Sat 19 Sep, 11am - 4pm
Explore our open studios, meet some of the Bluecoat’s creative community and find out about their practices, which range from painting and photography to jewellery and illustration.
Part of Heritage Open Days.
Free, drop in
Participating Artists
Pete Clarke
Pete Clarke is an artist who explores metaphoric images of the social landscape, concepts of the city, questions of history and contemporary issues.
He studied Fine Art, moved to Liverpool to work at the Art School and was subsequently Principal Lecturer at the University of Lancashire, Preston.
He has a long association with Bluecoat working now in Studio 4. Recently he has been working in a studio in Cologne preparing work for the exhibition ‘Common Roads' in Cologne in October 2026 with Georg Gartz.
Freida McKitrick
Freida MckKitrick is a fine art illustrator and printmaker working across drypoint etching, monoprint, mixed media and digital illustration.
Her practice combines traditional printmaking with contemporary digital mark-making, exploring the relationship between illustration and print.
She holds a BA (Hons), specialising in Fine Art Printmaking and Computer Science, together with a PGCE.
She is currently based at the Bluecoat in Liverpool, where she continues to develop her printmaking and illustration practice.
Kim Harley-Griffiths
Growing up on the edge of an ancient woodland in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, Kim was immersed in the sounds of nature and the otherworldly calls of animals from the nearby Welsh Mountain Zoo. As night fell, these primeval soundscapes sparked vivid dreams and fuelled her imagination, leaving a deep and lasting impression on her creative spirit. This early connection to the natural world, tinged with mystery and mythology, continues to shape her work.
Kim is a practising artist who specialises in drawing, painting and sculpture. With her relatively recent discovery of clay, and the revelation of its fragility, strength and tactile, transformative qualities, she has found a way to bring her creatures and mythical figures to life. Each sculpture feels like a collaboration with the earth and nature, where touch and form merge to tell stories of folklore, nature and transformation.
Kim has exhibited widely, with recent highlights including The Sculpture Gallery Leeds, New Light Sculpture Prize, The Biscuit Factory, Royal Cambrian Academy Open Exhibition, New Light Summer Exhibition at Sunny Bank Mills, Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw and Brightwater Gallery.
She is also represented by and has exhibited at Oriel Glasfryn, The LAKE Gallery and Editions Gallery Liverpool.
Kim is based at the Bluecoat, where she is currently experimenting with drypoint etching.
Maartje Schalkx
Maartje Schalkx is a conservator and restorer of art on paper based at the Bluecoat and covering the North West.
She conserves and restores all kinds of art on paper, and paper objects, including prints, drawings, watercolours, screen-prints, posters, etchings, engravings, pastels, woodcuts, maps, architectural models and letters. Artists whose work she has treated range from Banksy to Picasso.
Common issues she may be able to address include discolouration, staining, mount-burn, dirt, tapes, yellowing adhesives, tears, breaks, losses, creases, folds, scratches and distortions.
You can read more about the services she offers at www.schalkxconservation.com.
