SPOT: Creative Crawley - Art, Play & Reimagining Our Community

 SPOT: a slightly different format to the Roundtable discussions where we step back from the debate to Spotlight a Social Initiative or in this case a Charity making a huge difference in our local community.

Crawley doesn’t need to be “made cultural” from the outside, it needs the spotlight put on what’s already here and the space to build what’s next. We’re joined by Louise Blackwell, Creative Director at Creative Crawley, to talk about how public murals, playful festivals, and unexpected art in everyday places are changing how the town feels to live in. If you’ve walked past County Mall and spotted the changing window installations, picked up the Book of Crawley, or heard people rave about Around The Lake Festival, there’s a good chance you’ve already met Creative Crawley without realising it.

We get into the practical work behind inclusive community arts: making events free or genuinely affordable, partnering with Arts Council England and Crawley Borough Council, and designing projects that welcome people with any level of confidence or experience. Louise shares the thinking behind using Crawley as a canvas, from resident-led ideas to collaborations that connect communities through making, including garment projects with women from Afghan and Ukrainian backgrounds. We also talk about what “access” really means, and why bringing culture closer to home can foster a positive, creative vibe to the town.

Then we dive into what’s coming up:

1) Saturday 20 June: A youth open day by CCYS and Creative Crawley, exclusively for ages 12 to 18 to explore. 10-2pm at the Dormans Youth Arts Centre.

2) Thursday 11 June: A town-wide call to 'play' between midday and 2pm as a launch moment for a future National Festival of Play with Hemingway Design. From playing instruments and board games through to playing sport - Creative Crawley would love to recieve your pictures and clips.

3) Weekend 25 & 26 July: Crawley Fusion Mela, with Creative Crawley curating Saturday’s programme in County Mall. 

Find them at @CreativeCrawley and www.creativecrawley.com, send in your play photos and clips, and tell us what you want Crawley to try next. If you enjoyed this, please subscribe, share with a friend, and leave us a review.

Episode Picture Credit: Ian Greenland

Please click on 'Send a text' above & join our Facebook group to share your perspective and suggestions for future topics - Thank you for your interest! Clive.

Transcript

Welcome And Why This Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The Sussex and Surrey Stoke Box in the community, supporting local charities, social initiatives and events that make a refreshing difference. It's the Sussex and Surrey Stoke Box, and uh apart from the round table episodes, we do like to spotlight people and organisations that are making a huge difference to the community. And today with us we've got Louise if you'd like to introduce yourself and the organisation which you which you lead.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Hello, I'm Louise Blackwell and I'm the creative director of Creative Crawley and we bring creativity to everyone every day in Crawley.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

And I I know it's an easy thing to say, but you really do. And and you're behind a lot of events that people might not associate with creative crawley. And of course, if you've been in the County Mail lately, you would have seen just opposite Primarch, there's a big creative crawley. Tell us some of the things that you've done recently that people might not associate with creative crawley.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Well, maybe one of the things that people have noticed but might not know us are the six public murals around the town. Um so over the last two years, um, we've created the murals with uh local residents and also amazing artists from from around the world, actually. Uh so you'll see those in Bubush, in the tunnels, or at Broadfield Community Centre, or at the entrance to the Hazelwick entrance to Manor Royal, um, or in the town centre, in fact, in Kingsgate and County Mall. Um, you might know us for the Around the Lake Festival, which was in 2024.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Oh, we love that. We came along to that. That was great going around to again all the different activities for the kids and the family.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Yeah, that was so much fun, and and the weather was good to us, thank goodness. Um, yeah, that was really, really popular. Um, also, we've made, you might have seen around town the Book of Crawley, which is an alternative guidebook to the town, made by 200 um primary school children um and edited with artists Andy Um Field and Becky Darlington. And you can pick that up from the County Moor unit actually. It's an amazing alternative guidebook to the town, written by through the eyes of the children here. Um it's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

And you can get that. That's at the creative crawley unit just opposite Primal pop in.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Absolutely. Well Eve, you don't even have to pop in. You can um you can just take it from outside. And I guess maybe people may have known us for the the um gallery installations. So in the window at County Mall, there is um there's a win, there's a there's an art installation that changes every few months. There was also one at the West Green Studios that we set up for a bit. Um I guess one of the things that we really want to do is make sure that art and performance and all sorts of different creativity is available to anyone who wants it in the town. So although we do do things where people can come along at a particular time, also we want to make sure that the town is kind of changing through art and the public art that people can just kind of stumble upon is always available.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

And the reason I was really keen to speak to you is as we've seen, there's a lot of uh hostility, shall we say, in the community. And I think it's always nice to focus on the good, how we can bring multicultural communities together and have fun and celebrate all that's good about a place. Uh, and you've got tons of experience in the past of touring and doing this across the country and further. So it's amazing that you're spending your time doing this in Crawley. Tell me what drives you and what you're hoping to achieve.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Uh well, I'm a Crawley girl, born and bred, so it's a real honour to be thinking about the town as a kind of canvas and to be really kind of um thinking about the amazing different sorts of people that live here. That's one of the big things for us, is that this town is extraordinary because of the people who live here. Um, and so we have we try and put on projects and kind of support people's creativity no matter what experience you have. And I feel like we've, you know, we've done projects where we've brought um uh women from the Afghani community and the Ukrainian community together to make garments with these really kind of high-quality professional fashion designers. And over a period of like six weeks, we've made some these incredible garments that might then find their way into a big parade that we're gonna do next year, which I might tell you about in a minute. But but really our aim is to enable all of the 120 odd thousand people in this town to be able to experience art and culture in whatever that way they want to. And that might be dropping into a creative workshop and doing a bit of um, I don't know, hologram making, which we've done at the at the library before, um, or it might be wanting to actually think about a career in in the arts, and so we want to be able to support the young people here um to find a way into the creative industries if if they want to.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

And you do amazing collaborations and partnerships. And and when you say creative crawley, you really are creative. You're like the Rolls-Royce when it comes to proper, impactful use of. I like the way you say using Cruley as a canvas, 120,000 people. It is a special place. I think there's a lot of kind people here, there's a lot of positivity, despite the challenges we have, yeah, and use China real spotlight on that and help amplify that goodness.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Yeah, absolutely. And one of the main drivers for us are the people who live here and listening really carefully and um offering opportunities to to what those people want and also pushing it a bit further so that we can imagine an amazing world that doesn't exist at the moment together. So you you're right.

A Five Year Vision For Culture

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Paint that picture for me. So in five years' time in Louise's world, what what would Cruley look like?

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Well, not just in Louise's world, in the residence world here. I think that there will be um a vibrant um nighttime economy where there are performances and gigs and there's buskers in the street, there's everywhere you look, there's there's creativity. I mean you you mentioned about the kind of partnerships that we make. We because we've been going for a little while now and people are noticing what's happening in Crawley from an outsider Crawley.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

And it started 2019, became a charity.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Yeah, in 2021, in um a charity, but you know, for example, just earlier in March, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra presented their relaxed concert in the Karas Centre in West Green because they they got in touch with me and said, I know, I see what you're doing in Crawley. We really want to bring our work to Crawley um outside because they've been they had a partnership with the Horse, but they want to they wanted to kind of bring it to places where people who might not be able to afford to go to the horse can can access it. So the the RPA, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, came and played this extraordinary concert, and you could get up really close to the to the instruments. And I guess that's the thing of being able to, you know, we we want to promote, we want to have um festivals, you know, build on what already exists, and also to enable um more of the kind of really different sorts of communities to celebrate their culture through through art.

Making Arts Access Affordable

SPEAKER_00 6:52

It's got me super interested though, and there'll be lots in the diary, I'm sure, that's coming up that people listening to this will think, yeah, I want to enjoy some of that as well. And I love the accessibility because that is a point, right? To make it truly accessible to all of the community in Crawley.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Yeah. I mean, on the accessibility thing, there, you know, there are many different um reasons that art might not be accessible. One is money, so we try and make all of our um activities and events either free or really um uh good value to access, and we're only able to do that because of the support of um organisations like Arts Council England. Um, and also we've recently been um successful for the first time with strategic grant from Crawley Borough Council, and that is enabling us to bring amazing dance performances um from Germany, in fact, and London to five primary schools and a tour in their playground. Um so that is happening again this year. That's happening.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

And well done, Crawley Borough Council, for helping with that.

Summer Dates Youth Open Day

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Yes, absolutely. And so that's happening the week beginning the 6th of July. So if you there's five primary schools that are involved in that, so some of um the children uh that might be listening or the parents and carers of the children will all experience that. But I'm gonna tell you about three things um that are coming up over the summer. I mean, oh maybe four. On the 20th of June on a Saturday, we're working in partnership with um CCYS, Courley Community Youth Service, and doing what one of our open days. So every now and again, probably about every three months, we have an open day. We've done lots in the County Moor unit where people can drop in and there'll be a kind of creative activity happening that you can just um get involved with. There'll be some performances, there might be some music, there'll be food. Um, and we're doing this with CCYS on the 20th, and it's it's just for 12 to 18 year olds. So it's really specific for those um young people that might want to find out more about Creative Crawley and CCYS. You'll be able to make, I mean, this is I love this, algae yarn. So there's a brilliant artist who's based here at um at County Moor, Beth, Beth Williams, and she's a textile um artist, and she grows her materials.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Um anyway, so you're gonna be able to learn how to grow, yeah, how to that's 12 to 18 year olds, 20th of June ages pop in. What time is that on the 20th of June?

Two Hours Of Town Wide Play

SPEAKER_01 9:11

That is uh to 12 till 5, I think, and that's at Dorman's Youth Arts Centre. So it's important to say where CCYS are based. Um then the second thing that I want to tell you about, okay, this is big. Um it's a it's the launch of something that is going to happen next year. But on the 11th of June, um it's the United Nations International Day of Play, and it also happens to be the first game of the World Cup, FIFA's World Cup. Um and we are launching the first ever National Festival of Play, which is happening in Crawley. It's in partnership with Hemingway Design. Um, Wayne Hemingway lives in West Wittering, he's a West Sussex lad, um, and we are working together with his team to create an extraordinary festival next year. But on the 11th of June this year, we are encouraging between 12 and 2 every single resident in the town to just play. So you might want to play some cards or you might want to throw a ball around with your dog. The schools in the town are going to extend the lunch hour for a bit, um, which is part of a national um event actually run by Play England uh called Play 31, which is encouraging people to play play for longer. And we're gonna work with um uh one special school to to create a cardboard village out in uh across the play across playtime um on that day, and then the county mall unit will be open between 12 and 2. You can drop in and have board games, and but really it's about raising the profile of this festival that we want to happen next year because I didn't know this until quite recently, but Crawley is one of was one of the first places to take on the adventure playground in the development of the new town. So we were really we are kind of really forward-thinking and kind of innovative plays in the DNA of Crawley.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

And this is brilliant to hear about because on recent episodes, I think twice it's come up that children do they get an opportunity to play, imagine, you know, get into, you know, because there's a lot of screen time and to actually get into play, as you say, whether it's cars, doing something creative, whatever it might be. Uh, when's that? And and and what two hours do we need to really sort of emphasise the play? And and ideally, do people catch videos and clips, send them to you and cleating them together? Exactly that.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

So Thursday, the 11th of June, 12 pm till 2 pm, we are inviting everyone to play together and then send us pictures, footage, and we will put it on a reel on our socials at Creative Crawley, is where we're um asking everyone to send it. And what we're hoping to is to show the world that Crawley is the centre of play, and not only is it about children, like you say, and encouraging children to play more, but also adults. When do we as adults get a chance to play? We don't do it enough. And the the brilliant thing about play, and and this has come this idea has come out of loads of conversations with residents here who've wanted to develop a festival, want to do kind of stuff that that brings different communities together, and play is a really universal theme in all sorts of different cultures. Everyone plays as a human being, you play.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

And we don't give ourselves permission to do that and have fun and experiment and play. Uh and it's a nice little starter for ten for what comes next year.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

Indeed, indeed. And so we want people to be in right at the beginning, um, and we're really open to all sorts of ideas. You know, you might be playing in your brass band, you might play an instrument, you might be playing football, or playing badminton, or play, you know, so we want to get K2 involved, we want to get all sorts of different partners, and really we're launching it a year before, you know, we haven't raised all the money that we need to do it next year, of course, but it's partly to try and encourage uh people to get involved with us and to sparking that interest. Exactly, exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

And what's the third or four? I've lost count, but these are brilliant things.

Fusion Mela And How To Join In

SPEAKER_01 12:52

Okay, so the third thing is um in partnership with Crawley Borough Council, and again funded by Arts Council England, we are presenting um the Crawley Fusion Mela on the 25th and 26th of July. Now, Creative Crawley are in are um responsible for programming and curating the Saturday, which is the 25th. So in County Mall, there are going to be amazing, amazing performances from all different types of people from all around the world. So we are bringing a company who are from Mozambic and Spain here, a dance company, who are gonna perform downstairs in the atrium in County Mall. And then there are um uh Indian dance companies in here, there's gonna be African music, it's gonna be an absolute kind of melting pot of fantastic stuff. And a local artist, Sarah Maple, who's a brilliant visual artist, um, who lives here and and works here. She's now a resident artist here. Um, she we've commissioned her to make a new exhibition, uh, which is about her her identity and henna. People can drop in and do henna workshops. Um so that's gonna be super fun on the on the Saturday, and then on the Sunday, Crawley Borough Council and um a company based in Kent actually called uh Cohesion Plus are programming Memorial Gardens. So there'll be loads of free drop-in stuff to do on the Sunday as well. So that's very exciting.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

And anyone listening to this thinking, oh, this sounds fascinating, want to find out more, how can they find you on socials?

SPEAKER_01 14:16

Yeah, so on socials, on on Insta and Facebook, we're at Creative Crawley, and then the website is creativecrawly.com.

Thanks Volunteers And Final Ask

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Very good. Nice and easy to find. Who would you like to say thank you to? Because you've got an amazing team behind you. Uh there are so many people that make this possible. Who might you like to show gratitude to?

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Oh my goodness. Well, I definitely want to show gratitude to the Creative Crawley team who are an extraordinary bunch of people. So there's Becky and Hannah and Sophie, and we have um amazing um Esme and Sophie Kaye, uh, and then we've got new people coming onto the team who I can't I'm thanking in advance because I know they're just gonna be brilliant, Rosie and Lexi. Um, but also really want to thank the the residents of Crawley, actually. There's a whole group of people, it's probably about hundred of them now, who we call playmakers. You'll see a little theme emerging here. Um, and they're volunteers really, and they help us um decide what's what we're gonna do and guide us and also tell us what they think what what they want to see happen in the town. And they're fantastic supporters. Um I also really want to say thanks to County Mall, actually. Um, and and Emma uh from County Mall is has just joined our kind of consortium who are a group of people that help uh kind of govern govern um the one of the projects we do. So County Moor are massive supporters of us um and Arts Council England and Crawley Borough Council, of course, and and crucially, really the first organisation that really start helped us was Crawley College. So we have an office there, um and Joe, uh the one of the vice principals is on our board and they are massively supporting the what we're trying to do, and we're also you know working together to offer the the students at Crawley College some exciting creativity. So, yeah, I mean the list goes on and on, you know. I'll shut up now there.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Thank you very much for igniting the playfulness in us. And uh any final asks of anyone listening to this from Crawley, what would be your ask?

SPEAKER_01 16:18

I would say be curious, be kind, and get involved in Creative Crawley.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

And also thank you very much because I know you're supporting our 11th of July, our free family party as well. So looking forward to collaborate on that. But Louise and the team, thank you very much for everything you do in the community. It's a pleasure. Thanks for having me. Tell us what you think. Leave a comment below or click on send a text. Thank you for listening to the Sussex and Surrey Snowbox.