Happy New Year and welcome to our the first blog post of 2019! If you follow us on Twitter you may have seen that we were marking the build up to Christmas in a slightly different way to most this year.
There are so many amazing arts activities and communities in Wolverhampton and our Wolverhampton Arts Advent Calendar celebrated these amazing artists and organisations throughout December on Twitter. It was a great opportunity to share some of the interesting things going on in the city and we thought we'd do a round up of all the days for you today, just in case you've missed them. Day 1 - Join artist Clare Wassermann at her Newhampton studio next weekend - open Sunday 9th December 10-3pm. New work, gifts and cards for sale.....Day 2 - Join artist Kanj Nicholas for some exciting felt making workshops this month at Newhampton & Hobbycraft. Day 3 - Artist Linda Nevill ran a lino printing workshop at Boundary Way this Summer taking inspiration from our community garden- find out more about her work & sign up for her newsletter here. Day 4 - Artist & musician Alex Vann runs creative sessions with groups across the city, supporting wellbeing and personal development - find out more in this Real Arts Work showreel.Day 5 - Artist Hannah Boyd is based Newhampton where she runs a range of art sessions she also works with us at Boundary Way creating with natural materials & running sessions inspired by the landscape - follow her work here. Day 6 - Beatsabar Music based at Newhampton is a recording studio & rehearsal space, they work with young people across the city helping them to develop skills in music production & much more -many free opportunities & reasonable hire rates. Day 7 - See Emma Purshouse’s take on her home city here. Emma performs, writes & leads workshops with communities across the Black Country & beyond. Day 8 - Photographer and artist Anand Chhabra is inspired by family history & archives. He is currently working on commissions for Multistory & The Hive and with support from British Council he is researching Apna Heritage in India. Day 9 - Wolverhampton based Graffiti artist Steve Edwards creates murals across the Black Country. Day 10 - ‘Wanderer’ is the theme for this year’s Write Out Loud poetry competition- part of an amazing line up of events for Wolves Lit Fest 1-3 Feb 2019- get your entry in by 31 Dec here. Day 11 - Central Youth Theatre have been nurturing performers & creatives in Wolverhampton since 1983- they’ll be appearing as part of Wolves Lit Fest early in 2019. Day 12 - Liz Pritchard is a sound therapist, she uses singing and sound for health & wellbeing - Join her this Friday Newhampton for a Christmas singalong. Day 13 - Wolverhampton Grand Theatre is celebrating its 125th anniversary year & inviting everyone to share memories & photographs of their experiences there. Day 14 - Artist Jain McKay regularly runs workshops and exhibits her work regionally and nationally - this Saturday she’ll be running a steam punk portrait drawing session at Newhampton Arts Centre. Day 15 - Wightwick Manor is an excellent example of an Arts and Crafts interior & a beautiful Victorian home inspired by the aesthetic movement. Day 16 - Artist and curator Kom Achall explores British Asian identity using photography, collage & mixed media. Day 17 - Artist Laura Hickman works in sculpture and print and regularly exhibits throughout the uk. In May she led a sun print workshop at Boundary Way & also took part in our Sense of Place exhibition in October. Day 18 - Newhampton Arts Centre is a creative hub in the heart of the city - a venue for theatre, music, dance, visual arts, Jesters cafe and much more, and host to 30 resident artists & organisations. Day 19 - The Lighthouse is Wolverhampton’s cinema, cafe-bar and arts venue, offering a wealth of events, groups and exhibitions. Day 20 - The Arena Theatre presents innovative theatre, music, dance & comedy... read their new season brochure here. Day 21 - Gazebo Theatre explore issues, support & develop young people & use the arts as a tool that changes lives. Day 22 - Artist Belinda Longsden is inspired by history, nature & nostalgia and works in collage and mixed media. She also sells a range of Wolverhampton inspired gifts available at the Lighthouse Theatre. Day 23 - Sharing artwork inspired by Boundary Way by artists Anne Marie Lagram, Clare Wassermann, Richard Shilling, Linda Nevill & print workshop participants. Day 24 - Sharing some of the creative workshops that have taken place at Boundary Way this year - learn more about the artists we’ve been working with here & look out for more events in 2019. We hope you all had a brilliant Christmas and New Year, and we are looking forward to an exciting year of exploring nature and art at Boundary Way.
