As part of the Rooms of Our Own project, four young artists have been commissioned to create a piece of art inspired by items from our newly restored collection, in addition to this they will also be lending a helping (creative) hand during the summer school workshop’s that are taking place at the centre throughout August, so we thought you should get to know them a bit better!
Laura Jones
Having just completed a degree in Graphic Design at The University of Salford, Laura is now a freelance Illustrator and Graphic Designer. Luckily for us this will not be Laura’s first time working at a place of historical importance – for one of her university assignments she created an app that would (hypothetically speaking) teach 1950s teenagers how to use mill equipment, the project was inspired by Manchester’s rich industrial heritage, a period she became well acquainted with during her time researching at the Working-Class Movement Library in Salford for a University project.
Laura comments on what she’s most looking forward to about this project: “I find it interesting how you can use old material to inspire creativity now, so I am excited to use the archive material they have here at the centre to make a fresh, new piece of art.”
Alexis Maxwell
Alexis is an interdisciplinary artist, although she studied Theatre and Performance at university, Alexis now creates animated poetry on a freelance basis, a skill she taught herself how to do during lockdown.
Her main creative interests include both feminism and intersectional feminism, so working at the birthplace of the suffragette movement will hopefully ignite those two passions.
In the past Alexis has collaborated with organisations like the Arts and Libraries Cultural Hub in St Helens, where she developed their oral history archive, so she is especially excited to delve into the audio bit of our collection.
Katie McKeever
Katie is currently studying for a master’s degree in Visual Anthropology at Manchester University. Throughout her lectures Katie mostly concentrates on photography and documentary style filmmaking, this includes (for example) recording testimonies.
Her passion for digital art started when she made a film about a youth community hub in Norwich for one of her undergrad degree modules.
Katie expresses her excitement for the project: “This is a rare opportunity to be given, it’s a feminism inspired, creative role for young emerging artists, and it’s right on my doorstep! I feel very lucky to be involved.”
Millie Sheppard
Like Alexis, Millie has a theatre and performance background, which means she has a lot of experience working in a group on creative projects (so that’s ideal for us!).
Millie has just finished her second year at Manchester University, where she’s studying for a degree in English and History, so working on the Rooms of Our Own project will keep her occupied during the long summer break.
She comments: “I find it exciting that most of the archive only dates as far back as the 80s because it’s not really a time we often see as history, just because it wasn’t that long ago, so I’m excited to create a piece inspired by more contemporary material.” Millie also adds: “I’m equally as excited to work with the other Young Creatives because they all have great artistic practices”.
