Follow the Rabbit: creating fantastic beasts and magical creatures, in Kidsgrove

Join artists from B Arts’ to design and create your own fantastical beasts and magical creatures inspired paper cuts. This free workshop will take at Victoria Hall, Kidsgrove. Simply drop-in on Friday 11 March from 10am to 1pm to take part.

The paper cuts will be placed in lit up jars and used as part of a trail that will light the way to Down The Rabbit Hole by Illuminos on Saturday 26 March, 7pm-9pm. This stunning event will see  the north entrance of Harecastle Tunnel become the backdrop to this magical sound and light projection. For more details and to book your free slot for this event here.

Other Projects in Kidsgrove!

Find out more about what else we have going on in Kidsgrove here.  We’re also inviting people to join us at the Appetite Taster Day on Saturday 26 March, Victoria Hall, Kidsgrove from 12pm to 4pm. Come along to see performances, speak to artists, have a go at activities and sample what Appetite get up to.   Want to attend? Email us askus@appetite.org.uk.

Follow the Rabbit is funded by:

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Appetite Taster Day in Kidsgrove

Looking for some inspiration in 2022? Want something new to get involved in? Would you like to make things happen in Kidsgrove?

Then take a bite out of something new, be inspired, get involved!

Join Appetite for a jam packed afternoon on Saturday 26 March 12pm – 4pm at the Victoria Hall, Kidsgrove to sample our FREE  ‘Taster Day’ with loads of tasty art treats.

BSL interpretation will be available throughout the afternoon, ready to interpret performances and workshops to ensure everyone can enjoy and take part.

This is a free, drop-in event with refreshments and a warm welcome provided to all! Let’s celebrate Kidsgrove and make new things happen in the area. Come along and be a part of making it happen!

Here’s what we’ll be serving up:

Like a Tree Puppet by Hocus Pocus Theatre

Down in the woods a sapling grows, up through the ground and towards the sky. At the same time, a child is born and their lives entwine in a touching tale of life, love and everything after.

Mother Nature is storyteller, lighting up hearts and imaginations with her handmade puppets and a vintage pram puppet theatre. As climate catastrophe threatens the girl’s beloved tree, she learns about the fragility of life and that it’s never too late to give something back.

A magical and moving story told with puppets, suitable for all ages.

The Fabularium

Lop the Hare, the fastest animal in the forest, is distraught when she discovers that not a single animal has signed up to compete in the Annual Animal Racing Contest, for fear of losing against the reigning champion. Hadrian the Tortoise decides to save the competition by volunteering to race against her. Baffled by the old shell’s foolish decision, but too proud to turn down the offer, Lop agrees to race Hadrian in what she believes will be her easiest race yet.

Can slow and steady beat the fastest animal in the forest? Come one and all to the woodland place, Tortoise and Hare are having a race! Join The Fabularium in their walkabout performance, looking for the fastest creature in the lands.

Poetry Workshop, by Gabriella Gay from Kwanzaa Collective

Try your hand at poetry. Join Gabriella Gay in this poetry workshop open to all experience, levels and abilities.

Kidsgrove Scavengers by Letting in the Light

Join this workshop and have a go! Carve, print and paint onto clay to create ceramic cubes and tiles.

Ben Kaufman, Upswing

Ben Kaufman is a circus performer from Brattleboro, Vermont. He started taking circus classes as a child and continues to grow and challenge himself. He enjoys making work that is playful, joyful, and full of story.

Joshua David Smith

Joshua likes to work multi-disciplinary with juggling by combining it with spoken word, contemporary dance, or with other circus apparatus such as dance-trapeze. He trained at both the National Centre for Circus Arts and Circomedia where he specialised in juggling.

Also joining:

Wilde Studio, offering hands on weaving workshops

Rebecca Huxley, sharing her research as environmental Artist-in-Residence through her Open Observatory project.

The Taster Day is a partnership project by Appetite Canal & River Trust and Realise.

Featured image by Clara Lou Photography

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Community Spectacular at the Catalyst Building

We’re excited to be bringing a host of exciting performances to the launch of the Catalyst Building. Join Appetite, in partnership with Staffordshire University, on Saturday 5 March for a celebration of the latest milestone in the University’s history!

Information on access and transport for this event can be found here.

Here’s what we’ll be serving up:

Robot Selfie by Kaleider

Wed 2 to Sat 5 March

Robot Selfie is a collaboration between audience, AI, artist, and robot. See the robot paint the faces of the selfies sent in by you on a large canvas! Strangers next to each other, simultaneously present, together, and yet apart.

Submit your selfie here by Tues 1 March for a chance to be included.

Listen to an audio description of Robot Selfie here.

A read easy description of this event can be found here.

Little Miss Majorettes by Kitch n Sync 

11.45am to 12pm, 12.30pm to 12.45pm to 3pm & 2.15pm to 2.30pm

The Little Miss Majorettes have been in training ready for their celebratory debut! They may not be the best baton twirlers or marching band members but what they lack in skill they make up with enthusiasm! Expect a comedic display of anti climactic tricks, false starts, fumbling formations and an (almost) extravagant ending!

A read easy description of this event can be found here.

The Baghdaddies

10.30am to 11am, 12pm to 12.30pm & 2.30pm to 3pm

The Baghdaddies are a exhilarating cocktail of Balkan melodies, ska and latin grooves and sizzling brass played with furious energy and theatrical humour, making them as unforgettable on stage as they are when performing as wandering brass troubadours. They take themselves incredibly seriously so you don’t have to…

This is a walkabout performance – keep a look out!

Canapé Art by Levantes Dance Theatre

11.30am to 12.15pm, 2pm to 2.45pm & 3.15pm to 4pm

Canapé Art projects feature a pair of performers in exquisite identical costumes, make up and headgear. Dressed to impress, the delightful pair mingle with the public, creating beautiful and unique, edible tattoos on hands, arms and faces. Suitable for everyone from curious adults to inquisitive tots.

Expect bright sugar icing, marshmallows, a bit of silliness, edible beads, sequins and lots of glitter!

Images by Roswitha Chesher

OUT OF THE DEEP BLUE by Autin Dance Theatre

1pm to 1.25pm & 3pm to 3.25pm

The whirr of the wind cutting across a rocky beach, the whoosh of the waves lapping the shore… The illusion of calm is broken when EKO, a sentient Sea Giant, pads onto dry land…

This interactive walkabout performance transports audiences into another world, to tell a story about our own. This spectacle is designed specifically for family and festival audiences and tells the magical story of Eko, a sea giant who rises from the deep ocean and who is seeking, on the shore, someone that will listen to his urgent story.

Listen to a full audio description of Out of the Deep Blue here.

A read easy description of this event can be found here.

POWER by 2Faced Dance Company

11am to 11.25am & 1.35pm to 2pm

This fearless dance production choreographed by Alleyne Dance, explores our relationship with authority and control. With abuses of power and domination affecting communities across the world, we look at how power can seduce, shift and shape our behaviour.

Performed by three explosive dancers we ask the questions:

Who leads? Who follows? Who holds the power?

Listen to an audio description of POWER by 2Faced Dance Company here.

A ready easy description of this even can be found here.

Performers in the Trailer: Louis Parker-Evans, Jason Boyle, Jamie Leo

The Poetry Takeaway

11am to 4pm 

Our diverse group of talented Poet Chefs provide high quality personalised poetry for guests and visitors, written performed and delivered free, all from our mobile Poetry Emporium, The Poetry Takeaway.

Ladybird Su

10.30am to 12.30pm & 1.15pm to 4pm

Su is an eco-artist and garden maker who travels to festivals and events with her colour vintage caravan, Ladybird. Join Su to print and decorate your own seed saving envelope, and take home some British wildflower seeds to grow at home or guerrilla garden with. Su loves to hear your gardening stories and tips too.

Images by Fern Brown

Family “make and take activity” with artist Ian Mood 

10.30am to 1pm & 1.45pm to 4pm 

Ian Mood is a professional artist based in Newcastle Under Lyme known for bold and expressive landscapes.

Staffordshire University alumni Ian will be producing a series of drawings celebrating the architecture of the buildings on campus. There will also be a workstation where you can also try your hand at some drawing at the same time.

Image by Jenny Harper

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Kaleider’s Robot Selfie

What happens when you give a robot a massive canvas, a can of spray paint and a load of your faces?

Robot Selfie is a collaboration between audience, AI, artist, and robot. Each party has agency to make their own choices to create something together. The anarchy in the automation makes it a messy game of consequences.

The emergence of haphazardly painted faces as the robot takes its turn, reminds us we are all in this together, in all its poetry and chaos. Strangers next to each other, simultaneously present, together, and yet apart.

We’re asking the community of Stoke-on-Trent to submit your selfie for the chance to appear on the giant canvas. Come along from Wednesday 2 March to Friday 4 March to watch Robot Selfie at work as the canvas takes shape. Join the Catalyst Community Spectacular on Saturday 5 March to view the finished piece and see if your selfie made it onto canvas.

It’s easy to submit your selfie. Follow this link from Monday 21 February  https://robotselfie.live/stoke

Here’s a ‘how to’ video on how to upload your selfie How-to Tips: Robot Selfie – YouTube

For live updates follow #PaintedByARobot #RobotSelfieStoke @kaleider

About Kaleider

Kaleider is an international production studio led by artist Seth Honnor and producer Katie Keeler. Kaleider makes playable artworks. We combine installation, live performance and digital to design artworks for audiences, which we tour to cities, festivals, venues and public spaces all over the world.

In the last 5 years we have performed 144 international gigs in 14 countries on 5 continents to more than 65,000 people.

Kaleider Studios is in Exeter, UK and is where we make our work and run projects.

We share our space with other creative organisations and individuals, many of whom we collaborate with and who collaborate with each other.

Kaleider is an IN SITU artist 2020 – 2024 (UN) COMMON SPACES. IN SITU is the European platform for artistic creation in public space.

Kaleider is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, 2015-23, and is funded by Exeter City Council.
www.kaleider.com

Featured image by Helen Boast

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Rita Floyd, Artist-in-Residence, at Newcastle Common

Join ceramic artist Rita Floyd at Newcastle Common!

Artist Rita Floyd has been specially selected by Keith Brymer Jones to be Artist-in-Residence at Newcastle Common during his Life, Clay and Everything exhibition. She will be working in the exhibition space and responding to his work.

Rita is a floral ceramic artist and designer and has an extensive background in and knowledge of the ceramics industry, having worked within it for many years. Rita is passionate about passing on her floral ceramic skills and loves to share her expertise with the public.

As well as leading drop in sessions with for you to take part in, Rita will also be creating her own work, experimenting with and exploring colour and floral forms.

Rita will be at our Newcastle Common space at 23 High Street, Newcastle (find us opposite Art of Siam) space from 11am to 4pm on the following dates to respond to Keith’s work and demonstrate her skilful flower making in clay.

Saturday 5 February*

Tuesday 8 February

Wednesday 9 February*

Saturday 12 February*

Saturday 19 February*

Tuesday 22 February

Wednesday 23 February*

Saturday 26 February*

*On these dates there will also be the opportunity for you to have a go at making your own clay flowers for free to take home!

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NEW Community group project – Letting in the Light by Kidsgrove Scavengers

Kidsgrove Scavengers are looking for groups in Kidsgrove to get involved in a series of workshops creating vibrant fabric banners and ceramic way markers, to be installed at points along the canal. This is just one of our projects working with Canal & River Trust along the canal side in Kidsgrove.

Kidsgrove Scavengers are looking to work with two groups of all ages and abilities each taking part in three workshop sessions.

Workshop 1: The Photo Walk. Armed with digital cameras and gather bags, your group will hunt and capture inspirational, intriguing or unusual images. The photos will then be printed out and traced into acetate ready for Workshop 2.

Workshop 2: The Banner Workshop. Using the acetate drawings your group will enlarge and apply the captured images through patchwork quilting and batik dying techniques to recycled white cotton fabrics whether it be scavenged old shirts, pillow cases, etc, transforming them into large vibrant banners.

Workshop 3: The Ceramic Workshop. Using the images and items gathered from the photo walk your group will impress, carve, print and paint onto clay to create ceramic cubes and tiles that will be incorporated into sculptural forms.

At the end of the project your artwork will be installed along the canal and celebrated with an event and meal.

Dates available for sessions:

Friday 28 January

Friday 18 February 11am to 1pm – Victoria Hall, Kidsgrove

Friday 4 March 11am to 1pm – Victoria Hall, Kidsgrove

Each session lasts approximately two hours.

To express interest on behalf of your group and for further information contact askus@appetite.org.uk.

For details on our other projects in Kidsgrove click here.

This is a partnership project working with

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Circus Stories Town Trail

Newcastle Common proudly presents our Circus Stories Town Trail, created by Shelley Jayne Crawford during her month long residency in Newcastle-Under Lyme, at our High Street space. This Town Trail is a beautifully illustrated document that invites you to look at architectural details within our town centre, to understand their historical significance and to learn some facts about the history of circus whilst doing so.

Join us on Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 December for the launch of the trail! There will be guided walk throughs on both days, beginning at Newcastle Common’s 23 High Street space and ending at our Astley Walk space, at 10am, 12pm and 2pm.

You can expect the Trail’s creator, Shelley Jayne Crawford to lead the first walks of each day, whereby she will talk about the project and what her focus was for this beautiful publication. There will be a Ring Master present to help guide and entertain you around the trail within the other time slots.

This vibrant, fun and pocket sized guide will lead you around the town, beginning at Newcastle Common, 23 High Street and ending at our other town centre space on Astley Walk. It features an overview map so you can see where it will lead you and some fun ‘extra gems’ to spot on your journey.

Once you have completed the trail and arrived at the final destination of our Astley Walk space you are welcome to stay with us to have a go at some fun creative mark making, inspired and led by Shelley, with support from Newcastle Common team members.

On Tuesday you can end your visit with a hot drink by heading to our neighbouring The Windmill Café Bistro who are kindly offering our visitors a discount voucher for use after their visit!

You can download a PDF version of the Circus Stories Town Trail here.

Here’s what you can take part in:

Carnival Horse Workshop

Mon 20 & Tues 21 December

(Drop in 10am-3pm)

Join us to celebrate the launch of Newcastle Common’s first town trail! Play with illustration and character design by making your own carnival horse puppet. Explore vibrant circus inspired pattern from the town trail with coloured paper, collage and drawing materials.

Collage Town Greetings Card and Gift Tag Making 

Mon 20 & Tues 21 December

(Drop in 10am-3pm)

This workshop will invite members of the public to look closely at interesting details within the town and embrace using a range of drawing techniques to create unique surface designs. Participants can take influence from the processes used to create the town trail and turn their creations into a festive greetings card or gift tags using a favourite landmark template.

Come and join us to celebrate Newcastle-Under-Lyme town centre through creativity and culture this Christmas time!

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