Jack and Hannah have been busy working on their Festival Echoes commission 'Undergrowth'.  We love the outdoors location, a breath of fresh air. Here's a snippet from their filming and the full work will be available on Youtube in November.

The latest Black Life Monologue is now live.  Created by Jordan Charles it has a twist in the tail... we suggest you watch it once, then watch it again, once you know the twist!

Look out for our super large Art Street posters around Stoke-on-Trent from 22nd September.  We have been working to make sure that the Essence head sculptures are still looking great and artist Richard has made a replacement for the one of Christine which went walkies from outside Wetherspoons in the centre of Stoke.  ​

Why not book yourself a visit to Stoke during October and enjoy the wonderful Art Street trail of sculptures and banners.  
More details about the project and who they represent can be found on the Essences page.

Artist Amy Cutler visited Stoke-on-Trent and the Staffordshire Moorlands on the first weekend in September in preparation for her commission Ludchurch Channel.  The project combines ideas of individual and communal experience of landscape, and of Lud’s Church itself as a form of ‘channel’ in the landscape and Amy will create a film and a soundpiece based in this mossy chasm.  This film-as-public-laboratory will make visible the process of bringing together the human and nonhuman threads of the “green chapel”, as both a private and a public channel; a hidden place for individual ritual, but also a shared landscape at the same time.

You can follow the work as it develops on Amy's own site and through Festival Stoke's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels.

We're delighted to launch the first Black Life Monologues this week.  Skin by Ophelia is a strong, beautiful and moving short monologue and film.  There will be four more films in the series.  Details about the family of artists involve is on their page and the video is available to view on our Youtube channel.

One of our Festival Echo artists Harry Wakeling is gathering people's thoughts on what they have missed or lost during lockdown and he will shape these into a projection to bring them to life.

We need people from Stoke to complete this very short survey.  Thank you!
Later in the year as part of the Arts Council England funded #festivalechoes programme, artist Harry Wakeling will be presenting his project ‘Lost Moments’ and he needs your help.
Harry Wakeling is a Multidisciplinary Artist with interests in installation art and community engagement. As part of the Festival Echoes programme, Harry intends to create a series of experiments with projection mapping, bringing to life experiences and events that have been lost due to isolation and social distancing around Staffordshire. 
He has created a survey that he hopes will inform the outcome of his piece; If you are from Staffordshire and have a few minutes to spare, please feel free to share your responses. He’s hoping to hear about exact locations you may have missed in the Staffordshire area.
Link to the SURVEY

There's a real sense of anticipation at Festival Stoke waiting to see and hear The Mavis Movement perform The Black Life Monologues.  Bringing together the talented family members, each gifted and experienced creative in their own rights, to perform, these siblings and cousins will dig within themselves to put forward the truth of Blackness as they see it.
​Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

The Tiny Folk are busy rehearsing for their performances in Stoke early in October.
The streets were empty; the shops had been shuttered; the car batteries had gone flat. Even Alton Towers was closed. The town of Stoke was deserted. As the streets slowly come to life again the Tiny Folk of Stoke, borrower-style imps, anthropomorphic bugs, and enchanted toys will use the street as their canvas and transform their landscape into works of art.  Keep an eye on our social media channels for dates and locations in the town centre of Stoke! 
​By Paperchase Theatre

Uncaged Aerial Theatre are bringing an amazing performance of aerial dance and spoken word to the Festival Stoke screens filmed on a secret beach in the north east of England, in August.
One of our Festival Echo commissions supported by Arts Council England.
Keep you eye on our Facebook page so you don't miss it!