Build your own Arts Centre
21st - 25th May 2022
Warley Woods, Smethwick
BUILD YOUR OWN ARTS CENTRE will see a large-scale, child-built, installation in the magnificent Warley Woods created in collaboration with Woodland Tribe.
Children and their families are invited to come and build (yes, we did say build!) their own arts centre, made from recycled wood and their own imaginations! Working together with constructive play experts Woodland Tribe CIC, children will be given hammers, saws, nails, and freedom to create an extraordinary woodland arts centre, a space designed to let their imaginations take them wherever they want to go.
At each free, ninety-minute BUILD session children will be encouraged to imagine, design and build their own arts venue in Warley Woods in Smethwick in a section of the forest not far from the footpath and within a short distance from the Pavilion. Children will become artists and engineers encouraged to make their own decisions about how the structure should develop; whether it’s adding ladders to climb, bridges to cross or stages to perform on. Then using wood and tools the children will help saw, hammer, and assemble the structure.
Once the Pop-up Woodland Arts Centre has been built, children will have a chance to become Artists in Residence with Cloud Cuckoo Land and Wildlives Forest School working alongside artists, designers and performers to inhabit the space and explore the possibilities when you Build Your Own Art Centre.
Who is involved?
Woodland Tribe CIC are an experienced not-for- profit organisation who promote adventure play and believe in letting children take control of their own play space. Their portfolio includes over 25 child lead builds at various festivals, several adventure playgrounds as well as ongoing engagement and enrichment work with schools.
Tom Williams from Woodland Tribe said: ‘Our exhibitions place a value on children’s empowerment and family participation. It is hands-on public art that will be highly engaging for all generations. This represents children’s agency in the public realm, a play space and exhibition built by children and families that can also be viewed as public and political art.’
Warley Woods Community Trust manages and looks after the woods on behalf of the community. Warley Woods is a 100-acre community park which is a mix of woodland, open meadow, and a golf course, and the trust ensures that the park continues to thrive now and for future generations.
Viv Cole, Trust Manager, Warley Woods Community Trust said: “We are just so excited that Warley Woods has been chosen to be the place for such an amazing project. It is going to be such a fun collective community experience and that is what Warley Woods Community Trust loves to be able to offer to its visitors. We know local people are going to race for places and hopefully some from further afield will take this opportunity to experience the magic of Warley Woods too.”
