Experience the words of painter, poet and writer Arthur Berry lit up large in Burslem Town Centre created by Neon Workshops.

Dubbed the ‘Lowry of the Potteries’, Berry was born in Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent in 1925, studying at Burslem School of Art from the age of 14, where he later went on to teach, and The Royal College in 1943. Berry’s work was rooted in the culture of North Staffordshire and the vanishing industrial potteries.

Discover two large-scale neon works taken from Arthur Berry’s words created especially for Light Night Stoke-on-Trent:

Warmth & Humanity

Location | Inside Mothertown Fish & Chips

‘The working-class life I was reared in, I could never leave it. There was warmth and humanity abut it that I was easy with. I felt that the memories of the streets I grew up in were deep in the silt of my mind and that if I was ever going to make anything of value, it would have to be made out of that.’ Arthur Berry, 1984

Shine Again

Location | Above Market Place Cafe

Taken from the poem ‘Heat Wave’: ‘And all the roofs of the town will shine again.’
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About Neon Workshops
We make and install neon.
We teach and preach neon.
We exhibit and publish neon.

Neon Workshops was set up in 2010 by artist Richard William Wheater, in his home city of Wakefield, out of frustration that there was nowhere in Europe to learn hands-on in a creative environment. Now in its ninth year consulting, fabricating, installing, teaching and exhibiting neon, with the hope of inspiring future generations to play with and develop a subject that has heaps of potential.

Arthur Berry Shines Again is presented as part of Light Night Stoke-on-Trent.

Match funded by Arts Council England and Stoke-on-Trent City Council and delivered by Appetite in partnership with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and the Cultural Forum, find out more about Light Night Stoke-on-Trent and plan your visit here.