April was an exciting month as we saw our lovely independent high street reopen and al fresco dined in Kirkby’s beautiful hidden gardens such as The Snooty Fox, Number Nine and Plato’s. We also saw the return of the bustling weekly Charter Market each Thursday where we shopped until we dropped and ate in the shining sun. Now this May we are excited to launch the Phoenix Rising Art Taster workshops as we provide an opportunity for the town to recharge, socialise and learn something new…
The Phoenix Rising Art Taster workshops are a new visual art and wellbeing programme which have been developed in collaboration with Green Close and are for anyone living within Kirkby Lonsdale and Lune Valley area. Make a space for your wellbeing needs, whilst learning, sharing your ideas and connecting with others on a programme of fun, creative activities led by experienced professional artists.
Meet the artists leading the Phoenix Rising Art Tasters and book a workshop to try their craft:
Kremena Dimitrova – Myths and Legends Mapmaking
Kremena Dimitrova is a London based illustrator, historian, lecturer and researcher who specialises in visual history. This 2-week family friendly workshops called Myths and Legends gives you the chance to experiment with photography and traditionally made textures, painted, drawn and printed backgrounds. It’s a chance to share local stories and put yourself and or your family on the map.
Ginni Koppenhol – Gratitude Gallery Smartphone Photography
Ginni Koppenhol is a professional photographer who has run this popular online course The Gratitude Gallery reaching hundreds of people all over the country. It is a month-long project comprising of 4 workshops, bringing together people who want to learn phone photography skills and use them to create daily photos with gratitude at their heart.
Danielle Chappell-Aspinwall – Kirkby Towntastic
Danielle Chappell-Aspinwall is an Artist and describes herself as a creator and community tutor. She is an experienced workshop leader and teacher working across Lancashire to inspire and heal. Kirkby Towntastic is all about exploring the good things in life, recognising the positives that surround us through doodling, making, walking and drawing.The end of this workshop will result in the creation of a length of bunting to be sewn and displayed around town.
Sue Flowers – Tree of Life
Sue Flowers an Artist and founder of Green Close in Melling. Her work explores our emotional connectivity to our environment, our personal histories and the world we live in. Through her Tree of Life workshops Sue encourages people to uncover ever-changing realities of what life means to us today. Sue works with clay to celebrate our individuality, growth and strength. The candle sticks made in this workshop we intend to display in public places around town as a celebration of life.
Online and Face-to-face
The Phoenix Rising art tasters will take place online at first, starting with the four-week photography workshop Gratitude Gallery on Friday 30th April and the two-week map-making workshop Myths & Legends on Sunday 2nd May. The face-to-face workshops will begin in May, taking place at Lunesdale Hall in line with government guidelines. These will include a series of wellbeing drawing and making workshops exploring what makes our area special to us called Kirkby Towntastic from Sunday 23rd May and some working with clay workshops making your own candlestick called Tree of Life from Saturday 5th June.
Booking Information for Phoenix Rising Workshops
Phoenix Rising Art Taster workshops are free and will run online or in Lunesdale Hall. We do ask for a £10 deposit per person or family which will be refunded at the end of each programme. We want this to be accessible to everyone – so please do contact us if this is a problem for any reason.
All courses are designed for adult participation – children are welcome at any of those titled Family Friendly.
Book onto any of the courses online here or ring the Information & Gift Shop on 015242 97177.
