Project
Artist and visual note taker Jimmy Rogers at Boo Yeah – Live Illustrations has turned people’s thoughts from the Woodrow Community Summer Party, 2026 into this magnificent piece of art as part of Woodrow and Greenlands Pride in Place project.
Woodrow Neighbourhood Board will now use the unique artwork to help it make decisions about the future, including what culture, art and creative experiences we develop together.
Click on the image opposite to see a large version of the poem text.
Let’s create.
Love Woodrow Public Art. In the summer of 2024, people in Woodrow told us they wanted to ‘brighten up’ the neighbourhood. They told us about the challenges they see as barriers to health, wellbeing and creativity. People also talked about wanting to see sculptures and murals.
Conversations revealed a lack of cultural opportunities, too. Many young people spoken to had never been to a museum or gallery, so the Love Woodrow Public Art project proposed a series of sculptures to explore place, culture and heritage.
There was an enormous range of ideas put forward by these young people.
The Love Woodrow Public Art would be created hand-in-hand with an artist in residence and the people of Woodrow to reimagine their neighbourhood creatively. Co-creation would ensure that the work stayed relevant to Woodrow people and would be owned by them.
The artist needed to spend at least one day a week with organisations in the community to get to know local people, to get out and talk to people wherever they were in the neighbourhood.
Our artist in residence also needed office and studio space, so community venues were located in Woodrow, at: ‘The Den’ Youth Club (run by Your Ideas Redditch); Woodrow Meeting Rooms; and Woodrow Library.
The selected artist would be working with new and established groups in Woodrow communities to co-create a programme of activities which responded uniquely to local issues.
Severn Arts and Reimagine Redditch fundraised almost £69,000 from the highly competitive Inclusive Communities Fund for the new 6-month-long artist in residence project. Our thanks also go to Worcestershire County Councillor Emma Marshall for the funds she raised to help support the project.
The Inclusive Communities Fund aims to make a difference to people’s lives by supporting projects that will act as a catalyst to address inequalities. That’s why we’re thrilled to have secured an award from this fund — because of the positive impact it will have for close to 5,000 people in Woodrow.
Communities across the West Midlands are supported by the fund to bring to life solutions that address the challenges in their neighbourhoods and local areas.
Inspired by the momentum generated by the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which provided support to community-based organisations across the West Midlands, the fund shares the four original core mission principles of the Commonwealth Games:
The Love Woodrow community art project commissioned renowned glass artist Sarah Brown to work with residents in Woodrow to create new public art installations.
Sarah co-created new artworks with Woodrow people, which celebrate the Woodrow community.
Sarah is known for her ability to create location-specific artwork, having previously worked on public projects such as illustrations on bin lorries and student accommodation in Tufnell Park, London.
The ambition and impact of Sarah’s art has been recognised internationally where her work has been exhibited at prestigious venues like the British Glass Biennale, Collect Art Fair in London, and Habatat Galleries in the USA.
This autumn, Sarah also exhibited work at the prestigious British Glass Biennale (in Wolverhampton) and at this year’s Biennale in Venice.
Sarah’s vision for Love Woodrow Public Art has always been clear: “Woodrow has a fantastic community spirit with lots going on, and I want to work with people in the neighbourhood to celebrate their stories through creativity.
“Creating celebratory artworks that highlight the best things about the area, the people who are pillars of the community, and to give some love to the centre.”
As part of her commitment to the Love Woodrow project, Sarah worked closely with residents. “Throughout the project I’ve met and talked to as many people within the area as possible, getting to know the locals, finding out what makes Woodrow a great place to live, and celebrating the community spirit and those who help.
“As an area of low cultural engagement, I’m pleased to have provided a range of ways to engage with creativity. With a particular emphasis on having fun and promoting the arts as a great way to boost your wellbeing.”
Artist Sarah, and the Love Woodrow production team, worked closely with residents to explore the heritage of the area, share memories from living in Woodrow and to discover together what lay at the heart of Love Woodrow’s co-created artworks.
Sarah created free art packs full of creative resources, housed in tote bags, for delivery to every home in Woodrow. Thousands of residents received the mysterious gift inviting them to enjoy creating at home, while offering the opportunity to also take part in exploratory creative workshops with Sarah.
Through these sessions, strong and fond life experiences tumbled out of people, with a number of key themes repeating: crafting sessions at the library; discos at the Community Centre; The Jolly Farmer Pub; darts and pool club nights; community parties on the green; the old sweet shop; 12p toy planes from Bill’s Store; fishing at Arrow Valley Lake; and the much-loved discos on a Friday night.
In addition, Sarah spent a week as the resident artist at Woodfield Academy, where she ran a glass work session with every class in the school – nearly 600 pupils in total.
Severn Arts.
Your Ideas Redditch.
Redditch Borough Council.
Woodrow Library.
Woodfield Academy.
The people and community of Woodrow.
Woodrow Community Centre.
We could have listed numbers and statistics here to show just how many lives this project has touched and, we hope, helped to make more positive. But, we think the words of the people who live in Woodrow are the most important evidence of all. These are their voices.
“It’s great to see the community coming together.”
“People are being neighbours again.”
“It’s the first time I’ve been back in 30 years.”
“We don’t have anything like this.”
“It felt like it used to.”
“It’s a great community event that has got people together.”
“It’s art by agreement.”
“It’s unprecedented!”
Hundreds of people filled Woodrow on a cold Saturday evening in December 2024 to parade and party, celebrating Redditch’s stunning new public artwork, Love Woodrow.
MP Chris Bloore and local councillors joined the festivities, walking alongside residents in a pre-party lantern parade. Happy and excited crowds lit up the neighbourhood with lanterns they had crafted themselves.
Richard Bromhall, Programme Director for Reimagine Redditch, said, “This event brings people together to enjoy the festive season and celebrate the incredible Love Woodrow Public Artwork created by Woodrow residents to brighten the area’s centre. Seeing so many people here enjoying themselves is amazing.
“Woodrow residents shared the challenges they face with health, wellbeing, and creativity. By co-creating the Love Woodrow public art project with Severn Arts, we ensured the artwork reflects the community’s identity and belongs to them.
“We deeply appreciate everyone who supported this project, including Severn Arts, the Inclusive Communities Fund, Woodrow Community Centre, Woodrow Library, Your Ideas Redditch, and Woodrow’s schools. Most importantly, we thank the generous and imaginative local people who participated in creative events to co-create this inspiring art.”
The artwork takes three forms: a vibrant mural spanning several metres that celebrates Woodrow’s past and present, a colourful clay collage featuring self-made figures of Woodrow residents, and a brilliant glass collage inspired by local memories.
The community installed the three art pieces on the exterior wall and inside the Woodrow Community Centre.
The Reimagine Redditch team produced the activities and events in conjunction with local people, always on hand to talk to people about future creative ideas and plans for the Borough and to co-design these with the community.
Our thanks go to the Inclusive Communities Fund and to Severn Arts for their support to help bring this project to life for people in Woodrow.
