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Amanda Haran – Community Textile Artist Based In Derbyshire, East Midlands, UK

Home / Artists & Art Organisations / Amanda Haran – Community Textile Artist Based In Derbyshire, East Midlands, UK

Both as a female community collaborative textile artist and citizen, my creative best is driven by a passionate curiosity for exploring the power of the little things and seeing these slowly and wholeheartedly, whether in Derbyshire or on my worldwide travels. I’m creative therapist, psychotherapist, and empath with a desire to start a modern kindness revolution (albeit relatively quietly and gently, using small words where possible). One small act of compassion at a time.

I believe we are stronger together.

For me, creativity is a form of meditation. It lets me channel my emotions and feelings into my art, allowing the materials to respond organically. There are no mistakes in the creative process, just as there are no mistakes in life – everything has its unique purpose and beauty.

As an eco-sensitive carbon-literate artist and one who has had to work with small community budgets, I love working with ‘rubbish,’ which takes me into the realm of mixed media. Many of my briefs have started with a concept and a pile of donated material (a sort of ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ approach.) I have found that even the tiniest thing, whether a discarded object from the bin or a word, can invoke memory, emotion, and physical response. My work as a community textile and mixed media artist involves working with the discarded through weaving, hand and machine embroidery, and stitching, along with whatever techniques the group I’m serving wishes to explore. In one project, for example, we experimented with vacuum forming. I use found and discarded treasures, as well as repurposed items, to create art that reflects emotions, life events, the work of specific artists, or responses to an exhibition.

I love collaborating and connecting and hope my enthusiasm for finding the creativity and beauty in the overlooked is shared, explored with excited curiosity, and then used to create community artworks that generate joy, discussion, greater understanding and pride.

Contact details

Creative Genre

  • Collaborative community textile and mixed media artist based in Derbyshire, with carbon sensitivity, wellbeing and kindness at the core of all creative practice. I also provide services in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire and the East Midlands.

Work Undertaken

    • The community garden at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. I was asked to work with refugee and dispersed community groups to design and plan and make the first collaborative garden at this famous institution. The project not only involved building the garden but associated art and culinary and nature based activities to inspire the groups served. A steering committee was put together to give the project legacy and long term potential.
    • Collaborative community textile flag making project for Divided Selves exhibition curated by Hammad Nasar MBE. Four poorly engaged with and diverse community groups were supported to become textile artist collectives and respond to the work of Larry Achiampong a British Ghanaian artist who exhibited his large flag called 'Pan African Flag For The Relic Travellers' Alliance (Ascension)'.
    • Work On Walls (a street art exhibition) had four of the eight artists collaborate with community groups to understand and then work in the lead artist's style to generate collective responses to the collections at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. These large scale pieces were exhibited as part of the exhibition from the outset. The groups were also involved in the curation.
    • I was tasked with extending the reach and uptake of the Coventry Open. Using a roadshow technique I visited groups pubs clubs and venues far and wide across the Midlands. I increased the typical number of submissions from around 500 to over 1000 through grassroots engagement and developing an easy-to-use guide.
    • The Grown Up In Britain exhibition celebrated UK teenage life led by the Museum of Youth Culture. I helped the museum engage with local youth and generational groups to capture and curate photographs through driving regional roadshows; drop-in sessions and specific community projects.
    • Daniel Lismore's Be Yourself; Everyone Else Is Already Taken exhibition required a multitude of responses to fulfill the large brief which included: Leading community tours with groups that the institution poorly served; specialist sensory tours for groups that requested this such as neuro-diverse and those with complex needs; youth group and school engagement; collaboration on a community ball with the City of Culture; making six life-size art mannequins in the Lismore style with six community groups and the plastic formers of Warwick University. The mannequins then went on a regional tour to high streets and community settings to increase exhibition exposure and reach.
    • Turner Prize 2021 Legacy - Community Textile Large Scale Art Installation - The Coventry Banner. With the support of Array Collective (Turner Prize winners for that year) I helped to generate over 200 individual and group Midlands based artist banners. These were designed on donated material from the 2018 celebrations to commemorate 100 years of women obtaining the vote. I ran institution and regional based workshops going out to groups to invite and educate and facilitate as was needed. These were curated and installed at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum's entrance atrium. This project went on to be featured in social prescribing research as an illustration of best practice and was nominated for local community collaboration art awards.
    • Twenty Years was an interactive installation encouraging engagement with contemporary art and socio-political ideas through writing ideas about the past and future on postcards. I ran community sessions in the community to generate the first postcards which were then used in the installation to demonstrate and kick off audience engagement in the gallery.
    • At the Turner Prize 2021 exhibition I acted as community engagement partner to firstly generate tours to poorly served communities demystifying exhibition concepts. I then went on to collaborate with each nominee who were all community art collectives on community collaborative programming to reach particular local partners who were attuned to the nominee's particular message. This meant supporting whole day's of programming; drop-ins; artists in residence; sensory backpacks and an accessible easy read guide to the Turner 2021 with artist Anna Farley.
    • For the Coventry Welcomes Festival I supported Dr Seyedeh Naseriniaki to create and install a shop front community display with migrant communities to relay their experiences of living in the UK and their thoughts of home. Particular emphasis was given to women's groups.
    • At the Beneath The Trees Festival with Coventry Arts Collective and #GreenFutures I was asked to run a live textile art making extravaganza. I created a large recycled denim textile mural live with passers by inspired by the Coventry phoenix.
    • The Brightest Moon was a pinnacle project run as part of Coventry City of Culture. I acted as support artist to Ali Ravenhall of Imagineer and wove and then help construct a six metre high community woven moon installation to open Daimler Powerhouse which was to be a legacy arts venue.
    • At The Risers I was selected as one of ten artists to exhibit and be internationally promoted for COVert Arts. I exhibited my collaborative women's lantern along with my own works.
    • I ran solely a project called Sew What? This was an Arts Council England funded participatory slow mindful stitch embroidery project which ran between International Women's Day and Mental Health Awareness Week. I lead a group of international women to focus on self-soothing techniques from non-traditional stitch backgrounds. I had over 100 participants.
    • The Choose To Challenge Quilt And Coat represented the second phase of the Arts Council England supported Sew What? project to spread authentic supportive messages through quiet creative mindful and collective means. Over 50 participants stitched wisdom they would tell their 16-year-old selves made into a banner (later developed into coat of kindness at the Festival of Lights with Foleshill Creates and shown at Women's Convention hosted by Coventry Haven.) The banner was exhibited at Festival of Quilts Europe's most extensive patchwork and quilting event; it is now permanently displayed at Marlene Reid Centre Coalville.
    • For the Walking Forest I was selected as artist member and anchorwoman for this 10-year artwork exploring activism natural forest networks and communities. It will culminate in planting of international woodland 2028. Initially it was used to generate a staged an intervention in Coventry city centre which went on to be rerun at COP26 Glasgow.
    • At Sanctuary - Built To Burn. Designed To Heal - I participated in this project as a result of my involvement in Processions as support artist. I had become an Artichoke Heart to support community arts experiences. Sanctuary was a temporary wooden structure which was community built to commemorate the UK's loss during COVID-19. Artichoke and American artist David Best collaborated locally to build intricately carved wooden structure in Miners Welfare Park Bedworth which was ceremonially burnt. I acted as an artist supporter.
    • For the Sitting Rooms Of Culture I acted as a textile artist collaborator for Settee of Culture creating stitched work for this new arts showcase area in Coventry Market.
    • At The Welcome To Coventry Project I contributed a stitched piece for Coventry train station welcome sign redesign and opening new concourse (Coventry City of Culture 2021.)
    • I was invited by Common Threads Project who a New York based women's charity to stitch and video my creative generation of a piece celebrating Thanksgiving and promoting their incredibly important work. I later supported the charity by curating a story cloth exhibition as part of international conference Preventing Sexual Violence In Conflict in the City of Westminster. I am a supporter of this charity to help create pathways to healing.
    • For an archaeological dig ran by the University of Leicester I offered my garden as dig site as part of village-wide archaeological dig with Bosworth Links. Test pit 48 was my contribution. Community members and myself dug the site for two days.

Work in Education

    • Positive Youth Foundation - banner making drop-in workshop
    • Hospital Education Service - supporting the making of banners creation of a mannequin in the style of Daniel Lismore and gallery tours
    • National Saturdays Club (Coventry) - Free opportunity for 13-16 year olds to learn new skills and prepare for higher education ran banner making workshops and gave gallery tours
    • Coventry University Arts Department - ran banner making workshops
    • King Edward VI College - artist in residence 6th form specialist college in Nuneaton
    • Hereward College - specialist in post 16 education for those needing complex educational support. Led site delivered workshops and regional gallery tours
    • Grangers Club - led arts workshops young people with learning disabilities (14 years to 24 years)
    • Gosford Park Primary School (Coventry) - led Turner Prize banner making workshops
    • Escape Arts - after school youth club for teenagers led involvement in several Herbert Art Gallery & Museum exhibitions co-curation collaboration

Portfolio

Portfolio

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