Art Gallery & Creative Hub

Our purpose is: to support the well-being and ambition of communities through creativity and collaboration in arts, architecture and education. SPUD strategy 2025-28 About Us SPUD is a charity focused on arts, architecture, and education committed to creating experiences that foster confidence, support career development and strengthen communities. Our approach is collaborative, meaningful and ambitious. We champion the voices of individuals and underrepresented groups, ensuring they are heard within our communities and partnerships. Driven by a focus on success, SPUD takes a professional approach to deliver impactful projects. We empower people to create, connect, and share, recognizing that even small actions can spark lasting joy and positive change. What do we do? We help foster people’s sense of community, connection and well-being. We support support people’s creative skills development, knowledge and understanding. We are instigators of imagination. We create ambitious projects for community benefit with genuine engagement. We build close relationships with our communities. We demonstrate leadership and mentorship within the visual arts in the New Forest. We instigate and support collaborations with partners. We operate at the highest level of quality, both locally and internationally. How do we do this? We work at the intersection of art, architecture and design with a focus on people, place and community. We seek to support well-being, health and the environment as part of contributing to sustainable communities and places. We support people to take the lead in creative work, so that it is their ideas, their voice and aspirations that are realised. We develop skills, passions and contribute to improving equality, diversity and inclusion in art and architecture. So that access to creative skills development and careers is not exclusive. We act as a bridge and stepping stone for individuals and community groups to develop skills, confidence and opportunities. We utilise the knowledge, imagination, skills and networks of other partners to develop work collaboratively We bring our energy, enthusiasm and a belief in collaboration to the work we undertake. We share our knowledge and resources with a wider audience through collaborative learning and programmes nationally and internationally. Who are we here for? Inclusive and diverse audiences through participation in creative activities. being inspirational and creating joy. In particular: Young people looking to be involved in their community through a range of creative opportunities. Older People through participation in creative activities, providing support, friendship, confidence and building community. Underrepresented Groups giving agency to hidden voices in our community and providing bespoke support. Artists and Creative Professionals through collaboration, mentorship and professional development and business opportunity. Ensuring creatives feel empowered to take a lead on initiatives. Partner Organisations promoting collaboration and being an instigator of opportunities. Community and Place through placemaking, the rural and built environment and public consultation. Our Team everyone matters including staff and volunteers. We work in and around the New Forest as well as regionally, nationally and internationally. Our Strategic Aims: Deliver collaborative, creative projects where communities take the lead. Provide space, support and opportunities for artists and other creative professionals to develop their practice and business opportunities. Develop projects focusing on place, environment and well-being Generate self-funded income to support our core work. Secure grants to support research, development and projects. Secure strategic funding (e.g. NPO status) that provides long-term stability and growth for the organisation. Adopted December 2024 Further Documentation : Annual Accounts 2025 Annual report 2025 SPUD CIO Governing Document SPUD Strategy 2025-28 SPUD Environmental Action Plan 2025-28 Trustees Deborah Owen-Ellis - Chair Alison Ward - Treasurer Mia Delve Channa Vithana Matthew Lawson Inigo Ormeroid Emma Jones Judy Sharrock Alex Craig Kristina Broughton Charlie Plevey-Callaghan - Youth Ambassador Team Members Mark Drury FRSA - Executive Director / Co-founder Tom Sofikitis - Operations Manager Eloise Rose - Operations Assistant Tom Hall - Curation & Programme Manager Suna Imre - Project Associate (Outreach & Engagement)

SPUD is an arts and education charity that creates opportunities for artists to engage with the public, architecture, urban design and the environment, producing new work as a catalyst for exploration, debate and public understanding. SPUDWORKS is a creative hub. spudWORKS will be closed on both May Bank Holidays - 4th and 25th May SPUDWORKS will be closed bank holidays 5th May and 26th May SPRING FALL boredomresearch 1-30 May Opening Event 1st May 5:30pm - 7:30pm Supported by Arts Council England In collaboration with the NFNPA What's On Art Clubs A range of art and design workshops for young people aged from 6 -18. Covering a wide spectrum of techniques and materials in a friendly and welcoming space. Read More Dementia Friendly Workshops Creative art workshops run weekly, for health and well-being led by a dementia friendly specialist. Read More Exhibition Programme View our programme for exhibition and events information Read More Architecture Club Weekly architecture and design workshops open to all young people aged 13-18. Read More LGBTQIA Together Group LGBTQIA friendly small group creative workshops for young people aged 13+ in our wonderful Living Room space. Read More Art Angels Workshops Creative classes, private events and team building events located in the Old Stable Block Read More SPUDWORKS will be closed bank holidays 5th May and 26th May I Want To Go There BEYOND FUNCTION Porcelain Delaney 4 - 30 June Opening Event 4 June 5:30pm - 7:30pm Supported by Arts Council England Opportunities Graduate Launch Pad Opportunity for recent creative arts graduates to have FREE studio space at spudWORKS for 12 months. Apply online. Self Funded Residencies Stay on the stunning spudWORKS campus for 1 - 4 weeks and immerse yourself in the beauty of the New Forest. Find out more... Hire a Space and Desk Rentals spudWORKS has a variety of creative workshop spaces that can be hired, including access to TV's and projectors. We also have desks available to rent in a shared office space. Find out more... Experimental Exhibition Proposals Opportunity to submit proposals for short experimental exhibitions at spudWORKS. Applications open annually. Apply online. Volunteering SPUD Trustees: An important part of the SPUD community is the Board of Trustees. We are always interested in hearing from people who would like to find out more about how to support SPUD and all its amazing work. We are currently looking for a Trustee who also has responsibility as a Finance Lead. Please see the role profile and do contact us to find out more. spud OPEN Exhibition Our popular annual Open Exhibition. Applications open Spring each year with an exhibition in Dec/Jan. Find out more... Step into the spudWORKS virtual garden! Explore Contact Us Address spudWORKS Station Road, Sway, Hampshire, SO41 6BA, UK Contact 01590 682260 jointheadventure@spud.org.uk Opening Hours Mon - Fri 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Saturday 10:00 am – 2:00 pm Sunday Closed (inc. Bank Holidays)

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Artist Studios Self-funded residency space: Located in the heart of the New Forest National Park in the UK, the studio provides a dedicated live-work space. It is open to artists of any discipline in need of a concentrated period of time to develop their ideas. Cost £260/week. spudWORKS offers 6 other studio spaces for artists to rent - all fully occupied currently. Click the button below to learn how to book the residency studio. Self-funded Residencies Workshop Space The workshop space is fully fitted with tables and chairs (which can be rearranged to suit a range of activities) for a maximum of 20 participants. Fast WiFi, a large screen 4K Smart TV monitor are available. There is a large sink with hot and cold water in the workshop as well as a nearby kitchen which also has tea and coffee making facilities and a fridge. £15 per hour or £80 per day. Contact tom@spud.org.uk for availability. workshop space Exhibition Space We are now offering a new opportunity to hire the gallery space at a massively discounted rate . This offer only applies to experimental projects with the intention of making the gallery a more accessible platform for artists to use. The Gallery walls are approximately 2.7 metres high with 50 square metres of floorspace (5 x 10) and approximately 30 linear metres of hanging space. The walls can be drilled and screwed to take mirror plates and other methods of installation. We also have a simple hanging system which works well for framed work or canvas. Access to the gallery is through the front doors of the spudWORKS building. Temporary parking is available immediately outside for unloading. Download gallery dimensions here. More Info Event Space Hiring rates for events and group activities are £20 per hour The space has a high end 4K Laser projector and sound system available for use. Minimum Hire is 2 hours. Please allow for set-up and tidying time. For example: A typical group workshop running for 2 hours would be required to book the space for 3 hours total to allow for setting up and tidying, before and after the workshop. Contact jointheadventure@spud.org.uk for details about hiring. Living Room The 'Living Room' Space Hire for £20 per hour The space uses 2 projectors to work together to provide a 180 degree ultra wide curved projection onto the wall of the building. This can work in sync with colour changing lights that automatically change to mimic the colours of any video playing through the projectors. Along with a surround sound system this makes for a very immersive set of technology that allows for a unique range of use cases. Minimum Hire is 2 hours. Please allow for set-up and tidying time. For example: A typical group workshop running for 2 hours would be required to book the space for 3 hours total to allow for setting up and tidying, before and after the workshop. Please note - not every kind of activity will be appropriate for this space. Please get in touch to discuss this further with us. Contact tom@spud.org.uk for details about hiring. Desk Rentals We have desk rentals available in our beautiful, shared office space knowns as the Hayloft, located on the second floor of the spudWORKS gallery in Sway. Desk rental gives you access to super fast wi-fi, and the main building facilities which includes kitchen, toilets and shower. You also benefit from access to the established gardens at spudWORKS and numerous seating areas. Desks are available on a monthly rolling contract at a cost £160/month plus a 1 month deposit. To become part of a thriving, creative and friendly community contact tom@spud.org.uk for details and to have a no obligation look around.

2026 Front Door Histories “Recent local history is often taken for granted, but the Front Door project brings it into focus and ensures that recent artifacts are collected and maintained and presented.” - John Astbury, St Barbe volunteer John puts his finger on the joys of this Front Door Histories Project. It is about a community looking at itself and its recent past as it slips slowly into history within our lifetimes. There is something fascinating about collecting the recent past, it is part memory and part record. The front door was chosen as the point of transition between our private and public lives. This was an important demarcation in the past and was a place we documented our day to day far more than we perhaps do now. The front door also gives us something static to observe change from. An archive is not just a collection; it is pointed and questioning and needs you to interpret its ideas. These three archives are an invitation for you to explore the possibilities. The Map The volunteers who support and work at St Barbe Art Gallery and Museum have come together with the SPUD curatorial team to create three archives. They have commissioned two artists, Paul Close and Danilo Zocatelli, to shape personal archives on local communities in Lymington and Pennington. This work forms the exhibition here at spudWORKS Gallery. In their research the volunteers have determinedly scoured, invited and searched for images from post-war Lymington and Pennington to build a digital map that holds, among other discoveries their changing community boundaries, social politics and fashions. Collecting from the community they have been building a picture of personal events from the lives of inhabitants living in a changing landscape. The resulting digital map is a guide, an account, and a record of small events that talk about historical decades of major change. A huge thank you to all the volunteers from St Barbe for your dedication, ideas and heart. Here at SPUD Paul and Danilo have been constructing contemporary archives. There is a very different intent to step out into a community and think on what we could collect now and hold for the future. These will be a snapshot of current time and place with a defined action behind them. The artists are projecting forwards, identifying a moment of change, or understanding of community that is present to the now and sets a new marker to observe change from. Paper Paper brings together members of SPUD Artist Studios with invited creative collaborators to explore the boundaries of Paper. This complex material is welded into the history of art like no other. It is often the first material we are given as children where we learn to use its qualities as a medium, material and conceptual space. In this exhibition you may not see it used as a conventional surface to support a traditional drawing but all the qualities these artists explore are embedded in its creative versatility and history of Paper. “When I see a white piece of paper, I feel I’ve got to draw. And drawing, for me, is the beginning of everything.” — Ellsworth Kelly Paper originated in ancient China around 105 CE, attributed to Cai Lun who refined a method using mulberry bark, hemp, and rags to create a lightweight, durable writing surface, revolutionizing communication by replacing heavier materials like papyrus and parchment. The technology spread to the Islamic world by the 8th century and reached Europe via Spain and Italy around the 11th century, eventually leading to mechanized production, which enabled mass printing and fuelled the spread of knowledge, literacy and creativity globally. The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.” — Malcolm Gladwell Stephanie James and Susan Stockwell - Fluids and Paper, Glue, Paper - The works sit on the back wall of the gallery and are made from unbleached toilet paper (Susan’s gift for Stephanie to work with) and sheets of Khardi paper (the revers) Bridget Eastman and Anusha Ramchand - Obstinate Disobedience - Purple paper string in loops and knots Neither One, Nor the Other - a reflective mirrored papier-mâché form of a minaret Isil Campanella and Jill Lee Eat Me - Two sets of three paper montages on the left as you enter and a bowl containing edible paper with an invitation. Tom Hall and Simón Granell Centred – Two monitors leaning against the wall. Vanessa Collingridge and Hester Poole - Ripoff – a series of long, ripped strips of heavy-duty watercolour paper, monotone inks, marking time along the length of the gallery wall. Uninvited Guests’ – botanical text transformed into plants growing through the grouting of the gallery floor. Wings '26 This Piece…. Each year SPUD loves to highlight and celebrate the many locals who have found a home coming to spudWORKS, and true friendship in the fabulous tutors and other workshopers. Whether they come for the love of their art, the challenge of pushing themselves with new skills and concepts or to get out of the house they have all become part of the spudCOMMUNITY. This year we thought we would dig down a little bit into those reasons why the work they do is so meaningful by asking them why This Piece is important to them. Their reasons are widespread and personal as you would imagine. However, there are some strong threads that one feels can be pulled. As curator I would like to share my appreciation of how connected people are to what they are doing. Some through personal struggle with materials or techniques, some through the narratives and stories they are telling through their work. Art exists in these testing places and in the attempt to transfer information, emotion and the unspoken through what we do to others, you the audience. The second part is the mentorship and support of the tutors and each other as you have gone on this journey. Isil, Jane, Steph and Bridget and all those who pass on their knowledge here at SPUD, thank you. 2025 SpudOPEN 2025 - Private Spaces Private Spaces is a collective exhibition that explores, questions and imagines our use, need and search for a private space. This is a selected show, and we hope that the dialogues the artists have initiated resonate with you and you can see some of the possibilities and thoughts they throw up. SPUD would like to thank Arts Council England and Particularly the New Forest National Park Authority for their ongoing support for this exhibition. It gives real opportunity for artists of all levels to be part of a bigger discussion and be seen and show in a strong regional gallery. Moral Screams - The Artist's Husband Moral Screams was based on a residency by The Artists Husband at SPUD earlier this year. A series of narratives and events were sparked by the artists’ research. I’m not just a blow-up doll I’m… “A visit to a well attended Verderer’s Court where public issues and grievances are heard; anything from pigs’ pannage to an ice cream van being moved on like an unwanted traveler. The van was deemed unfair competition for a shop selling ice cream in the nearby village. This dispute was the starting point to our own exploration Moral Screams. There are many Moral Screams to be had. A treat of a double ice cream with the mouthwatering price tag of £7 each. How have we reached a point where simple pleasures have become out of reach for ordinary working people? We visited Waterside and Isle of Wight Food Banks. This was an opportunity to create a Happening, raising money, awareness and to breakdown stigma for ordinary people. ‘Having a job is no longer a defense against hunger.’ Trussell Trust, 2025. The 13th century courtroom is proudly decorated with trophies of shot deer. A potent link to history. We have created a new kind of trophy using butt holes of trees to reflect a different kind of collection, one less violent, a humorous play with what is ok to put in public, killing animals violently or the double entendre of tree butt holes? It also directly challenges what is considered worthy of heritage status, inclusion and romance. A reference to the travelers later being forced to the edges of the forest. The sculpture ‘Cowhorse’ is a humorous take on New Forest life. The words high horse can describe every possible human folly. We are all capable of the guilt of a bad decision, poor treatment or misjudgment of one another. Our aim is to bring you, the audience, close to this place of dismount, test inherited moral boundaries from our own high horses and in turn hope you find an enhanced sympathy and humility. For both yourself and others. Sway meaning to swing couldn’t be more apt in the instance of Lord Montagu, a proud bisexual who spent 12 months in prison for his part in a very British sex scandal following a Cold War crack down on ‘homosexual’ spies in the West. However, this case paved the way for a more tolerant attitude towards LGBTQIA+ people. That said, a recent visit to Beaulieu Motor Museum, we were sad to find no mention of the case or any sign of Lord Montagu’s very open attitude towards bi lifestyle. We remembered images of him in leather wearing a dog collar. We found no sign of it anywhere, leaving us to wonder ‘had it been removed as a cleansing of this very flamboyant character? Or have our memories deceived us?’ Using humour, not to shame or ridicule but to encourage dialogue and understanding. Our work is about accepting difference not allowing one to hold SWAY over others.” Our thanks to Quay Arts and WightLink Ferries Time in Common - Isabella Martin What time is it in the New Forest? How could we tell forest time, and what might we learn from it? In this exhibition, artist Isabella Martin starts with these questions to investigate experiences of time in the New Forest National Park, guided by the local habitats, species and communities. A series of works dissects forest rhythms, playfully proposing ways to tell forest time. What language could we use to describe time, as informed by different forest species and processes? What does it mean for time to be wet, sticky, or full of holes? Dandelion clocks tick to their own rhythms, seed heads for clock hands. A tree is cut down and sits, we’re both decaying and growing. The salt marsh bubbles, the tide sucks in and out, worms wriggle and ponies swat flies away, which buzz over puddles left by passing rain. The project was developed through a residency in May, where immersion in the National Park and collaboration and conversation with New Forest communities opened up ways of thinking about, perceiving and experiencing time here. It builds from previous work and research exploring different rhythms and temporalities, those of our bodies, the city, an ocean. When we leave clock time behind, what new ways of perceiving the passage of time can we imagine? The science of circadian rhythms reveals ways we are intimately entangled with our environment, our experience of time informed by exposure to daylight, our rotation around the sun. Together the exhibitions works collectively ask how we could entangle our rhythms with those of the New Forest, what it would look and feel like to keep time in common with it. Bio Isabella Martin is a visual artist who collaborates with people and places to explore our entanglement with our environment. Working across scientific knowledge and embodied experience her practice imagines ways we might navigate time and space differently and experiments with these possibilities. www.isabellarosemartin.com instagram: isabella.r.martin Converging Boundaries - Laleh Ghavami and Dayanny So How do we question the boundaries of one’s own lived experience through a creative process, and how we choose to share and occlude? Artists in Residence, Dayanny So and Laleh Ghavami have questioned this in their practice and now, as a result of the residency, developed the early stages of a dialog as to where their practices converge and diverge. Both in discussion and in the work itself both artists share the complexities surrounding their boundaries and in part ask us about our willingness to open oneself to the possibility of transformation, connection, and understanding that emerges when we confront and navigate the spaces between our individual experiences and those of others. What Does a Dog Know About Death? - Piers Inkpen Piers Inkpen is an artist who explores mourning through narrative sequences in which solitary figures reflect on and respond to an unspecified loss. His drawings, paintings, and sculptures are intimate in scale and delicate in execution, inviting a quiet, contemplative encounter. His practice is shaped by death mythologies and psychoanalytic theories of mourning. Piers approaches art-making as an act of remembrance - to create is to recreate. What Does a Dog Know About Death? tells the story of a young child and his dog as they confront the death of a bird. 'A grieving child turns to their dog and asks, "Do you know anything about death?" The dog, with its combined innocence and wisdom, answers gently...' Thick Smoke - Barbara J. Graham and Will S. Woods What happens when a visual artist nearly loses their sight? Shock. A shapeless void. Cataracts causing hazy vision, detached retina, black clouds, swirling floaters, flashes like an old movie, all happening suddenly. No warning. Two eyes in one body giving a different view and feeding different information to the brain. The brain attempts to catch up with the changes and make sense of the new way of seeing the world. Hallucinations...when our eyes lie to us. How do we respond when what we believe is fundamental to our identity is under threat? When does a setback become a gift? Setting out to consider these questions, the experience of seeing and not seeing becomes the central story of Thick Smoke. This Spud experimental exhibition has provided an opportunity to share the experience of making work through this significant period. This is the second collaboration by Barbara J Graham and Will S Woods, who began working together in 2024 after meeting at ‘a space’, Arches Studios in Southampton. Barbara has recently received an Arts Council Grant to further develop her practice, and Will is completing an MA in curating. For Thick Smoke, Barbara paints on natural and artificial surfaces to unpack how the world can be simultaneously in and out of focus. In response, Will’s film and soundscape echo the visual and psychological themes of these works. Barbara reflects: 'In February 2024, the retina in my right eye became detached without warning, and my vision was permanently changed. Since then, I've had two surgeries and months of convalescence during which my eye has at times been bionically powerful, totally blind, or more often somewhere in between. Consistency is lost, colours change; different focal ranges in each eye create a vision that is simultaneously sharp and blurred. I have flashes and floaters, ocular migraines, blind spots, double vision, and hallucinations: a constant mix of what I see in the world and what I see within my eye. My painting practice must now adapt daily to my ever-changing eyesight. Yesterday's work looks different today; seeing close-up or from a distance only provides a partial picture. To deal with this, I've created a studio space crammed with canvases on every surface, which I work on simultaneously, so there's always something I can see that feels okay. Nothing is stable; nothing is finished. My eye will require more surgery soon, and the paintings, like my eyesight, will continue to change.' Coming Home: A Sacred Journey through Queerness - Mister Samo This exhibition explores the deeply personal and universal experience of coming home to ourselves, and the sacred journey that this represents for queer people. How do we nurture a sense of safety and growth on this path? How does that experience shift depending on where we come from? These powerful questions have emerged through meaningful connections with young people from the New Forest. In conversations about identity and queerness, one recurring theme stood out to me, the profound importance of safety, and how deeply this sense of safety is shaped by our environments: our families, our communities, our cultures, and our landscapes. These insights sparked several threads of inquiry, all which weave through this body of work. This collection is both a reflection and a response to those questions. It is rooted in the understanding that we are all connected, and that we are all part of nature. As queer people, we often carry an entire world within us, a world built from both resilience and beauty. We carry our soul home wherever we go. The symbol of the shell (our shelter, our home) became central to this work. It speaks to choice, identity, and belonging. The snail, a sacred and often overlooked creature, reminds us of these truths. Its spiral shell, constantly unfolding, symbolizes the eternal journey of self-discovery and growth. As a hermaphrodite, the snail also offers a powerful reminder that queerness exists in nature — it is natural, beautiful, and it is ever-present. The golden shells created for this exhibition are a celebration of identity, transformation, and the personal sanctuary we build within ourselves. They represent our uniqueness, our worth, and the sacredness of our stories. We are all gold. We are all worthy. And we all deserve to feel at home. Bio Mister Samo is an artist, transgender educator, and street art pioneer from Southsea. Over six years ago, Samo began his transition and has since channelled his personal journey into powerful, emotive artwork. His pieces serve as a form of non-verbal communication—raw visual diaries that explore the evolving relationship between body and mind. As a queer artist, Samo’s work focuses on interpreting the human condition and sharing lived perspectives. His message is clear and consistent: ‘embrace your true self, raise awareness, and nurture a cycle of gratitude and giving back to strengthen the fabric of community.’ A prominent figure in the street art and paint jam scene, Samo was honoured as a sponsored artist at World Pride in New York. His first book, I EXIST, is a celebration of transgender bodies through art—a joyful and defiant affirmation of identity. He continues to paint large-scale murals that bring visibility, pride, and acceptance to the trans community. In the past year, Samo was the headline artist at Upfest, Europe’s largest street art festival, and has since received numerous commissions aligned with the powerful message he carries forward. https://www.instagram.com/mister.samo/ New Forest Collage Radio - NFNPA Artists in Residence Em Burrows and Jeremy Segal Community radio represents place, diversity, inclusivity, independence, and a grass roots/DIY ethos. Among other things, it can connect people, disseminate information, champion local arts, and be a platform for underrepresented or alternative voices. But what is the function and format of community radio in view of the ever-increasing globalisation and digitalisation of the media? How can we play with the plasticity of the radio format to explore the social, symbolic and material spaces of broadcast? In what ways can an historical place like the New Forest be broadcast? These questions are explored by West Australian artists Em Burrows and Jeremy Segal in their work New Forest Collage Radio; a spatial radio station broadcasting sounds recorded in and around the New Forest in October 2025. Visitors are invited to pick up a hand-held radio and explore the field. Em Burrows and Jeremy Segal are West Australian artists who work predominantly with music, sound, and radio. They are currently based in Berlin. New Forest Collage Radio is a spatial radio station broadcasting sounds recorded in and around the New Forest in October 2025. Pick up a hand-held radio and explore the field. With thanks to Bridget Eastman, Gabriela Cohen, Angus Harley, Steve Adams & Sarah Fargher, Catie Lake, Chris Hopgood & Folk Orc, Mark Drury, Lisa Gardner, Estelle Phillips, Robbie Steen, Hannah Mae Buckingham, Joe Muggs, Roanna Schneider and Jim Mitchell. Reflections from the Land - The 'Five Collective' A thought-provoking exhibition, challenging their own perceptions of their practice, through people, place and time. The narrative is captured through physical approaches to making, materials qualities and curation. Concepts, process, and inspirations echo one another through scale, sensitivity to materials, a muted palette and questioning the limitations of their respective mediums. Through quiet contemplation, walking, foraging, and making, five invite the Sway community to collaborate in this curatorial exhibition responding to its landscape. Through this work they aim to challenge, question, and provoke a response in the viewer through the physical act of making. “Paths are the habits of a landscape. They are acts of consensual making. It's hard to create a footpath on your own...Paths connect.” -Robert Macfarlane, The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot. Bio: The Five Collective Five is a female collective based in Hampshire connected through collaborative and individual research, drawing upon the notions of people, place and time. Exemplifying exceptional skills in their specialism, demonstrating a wealth of professional experience within the creative art fields; they aim to challenge not only their respective mediums but question the perception of textiles as a craft through contemporary reflective practice. The Nightjar Project - African Activities The Nightjar Project draws inspiration from this elusive nocturnal bird and its migration to investigate ideas of movement and homeland, between West Africa, Ghana and the UK. The project takes the rich narrative of migration, folklore, and the particularity of the Nightjar to consider life living under two skies. It will examine cultural and historically views and share stories of land management. It brings together a group of creative, educational and environmental organisations to explore these questions. African Activities and SPUD, supported by the New Forest National Park Authority and New Forest District Council, set out to define the possibilities of creative conversations between these communities. Their aim is to invite us all to think of belonging to places and groups. How we work and live alongside each other and to share our stories of belonging. This is planned as a two-year project, and to set the agenda for further discussions we are starting with an exhibition by Kwame Bakoji-Hume with multiple workshops in storytelling and environmental creativity. This will include a series of ‘Sound Scrapes’ from Ghana and a commissioning of a film by the artist James Elliot looking at land management.   The Nightjar Project: Tell Us a Story About Belonging Ghanaian artist, musician and community leader, Kwame Bakoji-Hume, is creating an exhibition of works that shares his story. From his early childhood in Ghana, though building his ‘family’ in a children’s home, migration and how he fits into the bigger picture of dual homelands and being part of an African diaspora in the New Forest, living under two skies. The exhibition is full of symbolic language, embedded storytelling and interpretation within his painting and sculptural works. It’s the excitement of storytelling as a living craft of oral cultures that can tell the story of historic and contemporary ideas of belonging. Within the exhibition we want to invite people to tell their story of belonging, as we build a body of individual stories. From the questions that arise from Kwame’s work and audience responses further work and discussions will be sparked. Kwame Bakoji-Hume’s practice moves fluidly between painting, sculpture, music, community-based arts, and cultural storytelling, exploring themes of identity, belonging, and the interplay between gain and loss. His early life shaped an intimate understanding of impermanence, having left his family at the age of nine to live at the SOS Children’s Village, only to later risk everything as a teenager to reunite with his mother. These formative experiences inform his art, which celebrates resilience, collective joy, and the beauty of shared creativity. Relocating to the UK in 2000, Kwame founded African Activities CIC, a platform for using art to uplift communities and disrupt stereotypes about African cultures. His practice remains deeply rooted in community engagement, collaborating with craftsmen, children, and marginalized groups alike to democratize creativity and celebrate cultural heritage. Clay - spudARTISTS invite The Arches Studios Clay is a joint curatorial project between the Arches Studios in Southampton and SPUD Artists Studios. The choice of a simple base material with a huge creative and utilitarian history was to give scope to a wide-ranging group of artists who work in many different mediums; something to coalesce around, discuss, respond to and discover anew. We hope that for the viewer who comes to see this show it is a stimulating introduction to all the artists who are taking part. By exploring the singularity of clay, we hope to accentuate and articulate the individuality of an artist’s creative response, to see their reactions to the material question through the links they build. There is a secondary part to this exhibition. As each work is brought into the space it is allotted a place on the back wall to be stored, or at least exhibited as a stored thing for the public to explore. As you can see there are countless possibilities when looking at work ready for showing. There are many links to make. Some are formal, some are political, some are about process or social use. What groups might you put together in your head? What works ‘talk’ to each other, what conversations do you want to follow? For the duration of this show we have invited all the artists represented here to find their connections within the stored work. They will, over the month of Clay, be curating different shows in the rest of the gallery space, returning work to the shelves they don’t need and reworking conversations they see within the stored responses. Bringing fresh work out and reinterpreting what they understand. This is an exhibition that you need to keep coming back to, seeing the possibilities that might otherwise be left unseen. Curated by Tom Hall The Caterpillar's World - Olana Light Title - The Caterpillar's World Medium: Installation, Sound, Film Materials: Reindeer Moss, The husks of the Corylus Colurna, and mixed media I envision transforming the gallery into an immersive, fantastical realm inspired by the enchanting world of caterpillars. These often-overlooked creatures inhabit a hidden, mysterious underworld just beneath our feet — a space rich with texture, movement, and quiet magic seldom seen up close. By inviting visitors into this microcosm, I aim to create a transformative experience that shifts their perspective, immersing them in a miniature world where unfamiliar landscapes take on larger-than-life dimensions. Caterpillars are rich in symbolism, representing transformation, growth, patience, and potential. Their journey embodies the process of change and becoming, as they undergo a remarkable metamorphosis from humble larvae to beautiful butterflies or moths. To bring this vision to life, I will create a large-scale caterpillar sculpture from natural materials that capture the earthy textures and colours of a caterpillar’s habitat. This sculpture will be set within a lush, organic environment, allowing visitors to explore a realm that feels both surreal and deeply rooted in nature. The space will be further enlivened with immersive soundscapes bringing the gallery to life and inviting guests to experience the caterpillar’s journey in a world that celebrates growth, transformation, and the beauty of life on a smaller scale. Through this installation, I hope to foster playful interaction and introspection, encouraging visitors to reflect on their journeys of growth and change while deepening their connection to the natural world. Artist Statement: Light’s practice moves between sculpture, performance, and moving images, focusing on the intricate relationship between humans and the natural world. Her ongoing exploration of belonging and discovering her place in the world leads her to recognize that we are an integral part of nature. Through her work, she explores how human existence is deeply intertwined with nature, examining how we both shape and are shaped by our environment. This idea of unity with the natural world is central to her work. Audiences are invited to witness the human seamlessly merging with the natural world, creating a collective 'we-world' that transcends societal divisions and offers an inclusive space where everyone feels a sense of belonging. By freeing herself from societal norms, Light delves into the essence of humanity and our place in the universe. Nature serves as an abundant source of inspiration for Light, driving her to envision a future where we harmonize with the natural world. She aims to inspire others to coexist with nature and work towards a brighter future. Through her art, Light sparks conversations about our relationship with nature, the essence of identity, and the accessibility of art to all. Light's live performances in public places aim to integrate art into everyday life, providing access for ordinary people and passersby who may otherwise be unable to experience the arts due to financial or other barriers that prevent them from visiting galleries Bio: Olana Light is a multidisciplinary artist based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK. She has an MA from Goldsmiths (2020) and a BA from Southampton Solent University (2017). Recent awards include the ArtCabbage Prize(2024), Bute Festival Thameslink Award (2024), Every Breath We Take Award (2024), Arts Council England DYCP (2024), CAS Emerging Sculptors Award (2023), Southampton City Gallery Billboard Commission (2023); Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant (2022 and 2021); Blue Sky Ideas Art&Heritage Award (2022); StreetLife&Aesthetica Changing Rooms Commission Prize (2022); SpudOPEN Judge’s and Public Choice Award (2022); The Spring Open Competition Award (2022); the Little Forest Open Competition (2022); ‘a space’ arts Lucky Dip Bursary (2021); Zealous Stories Sculpture (2021); Sunny Art Prize Award (2020); and the Goldsmiths International Response Scholarship Award (2017). Olana has completed residencies at the Hugo Burge Foundation in Scotland (2024), La Vista in Tenerife (2023), EcoSuites in Greece (2022); School of Design and Fashion in Southampton (2019); Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth (2017 and 2018); Sticks Gallery in Fareham (2017). Recent publications include Permaculture, Ludvig Rage, Inside Artist, and Trebuchet.

Supported by Graduate studio spaces available NOW The Launchpad residency offers recent arts graduates a free studio space within our rich arts community, mentorship, and a joint show in spudWORKS contemporary gallery. The Launchpad’s aim is to support ambitious individuals in their early career and build emerging artists and creatives into professionals. This full year will allow you the space, time and affordability to cement your practice and discover your positive professional direction. To qualify for this amazing offer, you must have: Graduated from either one of our region’s universities at Southampton Solent University, Arts University Bournemouth, University of Portsmouth or Winchester School of Art (University of Southampton) with a BA or MA within the last two years. or 2. Graduated from an arts programme from any UK University with a BA or MA and be resident within the regional area shown on the map below. We are keen to accept graduates from a wide range of creative disciplines. Spaces will be available on a rolling admission through the below application portal - please apply at any time. spudWORKS is located in the beautiful New Forest and only two minutes’ walk from Sway train station with regular trains to Southampton, Winchester, London, Bournemouth and the West. Places are competitive and we are asking all applicants to submit 'a pitch' to be considered for a place. Successful applicants will have access to studio spaces for FREE* (*There is a one-time administration fee of £200 and then after that there is nothing to pay at all for the duration of the residency) with access 7 days per week from 8am until 10pm. This is an incredible opportunity to develop your o wn business, launch a new idea or test something out and invaluable support. Only apply for a place if you are committed to working regularly at spudWORKS for the duration of the residency. To APPLY use the form at the bottom of this page. SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Sponsorship Info Graduate Launchpad Alumni: Year 1 Claire Baskerville Denise Poote Maddison Collymore Year 2 Anya Willamson Gabriela Cohen Christian Murphy Year 3 Alison SummersBell Daisy Kate Allison Schulz Jenny Tarr Year 4 Jinhu Jendra Zara Linsley Leylah Morley Hannah Buckingham Year 5 Dayanny So Laleh Ghavami Jenny Tarr and Alison Schulz Danilo Zocatelli Jenny Tarr and Alison Schulz 1/2 Claire Baskerville Alison SummersBell Jenny Tarr Laleh Ghavami Denise Poote Daisy Kate Zara Linsley Dayanny So Maddy Collymore Allison Schulz Hannah Buckingham Danilo Zocatelli Gabriela Cohen Leylah Morley Jinny Jehu spudWORKS Graduate – My Experience: Gabriella Cohen "My year at spudWORKS has unexpectedly been the fondest of my life so far, I’ve come away with a treasured community of likeminded creatives, and a place I will cherish forever. Without the pressures of academia, the desk space gave me the freedom and space to develop my artistic skills, gain confidence in my creative voice and gain so much invaluable advice from the other artists. The beautiful serenity of spudWORKS, the range of workshops, opportunities for discussion, constant events and exhibitions, resident artists passing through its doors… There are so many opportunities to connect and create, I couldn’t recommend the Graduate Launchpad more. Although my year there has ended I know I’ll always be welcome at spud, what a special feeling!" Alison SummersBell "The potential to join SpudWorks following my MA has been an essential step in my creative career development. It is enabling me to access collaborative and expanding opportunities, develop a and refine a way of working to sustain future practice. Without this my chances to consolidate my studies would be substantially reduced."

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Applications now closed for 2027 Exhibition Proposals Deadline for all applications - 10th April 2026. No applications will be considered after this date. Offers and notification will take some time to process after deadline has passed, we will keep everyone informed of progress. All offers will be subject of SPUD receiving ACE funding for the 2027 programme. Please use the upload form below to send us your expressions of interest “The creative process forms a platform for us to connect with individuals and communities, foregrounding the artists voice to engage in public conversation around meaningful and relevant questions. Even small creative acts can resonate and make a difference. SPUD acts as a platform to represent different voices and recognise the significance of artists and crafts people in shifting perspectives and promoting meaningful engagement. All are welcome here”. An ‘Experimental Exhibition’ is a public exhibition or project that takes some risk or breaks new artistic ground, or new collaborations - we want to encourage new possibilities and new audience in our gallery. The gallery at spudWORKS is looking for exciting exhibition proposals that will engage the public in relevant discussions and offer some high-quality social engagement with our local communities in The Forest. The proposed exhibitions are classed as ‘Experimental’ and are there to give opportunity for artists to take risks within their practice, testing the unknown and untried. SPUD funds 80% plus of the Gallery costs that would be normally asked to show at spudWORKS. In return we invite the exhibiting artist/s to run a workshop day at the gallery, to engage our audience and enrich your exhibition. Up to four two-week exhibitions are funded each year depending on space in the programme. Work cannot be for sale during Experimental Exhibitions. SPUD’s current priorities for outreach work include (but are not limited to): Queer and neurodiverse ways to experience the world People and their families/carers living with dementia Young People Older People and loneliness Applications may be held for future funded opportunities. Download gallery dimensions here. The Offer From SPUD A two-week slot in spudWORKS programme Advertising the exhibition through their annual programme, website and other digital media Organisational support to bring the exhibition, gallery text and workshop to completion Host an opening event From The Artist This is a subsidised show with a £200 artist contribution to gallery costs in advance. Artists will take responsibilities for install and deinstall. Artists provide one day of workshops or public engagement Artists who want to provide drinks for an opening meet these costs Please use the form below to submit your contact details, up to 3 pictures of your work and/or link to a video and a link to your website (if you have one). Proposals will be reviewed by an exhibition panel as soon after the closing deadline, but it does take time before information is released and notification given. Please use the form below to submit your contact details, up to 3 pictures of your work and/or link to a video and a link to your website (if you have one). Proposals will be reviewed by an exhibition panel as soon after the closing deadline, but it does take time before information is released and notification given.

Applications now closed for 2027 Exhibition Proposals Deadline for all applications - 10th April 2026. No applications will be considered after this date. Offers and notification will take some time to process after deadline has passed, we will keep everyone informed of progress. All offers will be subject of SPUD receiving ACE funding for the 2027 programme. Please use the upload form below to send us your expressions of interest “The creative process forms a platform for us to connect with individuals and communities, foregrounding the artists voice to engage in public conversation around meaningful and relevant questions. Even small creative acts can resonate and make a difference. SPUD acts as a platform to represent different voices and recognise the significance of artists and crafts people in shifting perspectives and promoting meaningful engagement. All are welcome here”. An ‘Experimental Exhibition’ is a public exhibition or project that takes some risk or breaks new artistic ground, or new collaborations - we want to encourage new possibilities and new audience in our gallery. The gallery at spudWORKS is looking for exciting exhibition proposals that will engage the public in relevant discussions and offer some high-quality social engagement with our local communities in The Forest. The proposed exhibitions are classed as ‘Experimental’ and are there to give opportunity for artists to take risks within their practice, testing the unknown and untried. SPUD funds 80% plus of the Gallery costs that would be normally asked to show at spudWORKS. In return we invite the exhibiting artist/s to run a workshop day at the gallery, to engage our audience and enrich your exhibition. Up to four two-week exhibitions are funded each year depending on space in the programme. Work cannot be for sale during Experimental Exhibitions. SPUD’s current priorities for outreach work include (but are not limited to): Queer and neurodiverse ways to experience the world People and their families/carers living with dementia Young People Older People and loneliness Applications may be held for future funded opportunities. Download gallery dimensions here. The Offer From SPUD A two-week slot in spudWORKS programme Advertising the exhibition through their annual programme, website and other digital media Organisational support to bring the exhibition, gallery text and workshop to completion Host an opening event From The Artist This is a subsidised show with a £200 artist contribution to gallery costs in advance. Artists will take responsibilities for install and deinstall. Artists provide one day of workshops or public engagement Artists who want to provide drinks for an opening meet these costs Please use the form below to submit your contact details, up to 3 pictures of your work and/or link to a video and a link to your website (if you have one). Proposals will be reviewed by an exhibition panel as soon after the closing deadline, but it does take time before information is released and notification given. Please use the form below to submit your contact details, up to 3 pictures of your work and/or link to a video and a link to your website (if you have one). Proposals will be reviewed by an exhibition panel as soon after the closing deadline, but it does take time before information is released and notification given.

Dementia Friendly Workshops The dementia friendly workshops, which are also open for carers and relatives, are warm friendly and fun. Based in the Living Room which is an award winning building, with wheel chair access. It has been designed specifically to host small groups so people feel safe and comfortable. Approaches to creating art are varied and include collage, painting, drawing working with clay and weaving. Sessions take place every Wednesday from 2 pm - 3.30 pm and are run by artist Suna Imre with visiting artists sometimes coming in to share their particular ways of working. No prior experience to making art is needed. Tea and cake always provided! In order to keep these workshops running long-term and remain sustainable we welcome a voluntary contribution of £10 per individual or £ 15 per family unit (either family member or carer). Payment is not a requirement to take part in the workshops. If you would like to find out more or book please email Suna at suna@spud.org.uk Supported by: Workshop Gallery