Eid celebrations were a great success at Keighley Market this year.
Local artist and experienced facilitator, Emily Parkin, designed and led a fun Eid themed craft activity on Saturday 13th April. The families who attended made Eid cards to pass on to loved ones.
Lots of Keighley people got involved and it was a real celebration!
Thank you to Keighley Market for hosting and for Bradford Markets and Bradford Council for their support.
To find out about our next family-friendly arts and crafts workshops, please follow @keighleycreative on social media or check on our website.
And that’s a wrap!!! Last week we were privileged to have the play, KAILEY, performed in the Stockroom at Keighley Creative.
This live performance was written by Kerry Wright and directed by Tess Seddon and is part of Kala Sangam’s On Tour series taking performances to alternative venues around the district whilst their Arts Centre undergoes major redevelopment and gets ready for Bradford City of Culture 2025.
Following great success showing films on behalf of Leeds International Film Festival in the Stockroom set-up as a cinema space, it’s great to show off its versatility and potential use as a small theatre.
Thanks so much to the huge KAILEY team for putting on a fabulous show and thanks to all those who came to watch.
Watch this space for more news on what’s happening in the Stockroom in 2024 as we hope to welcome more local animators, dancers, poets, actors, musicians, filmmakers and creatives to use the space.
Tuesday night was the Bradford Visual Arts Social run by Bradford Producing Hub. This time it was held at Keighley Creative and what an honour it was!
The event was a great success with lots of positive feedback. Attendees came from across the district to meet other artists, social, network and hear more about opportunities for creatives in our local area.
The focus of the event was on local and national support organisations for visual artists and they explained more about what they do and how they can help. The organisations included ourselves, Bradford Producing Hub, Yorkshire and Humber Visual Arts Network, Axis Web, Curator Space and Keighley Photo Hub.
We shared wonderful food together courtesy of Caterpillar Catering alongside taking part in some creative activities run by one of our studio artists, Carole Griffiths. Attendees got a tour of our building, seeing our artist studios and enjoying the comfort of the fabulous Stockroom Cinema.
We can’t wait to host our next social event for local creatives. Watch this space for more info!
Keighley Creative I Am Brill Disco. Photo: Bob Smith Photography
Last Friday was the I Am Brill disco, a free family event organised by us and held at Victoria Hall in Keighley.
The event welcomed 100s of local families and the aim was to encourage Keighley kids to come together and celebrate their brilliance. The I Am Brill disco was the culmination of numerous creative workshops that we have held around town over the previous few months, where local children were encouraged to make their own unique creations.
A red carpet welcome at I Am Brill Disco. Photo: Bob Smith Photography
The I Am Brill project has been inspired by the work of local artist, Letty McHugh, and her piece “Let Brilliant Talents Shine Forth”, which is currently installed on the front of the library and recognises the important history of the Keighley’s original Mechanics Institute.
Letty McHugh’s art installation, “Let Brilliant Talents Shine Forth”.
The disco was thoroughly enjoyed by attendees who described it as “excellent” “energetic” and “inclusive” as the event was designed to welcome everyone, whatever their age, ethnicity or if they are neurodiverse.
Children made “disco sticks” for I Am Brill Disco. Photo: Bob Smith Photography
Party-goers were greeted on arrival with snowfall, balloons and a red carpet and then spent the evening dancing, crafting, drawing, fishing and limboing.
Limboing at I Am Brill Disco. Photo: Bob Smith Photography
Children were eligible to win prizes for their achievements which included unique I Am Brill T-shirts and posters and sweets donated by ASDA. Performers included drummers, Punjabi Roots, stilt-walkers, Chicks on Sticks, DJs, and local dancers from Unique Cheer and Dance.
Unique Cheer and Dance at I Am Brill Disco. Photo: Bob Smith Photography
Our team used the work of Dr Seuss to inspire the decorations around Victoria Hall and “Seussian” themed snacks were provided by Caterpillar Catering.
Dr Seuss themed snacks from Caterpillar Catering. Photo: Bob Smith Photography
The event was manned by our team alongside lots of enthusiastic volunteers, who provided their time for free. The event was funded by Bradford Council, the Leap, Levelling Up Fund and Toy Lab.
Event Director, Aimee Grundell, said:
“The I Am Brill disco was everything we hoped it would be: fun, inspiring and celebratory. It created an opportunity for local children and families to feel confident, get creative, and recognise that they are brilliant!”
Boy with balloon at I Am Brill Disco. Photo: Bob Smith Photography
The feedback received was overwhelmingly positive with one attendee saying:
“Thank you for such an amazing disco. My seven year old and I loved it! It was such a great way to spend a miserable Friday night in January. You could see so much hard work went into it! As a single parent to two, and a mature student it was nice to be able to do something that good locally that was free also. Thank you :)”
Girl enjoying I Am Brill Disco. Photo: Bob Smith Photography
For more information on our upcoming events and projects, please sign up to our mailing list and follow us on social media.
Keighley Creative and The Unit have been chosen to host a pop-up cinema for the upcoming Leeds International Film Festival and will be screening a number of films from our base on Cooke Street in Keighley town centre.
A key part of the festival is showcasing local stories so at our all new Stockroom Cinema we will be screening the Yorkshire Short Film Competition on Saturday 18th November at 4pm. And we will have other film screenings that day and on 15th November.
To host the event, we are specially building the Stockroom Cinema, within our current premises, which will welcome up to 32 attendees with access to a tuck shop and specially brewed beer courtesy of Kirkstall Brewery.
Tickets are free but very limited. Visit leedsfilm.com for more info.
Keighley Creative are always keen to offer affordable and fun arts activities for local children over the school holidays. This October half term we wanted to link workshops to our upcoming I Am Brill project, celebrating the talents of Keighley people.
So on Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th October, we ran the Pom-pom Making Extravaganza, welcoming everyone, whatever their age to pop in and get pom-pomming.
The event was held at the old Beales fashion store within the Airedale Shopping Centre in Keighley, which is currently home to the Mega Drawing Box.
The finished pom-poms will be used to make fabulous creations for our upcoming I Am Brill disco, scheduled for Friday January 12th 2024.
For more information on joining in with our I Am Brill project, please follow our social media @keighleycreative
Wow, what a weekend! The Mega Drawing Box welcomed 100s of people into a disused department store to get creative and what a success it was.
Lots of smiling faces and fabulous feedback. Thank you Keighley people for embracing it and attending in such numbers and a huge thank you to all of our artists, facilitators, performers and volunteers for making it such a fabulous weekend!
What next for the Mega Drawing Box??? Watch this space!
Keighley Creative won an award and what a wonderful evening we had!
The Keighley & Airedale Business Awards was held at Victoria Hall and the team put on a fabulous do and Keighley Creative’s team were chuffed to win the Creative Services Business of the Year prize. Thank you to Aireworth Vets for sponsoring it.
We were up against tough competition in our friends, Charles Waller Photography and Hairavanti, and it was lovely to all be up on the stage together.
Image credit: Bob Smith
Huge thanks to the organisers, the sponsors and everyone who attended. It was a real celebration of Keighley and it’s people.
A MEGA FREE EVENT is coming to Keighley the weekend of the 7th (10am-5pm) and 8th (11am-4pm) October.
This interactive, live art event will be led by a team of 8 professional artists ably assisted by the Keighley community.
Visitors will get the opportunity to manufacture their own drawing tools and to use them in our huge MEGA Drawing Box in the heart of Keighley town centre.
So we need as many people as possible to come fill this huge blank canvas and make their mark!
Image credit: Steve Rayner
Everyone will be creating art alongside a schedule of dance and music performances including the fabulous Bradford Belles, the Art Doctors and Mobius Dance so there will be lots to see and do!
WARNING! Things could get messy!!!
Everyone is welcome, it’s free and no need to book. Just turn up on the day!
