Sat 25 Oct - Sun 8 Feb
Manchester-based artist and activist Lou Miller has collaborated with children from St Vincent de Paul Catholic Primary School in L1 to explore their vision of freedom. The resulting exhibition transforms the voices of the children, aged 8-11, into a series of textile banners, clay, and print works for adults and children alike. Miller's practice has a strong collaborative focus, exploring themes of community, work, health, and social change. For We Dream of Our Freedom, the gallery will become a community studio, inviting audiences to share their own ideas of freedom and respond to the children’s vision.
We Dream of Our Freedom is part of Our Freedom: Then and Now, a UK-wide, locally-led arts and creative programme from Future Arts Centres, which is producing 60 new pieces of work reflecting on what ‘Our Freedom’ means to local people and their communities, following the 80th anniversary of VE/VJ Day.
The themes of the project resonate deeply with the Bluecoat’s own history. Not only was the building severely damaged during the Blitz, but for the last 100 years as an arts centre, the Bluecoat has championed creativity, and the freedom for artists, and everyone, to express themselves freely through their art.
Free entry
Alongside Lou Miller's exhibition, our drop-in creative space offers a chance to explore the theme of freedom in your own way and at your own pace.
On non-workshop days, visitors are welcome to engage independently with postcard making and contributing to a communal zine.
Take inspiration from the poem Freedom Road by Simon Armitage, which you can view here, reflect on personal memories of freedom, imagine futures of freedom, or simply take a quiet moment for creativity, this space is yours to use. Take a seat, pick up a pencil, and let your imagination roam free.
