We were delighted to be awarded funding from the Arts Council’s Let’s Create Jubilee Fund administered by the Kent Community Foundation to ensure that creativity played an important role in local community celebrations for Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Our project, '70 Years in the making' is our celebratory community project to create a TEA PARTY with a twist!
The community helped us craft all the different parts of a classic British tea party - from knitted sandwiches to table decorations, felted biscuits to commemorative tableware, we made it all!
Over 5 weeks we offered free creative workshops, specialist craft sessions and, once again, created free craft kits to be made at home, with all the elements becoming part of a full scale crafted model of Tea Party that was displayed in our Studio over the Jubilee weekend.
In addition to our Tea Party installation, we recreated a 1950’s living room in an adjoining room to the Studio. Here visitors watched archive film footage about the coronation and other events of that time. It provided an extra space to enjoy a (real) cup of tea and biscuits in the quiet of the living room.
Volunteers joined us at one of our free creative workshops every Wednesday morning from 10am - 12pm or by making one of our free craft kits from home to fill our table with tasty delights!
With our free craft kits to make at home participants chose from either a stuffed felt biscuit kit or a crochet sandwich kit. Both kits came complete with instructions and all the materials needed to craft a lovely array of party food.
Alternatively anyone with material or wool at home to use could download the instructions as a guide, just by clicking on the biscuits or sandwiches here.
We had a huge array of many different handmade food items, as the community brought in their own cakes, buns, rolls or savoury snacks for the table.
The pieces that the participants didn't want back were also shared amongst local early years settings as play food and continue to be enjoyed within the community.
The People's Flower Project
Beyond the tea party and living room, the jubilee joy spread outside the building with our peoples flower project. The balcony that wraps aroudn the centre was decorated with huge blooms of flowers made by our community by asking 'What does the Jubilee mean to you?' We worked with artist Camille Serisier to create super sized flower bouquets that represent a wide range of feelings about the Jubilee in this community art project.
This short film helped anyone be involved and we also ran 2 FREE workshops on Saturday 14 and 21 May at 2 - 4pm where anyone could drop in and work with Camille to make their own flowers in the Horsebridge Studio.
Workshop 1
A fantastic first workshop, listen to why particpants made their flowers and see the creations made so far.
Don't forget to join us on 21st May for the next workshop.
Workshop 2
A little video from a participant in our second People's Flower project workshop.
Follow our social channels to see all the wonderful creations so far.
Corgi Competition!
We also ran a fun competition for young people up to 16 years of age, to colour in and decorate a lovely little Horsebridge Corgi.
We created corgi colouring packs to be painted, coloured, collaged or decorated in any way the young people liked! Three selected Corgi pictures were framed and featured in our Tea Party exhibition and all the entries decorated other public areas around the centre.
We created a programme of workshops to make every element of our Jubilee tea party - from knitted sandwiches and cakes to hand decorated commemorative plates, printed tablecloths to embossed serviettes and wet felted flowers to ceramic vases.
You can read a lovely article by Lindsay Wilkinson who ran our wet felted flower workshop on how she came up with the workshop and how the workshop went.
Mono Print Workshop
Friday 6 May 10am - 12pm
Jubilee ceramic bowl workshop
Saturday 7 May 10am - 12pm
Join Sue Moreton in this second ceramic workshop to make a small, stoneware ceramic sugar/shallow bowl that will feature in our jubilee tea party table.
You will learn how to make a coil pot, to use letter stamps and choose other items to imprint decoration, which will be fired and glazed ready for the Jubilee weekend.
Wet felted flower workshop
Thursday 5 May 10am
Ceramic decorative workshop
Thursday 12 May 10am - 12pm
Join us in this decorative ceramics workshop where you can paint your Best Commemorative Mug, your way, with Espression Arts.
You will learn to transfer your design and paint your bisque ware with clay and underglaze. No previous creative experience needed and everyone is welcome.
Make a Jubilee vase
28 April 10am - 12pm
Thank you to In Your Area and Kent Community Foundation for highlighting ‘70 Years in the Making’ and producing such a lovely article about our Jubilee Community Arts Project.
It’s wonderful to see the work created by local people, groups and organisations who have been at the very heart of this project, acknowledged and celebrated for their creativity and community spirit.
Have you seen our fantastic Jubilee tea towel ... available now in our shop at the centre.
Image from Tuition Extra.
We had a very special visit from an incredibly talented young student from Tuition Extra yesterday who self taught the art of crochet.
We took delivery of a celebration cake and a nice spread of sandwiches for our Jubilee Tea Party ready for display next week.
Thank you so much for all your hard work!
See more images on their facebook post:
"We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to The Horsebridge Arts Centre! Our brilliant craft student 'N' visited yesterday with tutor Emma to drop off her crochet cakes and sandwiches, ready for their Jubilee Tea Party project.
They had a guided tour of the building and got to check out some of the other amazing items made for the exhibition. The lovely people at the Horsebridge kindly gifted 'N' a limited edition Jubilee print, which was proudly waved around the TE office!
This trip has opened up a world of creativity; thank you!
We have so many ideas, and we can't wait to start making more fantastic creations."
