Eleanor Hawkridge

I am an artist living on the edge of The New Forest. I use folklore, folksong, old customs, games and rituals to explore contemporary issues particularly social and economic disparity. Country living can be a strange mix of bounty and hopelessness but when people have access to their own strong and sinuous roots, their own history and stories they have anchorage and hope. I seek the stories that connect us and as an artist I’m thinking of different ways of pinning them up on the metaphorical village hall notice board for all to see. Alongside my own practice I run drawing workshops as The Village Hall Draw and community workshops around the New Forest working with Culture in Common and Hampshire Cultural Heritage amongst others.

Joanna Blossom is based in Alverstoke and offers tailor-made craft workshops for children and families of all ages and abilities.  A self taught artist, she has provided craft workshops for various companies and locations including The Portsmouth Guildhall, The Kings Theatre (Portsmouth), Elson Community Library & Hub, Chichester Festival Theatre, Croydon City Council and local libraries & primary schools in and around Hampshire. Joanna has been also been involved in funded projects such as Culture Spark for Chichester District Council, Fairytales at Furzey for the Minstead Trust, Pompey HAF project at Portsmouth City Museum and  Portsmouth Creates, We Shine Light Festival.

Assembled Moments is a female-led physical theatre company based in Lymington in the New Forest, with a focus on creating new work. Assembled Moments is led by writer/director Stacie Bates. Stacie Bates has a Masters in Theatre from the Guildford School of Acting and a PGDip in Classical Acting from The London Academy of Performing Arts. Stacie has written for Ink Festival, The National Flash Fiction Anthology and most recently wrote and directed the play Future First, an ecoplay co-created with local teenagers at Forest Arts. Assembled Moments’ work has kindly been supported by Hampshire Cultural Trust, Forest Arts Centre, New Forest Council, Culture in Common and the ACE.