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 Maker Faire and open studio day. Photo: Bob Smith Photography
This Christmas, Keighley Creative hosted another successful Maker Faire and Open Artist Studios event.
Saturday 16th December was the date chosen to welcome local artists and makers to come and sell their handmade wares from our premises on Cooke Lane in the centre of Keighley. We also opened the upstairs art studios to allow members of the public to look around.
The event was organised by local maker and artist, Leonie Briggs, and was a great success.
Leonie Briggs – Keighley artist and maker. Photo credit: Bob Smith Photography
Stallholders included Twiggy Curly Creations, Charles Humphreys, Rebecca Buchanan, Black Craft by CK, The Happy Turner, Martin Rose, Missing Peace Wellbeing, Anna Gouws and Curiously Colourful whom sold gifts, artworks and jewellery.
The Happy TurnerCuriously Colourful
Studio artists Dripsy, Martin Cosgrove, Anji Timlin, Jon Britten, Rambling Art and Pippa Croft welcomed visitors and gave them tours around the 1st floor. This was a great opportunity for local people to find out more about what the artists get up to and how they create their unique works.
Jon BrittenDripsyPippa CroftSean Jukes of Rambling Art
The fair was held in collaboration with a festive crafts workshop in Keighley Market and a Christmas event at Keighley’s historical Royal Arcade which included a market, Santa’s grotto and underground tours.
For more information on our next Maker Faire, please email admin@keighleycreative.org, visit our What’s On webpage or follow our social media.
The Unit is now based at Keighley Creative! They offer an open access workspace to the district’s talented content creators linked to film.
Whether you are looking to make your first film or trying to carve your career path in the creative industries, The Unit is here to help you.
They believe that the Bradford district has an abundance of brilliant artists and content creators. This is why they offer a full service experience including industry-led workshops, equipment and post-production facilities, and a fast-growing network of peers to share resources.
Over at Keighley Creative we’re helping to support Keighley Association Women and Children’s Centre (KAWACC) with their new grant-giving project called Fusion, funded by The Leap.
What is it about?
Keighley residents and community organisations can access grants of up to £1000 to realise their creative, community-led ideas. These grants will prioritise people and organisations that have been unfunded, or under-funded in the past- and that highlight new creative outlooks in Keighley. To find out more, please email Irum at iram@kawacc.org.uk
Come and join our small, dynamic team to lead and deliver a year round programme of events, and our annual festival (known locally as KAFF!) All with a focus on arts, film and community.
Many of you may remember that back in 2021 we heard of our success in securing £2.6 million to buy and renovate an existing town-centre building so we have a permanent home in Keighley. This has been made possible through Keighley Towns Fund https://www.ourtownkeighley.co.uk/
This funding makes it possible to create an accessible and exciting Hub focussed on how we live, work and play through arts and culture, designed with, by and for our local communities.
If you would like to read more about how our future hub and festival will benefit Keighley, here you go, free to download:
We’ve just added the K-Town Shopper Video to our Youtube channel! Many thanks to filmmaker Danny Hardaker for this fantastic piece of work, it’s a great memory of a fantastic weekend.
Javed has joined our team as Keighley Creative’s new Cultural Heritage and Diversity Lead. He has a rich and varied career to date working to support community cohesion; building inter-faith partnerships; doing lots of work helping up-skill organisations about their Safeguarding practices; as well as helping Supplementary Schools to make sure they have all the guidance they need to thrive.
Although Javed has lived in Keighley for most of his live, much of his work has seen him work Regionally and Nationally, and so this is his opportunity to bring his knowledge home and help make sure that we’re putting on a great mix of events and opportunities for all our communities.
P.S. We are also going to give Javed some drawing lessons… Because he joked about it at interview, and now we want to make that happen 🙂
Whether you would like to exhibit your work, or join in with creative family activities, Our Hanover Street Gallery is open Wednesdays and Fridays, 10:30am – 3:30pm.
On Wednesdays you can drop in to fun art and craft activities for all the family, and on Fridays you can bring one piece of your work to exhibit in the Gallery until 2nd September, when we will have a big closing event!
