Meet Regeneration NE, and Handknitted Pottery. These two organisations are partnering together on an Arts Council England funded project, along with Essential Crafts, to offer clay workshops for people living with disabilities and long-term health issues, both mental and physical, across County Durham and Tyne and Wear.
Hugh Penney runs Handknitted Pottery, based in Esh Winning, rural County Durham. Alongside selling his artisan pottery, Hugh offers group classes in hand-building with clay, and one-to-one lessons on throwing with a pottery wheel.
Gary Nicholson is one of the founding Directors of Regeneration North East, a disability-led Community Interest Company which aims to provide creative interventions to support people’s mental and physical wellbeing. Gary, whose art is often informed by lived experience of disability, received great acclaim for “Regeneration”, produced for his University of Sunderland MA degree show in 2017.
Kathryn Barnett - also a University of Sunderland graduate, with a visual arts, Kathryn now works as an arts producer and researcher. When she last appeared on ArtyParti, Kathryn was volunteering for the National Lottery Heritage Fund project, “The Carrying of Passengers is Forbidden”, which aims to uncover the hidden history of the invalid carriage and its users. Kathryn joined Regeneration NE in March, and is now a Director - developing projects which benefit some of the more marginalised groups in the region.
Recorded Live: 5th August 2019
Contributors: Kathryn Barnett, Gary Nicholson, Hugh Penney
A Jay Sykes Media podcast
