Bookbinding workshop with Deb Eck, Thursday 10th August

We are delighted to welcome U.S based book artist Deb Eck to Wur Bradford to run a very special bookbinding workshop with us.

Deb is an internationally exhibited book and installation artist who works primarily with paper, text and thread. She is most well known in the book arts community for her translations of historic embroidery designs into functional binding designs. Originally from Essex in the UK, she has lived and worked in upstate New York for over 20 years. Eck received a BFA in painting from the University at Buffalo and an MA in Visual Culture from the University of Northumbria in Newcastle (UK). She teaches as an adjunct at Jamestown Community College and Fredonia State University, and for many other arts and cultural organizations.
She has been the recipient of many grants and awards; most recently she was named the Distinguished Artist for 2017 by Cattaraugus County Arts Council.
http://debraeck.com/

About the workshop

This workshop will cover a series of one, two and three signature bindings, perfect for zine makers, poets and others wanting to make/publish small books. Each technique builds on the one before, to make increasingly complex bindings that can be used on paper or leather covers. The workshop is suitable for those with no previous book binding experience, but experienced binders may find some new ways to approach the simple pamphlet.

Materials are provided, though please feel free to bring anything you would like to use.
The workshop will run from 1pm till 3pm, but please feel free to come at our usual opening time of 12pm, for conversation and a cuppa beforehand. You can find us in Kirkgate Market (above the shopping Centre) opposite Home From Home Cafe.

The workshop is free but we have limited places. Please email us wurbradford@gmail.com to book your place.

Tour De Yorkshire Art on Wheels poster workshops and exhibition

Art on Wheels

Join Wur Bradford in two creative workshops to make your own ‘Art on Wheels’ poster celebrating the Tour De Yorkshire! The posters will be exhibited in Bradford Markets in the weekend running up to the race.

Workshop 1
Tuesday 25th April
4-6pm
at the Wild Woods (the ex Marks and Spencers shop in Darley Street)

Printing With Wheels:
Bring any wheels you have (bicyles, wheelchairs, scooters, prams, toy trucks) for a massive collective printing session with tyres of all kinds to make the background for the posters. We’ll be using water based paint which will wash off, but it might be a bit messy so don’t wear your best clothes!
This workshop is suitable for all. Places are limited to please book, by emailing us Wur Bradford at wurbradford@gmail.com. With thanks to our friends at the Brickbox and East Street Arts for giving us use of the Wild Woods!

Workshop 2
Thursday 27th April
at Wur Bradford art space (stall in Kirkgate Market, opposite Home From Home cafe)
1.30 – 3.30pm

Poster Workshop
Make your own Tour De Yorkshire poster by collaging on top of printed wheel marks (made at Tuesday’s workshop) exploring ideas of movement, energy, action and excitement.All materials are provided but please bring your own collage materials if you would like to.The posters will then be exhibited in Bradford Markets in the weekend running up to the race

This workshop is suitable for all. Places are limited to please book, by emailing us Wur Bradford at wurbradford@gmail.com

This workshop is supported by Bradford Council and Bradford Markets.

The Tour De Yorkshire takes place on Sunday 30th April and passes through Bradford – more information here

Facebook event pages
Art on Wheels workshop https://www.facebook.com/events/745368458957055/
Art on wheels poster workshop https://www.facebook.com/events/717052898501636/

About us

Wur Bradford (Wur means ‘we are’ or ‘our’  is an independent grassroots arts project which is about exploring how we can make our city and our world better through imagination and collective action.  Run by artists Jean McEwan, Chemaine Cooke and  Uzma Kazi,  Wur work with people to explore how creativity might be used to make empower us and connect us.
Our activities are led by the people who we work with, and have included a wide range of things from  workshops, events, projects, campaigns and discussions. We ran regular weekly sessions in a stall in Kirkgate Market for 2 and a half years from 2015 – 2017,  and we also work in  public spaces and venues throughout the city. We regularly work in partnership with and for other organisations Bradford and have done projects in collaboration with Bradford Council, Impressions Gallery, South Square Gallery, The Brick Box, University of Bradford, Bradford Civic Society, Purple Patch Arts to name but a few.

In 2017 we also ran a year long action research project ‘Power Up Creative Resistance’, exploring creative responses to social and political shifts, in collaboration with University of Bradford’s Peace Studies ‘Thinkspace’ groups, funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

In 2018 we ran a project in Oastler Market called WE ARE HERE, which was celebrating it’s unique history, communities and stories,  working with market traders, members of the public and BCB community radio to tell the stories of the Market and its people through guided walks, printed ‘zines and sound. We shared this work at an exhibition at arts space Kala Sangam after the project.

To get an idea of some of the things we have done ( everything from creative  workshops to bannermaking to art parties to zine-making , self publishing fairs and guided walks) watch the slideshow below, and you can also watch a short video about Wur Bradford, made in late 2015 here at our space in Kirkgate Market.

We are currently looking at how how we can put our respond best to the challenging times we are living in. A new website is coming soon, which we will be updating soon with our plans. In the meantime, take care of yourselves and each other, and stay safe.

With love

Jean, Uzma and Chemaine, July 2020

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Women of Influence: Community storytelling session

1-3pm
Thursday 9th March
Wur Bradford Artspace
Kirkgate Market (opposite Home From Home Cafe)

Women of Influence: Community Storytelling about Remarkable Women
Join us at Wur Bradford  in a creative session of sharing stories about the women past and present, familiar and famous, local and international, who have had an influence on us Grandmothers, mothers, sisters, aunts, friends, neighbours, colleagues, public figures.. Come and tell us how these women have shaped your life or inspired you. Feel free to bring any images or words that might help tell your story.. though this is not essential!
Drop in any time between 1-3pm, all are welcome.

Part of the cultural programme for International Womens Day in Bradford

#IWD2017 #IWDBradford #WomenCan

‘Bridges Not Walls’ Bradford action: planning meeting and banner making sessions

Bradford is joining the Bridges Not Walls national day of action on 20th January the day Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America. http://bridgesnotwalls.uk/
That day, together, people across the UK will drop banners from bridges across the country to send a simple, hopeful and unmistakable message:
” We will build bridges, not walls, to a peaceful and just world, rid of oppression and hatred”
Wur Bradford along  with Racial Justice Network  and other friends are joining to do a Bradford Bridges Not Walls action. We’ll make a banner and drop it from a bridge in Bradford (bridge tbc) on the morning of 20th January.

We invite you to join us to help make this happen! Here’s how you can get involved

1. Come to an informal alanning meeting, Thursday 12th January 2-3pm at Wur Bradford- a chance to chat and plan how we organise the action – all are welcome, no special skills required just your enthusiasm! (this will be a first for many of us but we will do it and learn together)
2. Banner making sessions at Wur Bradford on Saturday 14th January 2-4pm, and Thursday 19th January 2-4pm – join us in creating a banner to drop from a Bradford bridge on the 20th January. No specialist skills needed! You can also make your own posters and signs to hold up on the day
3. Come along to the banner drop on the morning of the 20th January – more details coming soon
4. Help spread the word via social media – follow our Wur Bradford facebook page for updates

 

Wur Bradford art space is situated in a stall in Kirkgate Market, above the shopping centre. You can find us at the back of the market -nearest the Westgate entrance, we are opposite Home From Home cafe

End of Year Party!

Wur Bradford End of Year Party

Thursday 22nd December
12-3pm
Wur Bradford artspace
Kirkgate Market (Opposite Home From Home Cafe)
Above Kirkgate Shopping Centre

Join us at Wur Bradford to mark the end of the year and to celebrate the festive season with art, music, market treats and seasonal fun, frolics and friendliness

Featuring:

– Our specially made ‘Market Shrine’ – a  celebration of the amazing people and stalls in Bradford Markets,  containing traders in miniature and objects collected from the markets

 – Acoustic live music and singalong with Rob, Clive and others (including a rendition of You Can’t Always Get What You Want and more)

 – Tarot readings with Graham

 – Family friendly creative activities

 – Mini art exhibition: see some of the we have created this year! From zines to wall drawings to posters to cardboard box art

 – Festive food nibbles gathered from Oastler and Kirkgate Markets stalls, from savoury to sweet treats

 – Decorations made by Julie

Plus more surprises!

All are welcome! Bring your loved ones! Drop in any time between 12-3pm
If you can , please bring us a non perishable food donation for our Bradford Metropolitan Foodbank donations

Heartfelt thanks to our supporters Two28, Bradford Council and Bradford Markets this year – without you we couldn’t have had the amazingly creative and productive year we have had!

POWER UP! Sister Corita Art Party, Thursday 24th November

Thursday 24th November
12-3pm
POWER UP! Sister Corita  Art Party

Wur Bradford arts space, Kirkgate Market (opposite Home From Home cafe)

Sister Corita ( 1918 – 1986) was an American artist, teacher and nun who used words phrases and slogans  from billboards and magazines and mixed them with poetry to make them into bold prints banners and installations which she put into everyday places.
Sister Corita believed that art is for everyone, and that we can take words from advertising and the media and subvert and reclaim them back as our own to say what we want to say.  She encouraged the creativity of everyone she met and her work  challenged the political and religious establishment as well as as revolutionising graphic design long before the days of punk.

On the week of what would have been her 98th birthday on 20th November, we celebrate her joyous inspiring art with a creative session which we’ll create our own slogans representing our own truths and hopes and make these into posters.

Drop in any time between 12 and 3pm for a super friendly and fun session
in which we’ll take inspiration from each other and the stuff around us. We’ll use simple printing techniques along with collage and drawing and anything else we can think of and we’ll explore how we get our art out into the world.

As always, the session is free and open to everyone!

PS. If you can, please bring a non-perishable food donation for our Bradford Metropolitan Foodbank collections box. The foodbank, which is run entirely by volunteers, is struggling to meet the demand and are now regularly giving out more than 950 food parcels each month, which is having a huge impact on their resources.They need the help of as many supporters as possible to help them keep up with this level of demand.

Wur Bradford is supported by Bradford Council, Two28 and Bradford Markets. Our thanks to them for their ongoing support

Responding to Regression – Time to tool up!

Responding to Regression – Time to tool up!

Saturday 3rd December

12pm – 4pm
WUR Bradford, Kirkgate Market (Above Kirkgate Shopping Centre opposite Home From Home cafe)

In response to the Trumpifcation of America and Brexit we are in need of solidarity and skills to ensure and overcome the regression taking place cross the world.

Bradical collective  together with Wur Bradford would like you to come along to a day of solidarity and action.

We want you to share your thoughts, ideas and turn them in to action.

Share ideas of how to:

• Combat islamophobia

• How do we talk to people, friends and family who align themselves with proponents of hate.

• Responding to macro and micro aggressions in daily life

• Reporting hate crime

• Self-care – y’know, staying sane and avoid getting blue.

 

We will compile our ideas in to a collective zine which we hope to print on the day so you have copies to take away and share with others afterwards

 

There will be tea and floor cushions, accompanied by snacks, awesome snacks..’cos its winter and we need this!

 

All are warmly welcome, children too!

 

Triumph of Love: ‘The Big Make In’ creative workshop, Thursday 13th October

 

Thursday 13th October
Triumph of Love: The Big Make-In
12-3pm

At Wur Bradford artspace, Kirkgate Market (opposite Home From Home cafe)
Join artists Uzma Kazi, Chemaine Cooke and Jean McEwan in a massive love themed make-in session – to create lanterns, collages and decorations in readiness for Wur Bradford Triumph of Love installation at the Reflections event in Lister Park  on 15th  October, where we will be hosting a marquee inviting people to make overhead projector collages, and 3D light zines celebrating Bradford people places and stories.

All are welcome to come and join us at the workshop and at Reflections.

Reflections is family event in Lister Park on Saturday, 15 October,  created by local artists , arts organisations, community groups and Bradford Council’s Cultural Services,involving
lantern making workshops, mask making and other workshops, performances, street theatre, live music and much more. It’s free and everyone is welcome!
The event starts at 12pm and we’ll be there from 4pm. The day will culminate in Lister’s Lantern Parade which starts at 6.45pm

More event information here
https://https://www.facebook.com/events/1779038989014038/

Art in The Market: artist talks with Jean McEwan and Chemaine Cooke, Thursday 29th September

Thursday 29th September
Art in The Market: Artist talks with  Jean McEwan and Chemaine Cooke
Wur Bradford  artspace
Kirkgate Market (opposite Home From Home cafe)
3 – 4pm
Join visual artist Jean McEwan  and dance artist Chemaine Cooke in an informal talk about their recent residencies at  Wur Bradford artspace in which they each responded creatively to the environment, people and history of Kirkgate Market, via mapping and movement,  research, games, interviews, and donated objects from market traders. To see some of Jean’s activities see her blogpost here. Chemaine has been documenting her work with movement and objects via her Twitter feed here

Jean and Chemaine will also talk about their ideas plans to develop new art events and interventions in Kirkgate Market over the coming months.

 

All are welcome, refreshments provided

Wur Bradford is a participatory art project (‘Wur’ means ‘our’ or ‘we are’) based in a a stall in the city’s Kirkgate Market. All are welcome to get involved. It is supported by Bradford Council, Bradford Markets and Two28