Meet the Artists in Residence in our Culture Connects Programme

Our Artists in Residence

Our Artists in Residence deliver regular workshops throughout the year. Together with a larger panel of creative facilitators, they develop opportunities for people to take part in culture, through try-out sessions, regular workshops, and longer in-depth projects.

We plan our activities based on what we learn from listening to people, through local engagement, our Tea & Chats programme, and from feedback from participants. The Artists in Residence spend time getting to know people, building relationships and finding out what they are interested in.

Through this process of listening and responding, the artists are more able to build and develop programmes that are reflective of what is important to people, what they want to do, what they want to try, and build cultural confidence.

Who are the Artists in Residence?

We currently have nine Culture Connects Artists in Residence, who work across dance, music, singing, visual arts, eco-gardening, textiles, and much more. They are:

• Polly Rowley-Sams is our Eco-Gardener in Residence. Polly runs our community garden, making it a haven for biodiversity, and delivers regular workshops for all ages. You can find out more about Polly’s work in the garden here.
  
  
• Michael McCartan is our Artist in Residence for Singing. He runs Sing For Fun, a weekly singing workshop for adults and young people aged 15+. You can read more about Michael and our recent Sing for Fun concert here.
  
  
• Phillipa Donnelan and Mia DiChiaro are our Dance Artists in Residence. They run dance workshops, including Dance Delights and Creative Dance Adventures. You can read about Phillipa and Mia’s recent dance adventures with students from our neighbouring school, Mercy Secondary School.
  
  
• Niki Collier is our Textiles Artist in Residence. She runs workshops where you can try out textile crafts including patchwork, felting, embroidery, and much more. View and book upcoming workshops here.
  
  
• Kate Escolin is an Artist in Residence for Visual Art. She runs workshops for young people, including Sketchbook Club and Zine and Comic workshops. You can read about how Mercy Secondary School came to chat with us and take part in a Zines workshop with Kate.
  
  
• Shannon Jade Wilson is an Artist in Residence for Visual Art. She runs workshops including Creativity and Wellbeing, printmaking, and portrait making. View and book upcoming workshops here.
  
  
• Paula Garcia Ibañez is an Artist in Residence for Visual art. She runs workshops including charcoal, oil painting and acrylic painting workshops. View and book upcoming workshops here.
  
  
• Shane McGrath is our Artist in Residence for Music. He runs ukelele workshops and Chime in and Play: Movement and Music workshops for under 5s. View and book upcoming workshops here.

You can see all of the activities facilitated by our artists in residence and creative facilitators on our What's On page. 

View our full programme