Urban Wilderness CIC is a community arts organisation based in Stoke‑on‑Trent. This archive highlights key projects and events that illustrate our practice, partnerships and impact. During this period, the organisation was led by founding co-directors Laurel Gallagher, Isla Telford, and Jenny Harper. Our flagship annual events — Pig Walk Parade and Winter Gathering — are included here as recurring anchor entries, alongside other major commissions and collaborations.
TRACOBAND is a choreographed outdoor dance performance by artist Lola Adodo, blending live percussion, community volunteers and historic-inspired movement. Presented at Keele University and All Saints Community Garden during The Happenings 2021.
Read MoreA solo performance devised by Sophia Hatfield in collaboration with women’s running groups and the Canal & River Trust, staged along the Etruria Canal on 26 September 2021 as part of The Happenings Festival of Public Art in Stoke-on-Trent.
Read MoreA reflective ceramics project exploring pause, return and transform, created through online and in-studio making sessions during lockdown. Clay Comrades produced raku-fired cubes that capture personal reflections from 2020 and the importance of staying connected as a creative community.
Read MoreThe Immaculate Sisters of Hartshill explore seasonal rituals, symbolism and wellbeing through participatory performance rooted in mid-autumn transitions, inspired by Samhain and their lived experience of lockdown.
Read MoreBy a Thread is a textiles artwork by illustrator Becki Kremer, combining hand embroidery and felt on transparent netting. Installed temporarily in Central Forest Park, the work reflects on the relationship between nature and humanity through a quotation from Wordsworth’s Lines Written in Early Spring.
Read MoreDiverse Landscapes is a digital photography project by Adina Lawrence, exploring heritage and identity through outdoor portraiture in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire. Models wore outfits reflecting their cultural backgrounds, colour-matched to natural surroundings and photographed with minimal processing to highlight authenticity and connection to place.
Read MoreTaking Up Space brings together Black women from Staffordshire to reclaim green spaces through walking, dance, and poetry. Initiated after the 2020 lockdown, the project culminated in dance and poetry performances filmed in Hanley Park.
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