Artists, Speakers & Panelists
Ella Alemayehu-Lambert
Ella Alemayehu-Lambert is a Creative Producer at Lancaster Arts, a contemporary arts organisation based at Lancaster University with environmental justice as a core value. Ella has a background in Theatre and Performance Studies and is interested in environmental justice, particularly the connections it draws between patriarchal, colonial and environmental violence and resistance.
https://www.lancasterarts.org/
Niamh Allen
Niamh Allen is the Managing Director of IoT Horizon Ltd, a technology company committed to making buildings smarter, safer, and more efficient. With 8 years of experience in the tech sector, Niamh focuses on leveraging her expertise to improve indoor environments and promote healthier living and working spaces. Currently, she is involved in supporting an introductory ‘smart buildings’ course for Further Education colleges, advocating for efficiency, sustainability, and healthy building practices. Niamh is also a regular speaker at universities, schools, and industry conferences, sharing her insights on these critical topics.
Calum Bayne
Calum Bayne (he/him) is a Scottish curator exploring the connections between social justice, artistic intervention and ethical practice. This is exemplified by his role Programme and Practice at In-Situ, a Pendle-based interdisciplinary organisation working between art, community engagement and ecology. Calum was the inaugural recipient of the British School at Rome and Newcastle University Connect Fellowship (2022) and has been selected as a member of The British Art Network’s Emerging Curators Group 2024. He is also a Trustee at youth-led arts charity, Blaze.
Blackburn With Darwen People’s Jury On The Climate Crisis
National Festival of Making shares their experience of working with Blackburn with Darwen People’s Jury on the Climate Crisis – a group of citizens brought together by the local Council. The Festival embedded co-design principles into a project with the Jury citizens, supporting the communication of their recommendations for a net-zero future.
Together, the Festival and Jury co-designed a project and commissioned artist Get It Done, resulting in a multi-faceted creative outcome.
https://www.thepeoplesjurybwd.org/
Paulette Brien
Paulette Brien has been supporting artists to make and exhibit their work for over 30 years. Since 2017, she has been the Curator at Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool. Here, in collaboration with the wider team, and a range of local, regional, national and international partners, she conceives and leads on the delivery of an ambitious year-round programme of contemporary art exhibitions and events. Paulette is regularly invited to share her knowledge and experience in a range of professional development settings, including as a visiting lecturer, writer, workshop leader and artist mentor. In addition, Paulette is a member of the steering group for The Manchester Contemporary art fair, a Leader in Residence for UCLAN (University of Central Lancashire) and a Trustee of the Peter Scott Gallery, Lancaster.
Julie Brown
Julie Brown is the Executive Director of innovative theatre company, imitating the dog, which fuses live performance with digital technology. For many years Julie worked independently as a theatre producer, festival producer and in arts administration in venues. She has a particular interest in light art.
https://www.imitatingthedog.co.uk/
Stephen Caton
Stephen Caton is a multi-disciplinary designer who founded the design agency Source Creative in 2001. Stephen studied Graphic Design at Blackburn College and has worked in the creative industries for over 30 years. His work includes projects such as the National Festival of Making, LANDS and British Textile Biennial.
Colin Johnston,
Colin Johnston is the Deputy CEO, Blackpool Grand Theatre and leads on conservation and development of Blackpool Grand Theatre’s Grade II* listed Matcham theatre. Since achieving NPO status in 2011, the focus has been on reducing the theatre’s carbon footprint and ensuring that any investment in the physical infrastructure of the building is carbon neutral at least. Very challenging in a Victorian theatre!
https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/
Robin Lyons
Robin Lyons is the Co-Artistic Director of Ergon Theatre, one of the UK’s leading Climate Theatre companies. In all his work he focuses on provoking human and personal connections to the climate crisis, seeking to use art as a communicating bridge between science, research, activism and the public.
www.climateleadershiptraining.co.uk/further-services
The Creative Principle
The Creative Principle was set up by artists, Norma Foulds, Elizabeth Emmens-Wilson and Sarah Aspden to host real world events that focus on truly handmade and upcycled goods.
https://www.instagram.com/thecreativeprinciple_
Abdur Razzak
Abdur Razzak is a dynamic theatre practitioner, researcher, teacher, designer. He is a Lecturer at Department of Theatre at Tagore University of Creative Arts, Bangladesh and the founder and director of ‘Theatre Cycle’, a non-profit arts organization based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
As an actor he has performed in plays both in Bangladesh and abroad. He has worked with ICCCAD-Bangladesh (International Centre for Climate Change and Development), the UN Climate Change Conference (COP-26), Plan International, South- Asian Partnership Bangladesh, Notre Dame University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy etc. He directed more than fifteen theatre festivals including, Chiraoyoto Bangla Drama Festival 2023, Environmental Theatre Festival 2022, Bangabandhu Festival 2022, Notre Dame University Bangladesh Drama Production 2019, Bistaar Arts Festival 2018, 6th National Youth Theatre Festival 2017, Dhaka University Central 11th Drama Festival 2017 and Dhaka University Inter-hall Drama Festival 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PosuZtauWoE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61EqM0rlWQI
Resolve Collective
RESOLVE is an interdisciplinary design collective that combines architecture, engineering, technology and art to address social challenges. They have delivered numerous projects, workshops, publications, and talks in the UK and across the world, all of which look toward realising just and equitable visions of change in our built environment.
https://www.resolvecollective.com/
On Our Doorsteps at Lancaster Arts
Lancaster Arts has made a commitment to social and environmental justice and are in the process of exploring the many different ways this might thread through their programme and partnerships. They are part of We Live Here, a network that commissions and presents public realm projects by UK and international artists who seek to build deeper connections between communities and the natural environments around them. Their presentation shares work in progress from On Our Doorsteps, a current live We Live Here project that is bringing artists into dialogue with communities in Lancaster and Morecambe to explore environmental justice issues in our place over a six-month period.
https://www.welivehere.org.uk/on-our-doorstep
Sneha Solanki
Sneha Solanki works across disciplines with emergent, precarious and the overlooked to produce works, events and collaborations that utilise open, de-centred methods which engender and embody knowledge. Sneha has made works with bacteria following protocols of the emergent area of Synthetic Biology, from the invisible signals emitted from military bases, with plants, computer viruses and analogue television. Sneha is currently carrying out a collaborative Doctoral with Fine Art, School of Geography, Politics & Sociology, Newcastle University in partnership with The Maltings visual Arts Programme, Berwick-upon-Tweed.
http://www.electronicartist.net/
Miranda Stearn
Miranda Stearn is Curator at Lancaster Arts, Lancaster University’s contemporary combined arts organisation and part of the National Portfolio of Arts Council England, shaping and delivering a public programme, residencies and commissions, and looking after the University’s art collection at the Peter Scott Gallery. She leads on Lancaster Arts’ Environmental action plan. She’s worked in public-facing arts, museums and heritage for 2 decades, including 10 years in university settings.
https://www.lancasterarts.org/
The National Festival of Making
Art, Manufacturing, Making and Communities. We commission international and national artists to create world-class works, a year-round programme and a participatory annual festival for all to enjoy.
https://festivalofmaking.co.uk/
Lauren Zawadzki
Lauren Zawadzki is the Festival Director and Co-Founder of the National Festival of Making CIC. Lauren works across the full scope of the company’s activities, including strategic development, commissioning of new artistic work, stakeholder and partnership relations, fundraising and producing specific projects within the organisation’s creative portfolio. Lauren is also Chair of the Board of Trustees of music education charity More Music and Co-Founder of culture company Deco Publique.
https://www.decopublique.co.uk/
https://festivalofmaking.co.uk/
BOOK TICKETS
The event is £5 to attend, including refreshments and lunch, and you must book in advance.
BOOK NOW
CALL OUT FOR ARTWORKS & ARTS PROJECTS >>