An exploration of North African creativity in the North West of England, Leeds and beyond. Join Jessica El Mal (Manchester Morocco) of the Arab British Centre chair a panel with Hannaa Hamdache (Leeds/Algeria) Mohammad Sultan (Manchester/ Libya) to find out more about their work, engage in cross-community dialogue and celebrate North African heritage and its impact on contemporary diaspora identities in the UK.

Programme Highlights:

Traditional & Contemporary North African Dance

Live Music & Spoken Word Performances

Learn the art of lino printing with multidisciplinary artist and experienced tutor Annie Cunniffe.

This workshop will introduce you to safely using the various tools needed to produce stunning prints.  No experience of drawing, painting or printing is needed and this workshop is suitable for all abilities to just experiment and play. Learn how to successfully turn your lino cuts into beautiful prints using a printing press or brayer.

All materials, including paint, lino and cutting tools are provided at no additional cost.

We are thrilled to be bringing this follow up to the popular Painting with Knives workshop with professional artist Heather Burton.

Heather will guide you through the process of making a bold and expressive painting from beginning to end and ensure you create a magnificent painting to take home. Using the palette knife you will learn how to correctly apply and layer colour to a canvas to give you a strong composition and tonal value.
 
This event is for both experienced and beginner artists who want to try something bold and new.  

In celebration of Swarthmore opening on Saturdays we're offering a selection of fabulously affordable workshops throughout 2025.

These two hour sessions are perfect for you if you're wanting to try something new or if you'd like to refresh your skills!

Enjoy this Easter inspired workshop exploring techniques in watercolour. Produce chicks, eggs and bunnies.

Make four watercolour images which can be inserted into greetings cards to take home and gift to friends.

A single tutored drawing session focussing on the Head.

Working with a life model for One Pose throughout the session.

Learning and understanding the positioning of facial features and skull structure using comparative measuring.

Looking at examples of how other artists have approached drawing a head and portraiture in their work, and exploring your own personal approach to mark making.

Experimenting with different ways of applying charcoal and pencil to reveal character and feeling.

Are you ready to join us for another big fun creative session?

Junk Journalling is a fast growing creative addiction and will brighten up your journals and sketchbooks whilst recycling waste paper and card including food and treat packaging! Spend the evening with us, your pals or come solo and make new friends whilst creating cool creative collage pages in your books! There will be prompts and creative people on hand to help you get going if you need it - the bar will be open and we will have a tasty PAYF dinner on the menu for anyone who would like to eat with us too!