FESTIVAL ECHOES 2017-2018
From November 2017 we ran a series of six one-month artist commissions, involving a range of creative people and different artforms. Ceramist Alice Thatcher chose to spread her commission out over six months culminating in a one-day exhibition in an empty retail space. All of the artists used the spaces of the town of Stoke-on-Trent, indoors and outdoors to deliver music film-making, poetry at the bus stops, ceramics workshops, pavement photo-art, bags of art, and a resident artist for the town's pubs.
Alice Thatcher - Artist in ResidenceWe are excited to announce that ceramic artist Alice Thatcher will be based in Art Stop Stoke on Wednesday afternoons, from June to November 2018, as 'artist in residence' as part of our Festival Echoes programme this year.
Alice will be hosting sessions for participation and as demonstrations as she takes time to experiment with developing her work. During her residency Alice will use the time to research and experiment with new techniques, in addition to hosting workshops. Art Stop will be a temporary studio, a space for making and thinking, for experimenting and sharing ideas, and an opportunity to engage with the people who live, work and visit Stoke. 
Greening Church StreetDuring Spring and Summer artists Rachel Ballard and Anne Kinnaird will be brightening up the streets of Stoke with their Greening Church Street Project as part of the national Grow Wild project. Keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter for news of workshops and events you can join in with.
Artist in the Pubs and CafesDuring March 2018 artist Shiv will be out and about in Stoke with her easel and paints. You can find her at the cafes and pubs listed below and keep an eye on our Facebook page for more venues.
'Green Street' by Rachel BallardJoin artist Rachel Ballard at one of our free workshops during February.
Using the snowdrop, one of the first flowers of spring, as a motif to make a collage about growth, new beginnings and renewal. The art works produced will then be exhibited around Stoke to in shop window to brighten the month of February. Thinking about what the future holds and our own resilience to hardship these free drop in creative workshops will give time to explore hopes for what this year will bring.
'Roaming Poets by GKA GayDuring January poet GKA Gay and the Roaming Poets will be weaving words into the everyday life of Stoke centre.
Poetry at the Bus Stops: Saturday 20th January 10am - 11.30am Take a look into the bus shelters in Church Street and Campbell Place to find inspiring poems. The (Un)Official Tour of Stoke: Wednesday 24th January 12noon and 1pm from outside The Glebe Pub A short walking tour taking in some of the interesting facts (and maybe some fiction) from the streets of Stoke. Please book your free place through Eventbrite: 12noon tour 1pm tour Poetry Dresses Exhibition at Valentine's Curious Closet, Church Street. Open 1am - 2pm Tuesdays and Saturdays throughout January. An exhibition of dresses created throught the project by Leah Thorn and Keele University and local artists to create beautiful dresses with poetry woven into them. (See Older Women Rock for more information about how the dresses were created).
'Bags of Culture' by Mitchell Robinson
Photographed at The Pot Bank Cafe, Spode
For our December Festival Echo - Artist Mitchell has designed and created these beautiful gift bags, using Lino-cuts, featuring well-known potters across the eras: Josiah Wedgwood, Susie Cooper and Keith Brymer-Jones. They are available with your purchases in selected local shops around the town centre of Stoke*. Can you collect all three?
See Facebook for more details and to win a signed bag. *Hippie at Heart, Samaritans, News on Church Street, London Road Oatcakes. 
'Here. Now.' by Rebecca Davies
Artist Rebecca Davies is creating a pop-up cinema on Church Street Stoke, over the weekend of 24-26 November 2017. Showing a selection of independent films, Rebecca has also reworked 'Everything but Flowers' by Talking Heads, especially for Stoke-on-Trent. Featuring local artists and filmed in the atmospheric former Spode Pottery board room. The film will be shown at the end of November as part of Rebecca's #monthlymatics programme. In a pop-up cinema space in Stoke town centre at the end of November 2017.
'Botanica Decorus' by Polly Shave
Photographer Polly Shave has installed echoes of autumn on the pavements outside Stoke Minster with her beautiful leaf patterns. Art merges with nature.
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