Words by Hayley Guest, Creative Lead
This autumn has brought the arrival of two new weekly sessions and a host of other pop up workshops as part of the Smethwick Arts project. Headed up by the fabulous Black Country Touring, and with funding from Inclusive Communities, The Smethwick Arts Collective was born out of the desire to create an ‘arts centre without walls’ to deliver creative activity across a network of community venues in Smethwick.
Our two new weekly sessions are happening each Tuesday in Smethwick, offering a warm welcome and a chance to try creative activities.
The Inclusive Craft Club runs at Smethwick Library, on Tuesday’s 12.30 – 2pm until 12th November, and has so far been a lovely little gathering of people having a go at new creative activities (see pics below!). Our Community Lead, Ruby, and one of our shadowing artists, are on hand to guide and support people to have a go. If you fancy coming along, there’s more information here: https://wearespectra.co.uk/events/
Make & Move is our after school, family friendly session, held at St Hilda’s Church Hall every Tuesday in term time, 3.30 – 5.00pm until 10th December. We’ve been having lots of fun at Make & Move so far: weaving with paper, creating wax crayon prints, making hanging decorations, building obstacle courses, playing with hula hoops, singing and drumming…. It’s been busy! You can book a place to come along here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/make-and-move-registration-1013820834407?aff=oddtdtcreator
What’s happening elsewhere??
Our Adult Community Group runs on a Wednesday morning in Smethwick and is a creative session for adults with learning disabilities. Some members of this group have worked with Spectra since the company started! The weekly session involves movement, acting, music, visual arts, and lots of creativity and laughter. If you’re interested in finding out more about this session, please email hayley@wearespectra.co.uk.
And we’re planning a pop up visual arts session in half term at Smethwick Heritage Centre. Come along to get creative on Friday 1st November, 12.00 – 2.00pm. All ages and abilities welcome, drop in and take part!
Alongside this, we have regular sessions (closed to the public) happening at Brushstrokes Refugee and Asylum Support Centre and SAFS.
We are passionate about making art, creativity and play accessible to people who often get excluded from opportunities to get involved. We aim to make our sessions inclusive and welcoming, so that anyone who comes along is supported to find a way into making and moving with the rest of the group.
If you’re interested in any of our groups or workshops, and want to find out more information, please contact me by email at hayley@wearespectra.co.uk.
