video, his work centres around the act of storytelling and documenting personal histories while exploring social, cultural and political themes. |
CREATIVE COLLAGE WORKSHOP
Sun 21 May 2023 | Mytholmroyd Community | 1.30PM-4.30PM | £10/£7
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Let’s explore the natural world and create a collage inspired by surface textures, rubbings and patterns from our local environment.
We’ll use leaves, tree bark, seeds and wild materials to make colourful artworks to celebrate where we walk, live and play with artist, Jeffrey Andrews. The session will begin with an introduction and presentation. Suitable for ages 11+ The work made by participants will be displayed in an exhibition on 15-16 July as part of the Open Space 70 arts trail after which it is yours to keep. Materials and cold drinks / snacks are included. |
Jeffrey Andrews Jeffrey Andrews studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London. Previous works include contemporary fossils of a lawn mower cast in concrete in the ‘From Art to Archaeology’ South Bank Touring exhibition and rubbings of the Battersea Arts Centre and Riverside Studios in London using recycled, condemned hospital sheets. |
EARTH DEITIES - NATURE SPIRIT FIGURE WORKSHOP
Sat 27 May 2023 | Nutclough Woods, Hebden Bridge | 11AM-2PM | £15/£10
Sat 27 May 2023 | Nutclough Woods, Hebden Bridge | 11AM-2PM | £15/£10
Under 16s to be accompanied.
Feel free to bring a packed lunch. |
This Earth Deities workshop from Hebden Bridge Arts and Rachel Shore is an opportunity to be immersed in sensory art making by creating your own nature spirit figure inspired by the natural beauty of Nutclough Woods.
In response to references of ancient earth worshipping traditions across world cultures, participants will spend time exploring a range of locally sourced organic materials to bring to life their own nature deity. The created gods, goddesses and mythical beings will be installed outside at an Arts Trail venue over the Open Space 70 arts trail weekend and will then be yours to take home and install outside to be allowed to naturally decompose. |
Rachel Shore Rachel Shore is arts practitioner and creative therapist with specialisms in conceptual nature art and ecotherapy. The workshop requires no artistic experience for participants. All that is needed is a head full of wild imagination and hands full of earthly wonders |