SAC

Stretford Arts Collective is a small group of Artists working in a shared studio space in Stretford Public Hall. The Artists together have a broad range of skills and mediums in which they work.

Our aim is to provide a wide range of arts into all areas of the local community, therefore one off classes are hosted along side the weekly art and textiles class. Two collage and painting classes have been run, by our resident artist Bridget Collin, here she has shared her own practice with the students; creating some amazing landscapes and greetings cards to give her a run for her money! Stephen McCusker, our resident architect, hosted an incredibly successful kids animation class. In teams with their guardians and each other, the kids constructed their own models from plastascene, and then created their own story, these individual stories were turned into animations using Istop motion. The interest gained from the first animation class, prompted a second class for adults, ran by resident artist and animator Karen Nolen; this was designed to show students the basic techniques of animation. The class used easy to use software that can be downloaded from home, using simple line drawing, it explained how to create momentum and zoom in a moving image. Olivia Savage, a resident printmaking artist at Stretford Public Hall, has run two sell out printmaking workshops, where she revealed the art of lino printing. Olivia allows the students to work from her own designs or create their own, appealing to various abilities. Each student comes away with their very own greetings card collection. The classes are all designed to show the community what is available to them, from the difficulty to the materials; they are all created as something that people can also do from home.

SAC32 Studio in Stretford Public Hall

Lisa Heanley is the brains behind starting the Collective: 

Although studying Illustration for her degree she also completed an MA in Fine Art at the University for the Creative Arts Canterbury in 2006. She then embarked on a career in teaching art at secondary and further education level. Since leaving the teaching profession in 2014 she has volunteered to bring back Stretford Public Hall to its rightful owners, the public.

Her passion behind the Friends of Stretford Public Hall project was to bring an element of art and culture in to the community. The development of the shared artists studio at the hall was designed to create a base for a Stretford arts collective, SAC. The collective will be open to any local creative wanting to bring an element of their skills to the hall and share with the community. Education still plays a large part in Lisa’s vision for the collective and hopes to see many exciting workshops, exhibitions and cultural events in the future.