There’s no escaping the ‘L’ word this month. For once, we’re not talking about loneliness, we do actually mean love. Though, in a strangely paralleled kind of way, the two words, and worlds, aren’t too far apart; our dream of creating unlonely cities in Liverpool, Peterborough and Southend, can’t be achieved without love. A love for the places we work from and in, the communities around us, the curious minds, and like us, the dreamers. Oh, and that other ‘L’ word – laughter, lots and lots laughter.
Susie, our Artistic Director has spoken about “beginning with love and remembering that people are having a tough time. Metal is working with artists worried about freedom of expression, local authority officers facing deficits, community organisers losing space, and many more people who aren’t okay. Understandably, this can make even the most collaborative and hopeful of people feel hopeless, tired and less able to work together. We want to stay open-hearted rather than adding to complex situations in ways that create or increase division. Practically, this means offering kinship, hearing what is needed and how we can help, providing a welcoming and inspiring space, learning from others’ experiences, or just being a bit silly.”
This is how we approach our work at Metal.
A love for our places and what makes them unique is something we speak about a lot. We’re in the locations that we are because we were invited to these places by local authorities, Arts Council England and other partners who shared our belief in art’s importance for community building, celebrating and organising. That belief is still strong, as you can see from some of our collaborations: Make Time For Love in Liverpool (we promise we didn’t title the project just for this moment), Positive Notes in Peterborough, and Connect & Create in Southend. All of these projects saw us working deeply with partners (from local restaurants to councils, youth groups and shopping centres), connecting, gathering and celebrating, and most importantly, learning. Keep reading and we’ll tell you all about it below.
Make Time For Love in Liverpool
Make Time For Love was the finale of our 2-year project Picton Play commissioned by Culture Liverpool as part of the Creative Neighbourhoods programme, bringing together artists, community organisers, young people and other curious residents to celebrate the creativity in Wavertree and Picton and to explore new ways of getting together through play.
Across the 2 years, we worked closely with our local community by hosting Listening residencies in unexpected places, we gathered for shared meals and workshops, and together with our Mystery Dreamers we took what we’d uncovered to come up with creative ideas about how we could bring people together in local spaces. Working with artists YARA + DAVINA in the final celebration phase, we invited everyone to celebrate love for families, neighbourhoods, community, and friends through unity, dancing, showing up and sharing. We created a book with new stories inspired by the neighbourhood by commissioned writers Hanan Issa, Sophie Herxheimer and Joelle Taylor, Stories, Mystery, and Love, which went to all households in L15. We also showed Make Time For Love artwork along Wavertree High Street and shared a programme of events inspired by the neighbourhoods they took place in.
As part of our impact evaluation for the project, we asked ‘how did the artists’ residencies impact participants and audiences across the neighbourhood?’ and worked with artist Laura-Kate Draws to visualise the responses.
Image credit: Laura-Kate Draws
“During Picton Play we learnt that, more than anything, people need spaces where they can connect with each other without the pressure of formal gatherings or for specific outcomes. We learnt that creativity exists everywhere and that there’s always more mystery to be found in places, it’s important to see magic in the everyday things we take for granted.” – Jenny Porter, Director of Metal Liverpool
Positive Notes in Peterborough
With the support of Historic England, we commissioned artist Joel Rodriguez to work with young people on Positive Notes. From the revival of carnival in Peterborough after 40 years, to the personal story of a refugee who became a cultural leader, Positive Notes uncovered the hidden gems of Peterborough’s history, discovering, celebrating and sharing stories that have been overlooked. By unearthing and championing these stories, Positive Notes has reshaped perceptions of the city and inspired pride with young people and beyond.
The result of the project was the creation of an art trail of photographic tiles, each showcasing a different story of the city.
“Too often Peterborough gets overlooked, it often gets a bad reputation or misinterpreted! For this project we really wanted to work with young people to rediscover the city, uncover hidden gems of Peterborough and celebrate stories that may have gone unnoticed. These artworks offer a glimpse into the spirit of our city, and we’re honoured to play even a small part in celebrating the place and the people who make it wonderful. Those involved (Culture Community and Families First at Crofts Corner) have been so committed and taken on the project with care and consideration – we’re so pleased that we now get to share this with everyone in the city.” – Ruth Campbell-Ekins, Director of Metal Peterborough
Image credit: Joel Rodriguez
Working on Positive Notes, we learnt that there are so many more stories to celebrate and share, and so much still to rediscover in Peterborough. Along the way, a few tiles broke, and we’ve learned that restoring them takes time, care, and patience to ensure everything comes back together in a way that truly does these stories justice.
Learn how to explore the art trail in Peterborough City Centre here.
Connect & Create in Southend
Connect & Create is our creative wellbeing initiative that brings people together through art and creativity. We run it in partnership with Southend City Council, and it offers a safe and supportive space for adults living with dementia, facing PTSD or grief, managing long-term mental health conditions, and experiencing social isolation, through inclusive, trauma-informed art sessions that nurture healing, confidence, and joy.
We are constantly learning from our Connect & Create participants. Responding to what we learn allows us to tailor our sessions to support varying levels of need and to pace the sessions for everyone. This feels natural, listening, learning and responding to the needs of the people who come along to these sessions.
“Working within Connect & Create continually teaches me that creativity is not a luxury but a vital human need. I learn, repeatedly, that when people are offered a safe, inclusive and trauma-informed space, they naturally move towards connection, expression and confidence. Participants show me that healing often happens quietly — in shared laughter, in focused making, in moments of being seen without judgement. Connect & Create reinforces my belief that gentle community and creative process together can restore dignity, belonging and hope.” – Emma Mills, Mental Wellbeing Coordinator Southend
Image credit: Anna Lukala
Working on the ground, in and for our communities is important to us, and these three projects above are just a few examples of how we’ve been doing that recently. It’s not a one and done thing (or rather a three and done thing), we’ll be continuing to work with people, from conversations to creative decision-making, to commissioning and collaborations, we’re really intrigued and excited by art’s social role in gathering, sharing, problem-solving and celebrating within communities and connections.
