A free Neighbourhood Creative Day will take place at The Powerhouse on Saturday 22 June. 

Free open day at The Powerhouse (Coventry) on Saturday 22 June, with the chance to meet local creatives, share your own art, watch rehearsals and step inside a metal whale! Coventry creatives can contribute their own art or craft project to the pop-up Neighbourhood Gallery.

With contributions from Talking Birds, Imagineer, Highly Sprung, Media Mania and Pangea Sculptors Centre, this event is organised by a group of Coventry people, working with the artists based at The Powerhouse, to test out recommendations from Coventry’s 2021 Citizens Assembly on Arts & Culture.

This open day gives the chance for people to explore The Powerhouse, meet Coventry artists, watch professional theatre rehearsals and even step inside a metal whale!

Dr Bike will be there to offer bike repairs and advice, plus there will be guided nature walks along the canal, clay flower making, a book exchange, card-making and a chance to plant your own vegetables.

If you’re an artist, crafter, craftivist or maker, you can contribute your own art or craft project to the pop-up Neighbourhood Gallery. Whether it’s crochet or cross-stitch, photography or painting, we would love to know what the people of Coventry are making. 

The Neighbourhood Creative Day includes contributions from Talking Birds, Imagineer, Highly Sprung, Media Mania and Pangea Sculptors Centre, all of whom are based in The Powerhouse. 

This event has been created and organised by a group of the Coventry residents who participated in Coventry’s Citizens’ Assembly on Arts and Culture in 2021.

This ambitious project used a democratic process to ask the people of Coventry how art, culture and creativity can shape a better future for the city. 

One of the Assembly’s recommendations was for a network of Neighbourhood Creative Hubs across the city. In the time since the Assembly, this small group has taken part in Creative Citizen Changemaker training to help equip them to make things happen in their own communities. The group have organised this pop-up version to test out and showcase the idea.

Janet Vaughan from Talking Birds comments, “It takes courage to step up and organise something to make life in your neighbourhood or city better - and it's so exciting to see how taking part in the Citizens' Assembly got these 'ordinary 'Coventry people fired up to make a difference in our city. Before the Assembly they didn't even know each other and, since then, they've worked together to bring to life the vision of Coventry that their recommendations described. We hope lots of people will come and enjoy the event they've put together - and perhaps be inspired to get involved in making things happen in their own neighbourhood.”

This event is supported by Arts Council England, Heart of England Communities Fund and IM Properties.