During this event we unveil the new mural ‘Bolton: Town of Children’ by Victor Seus in collaboration with Bolton’s young people and the community.

We will engage in a community conversation led by young people, welcoming the public and diverse local and national leaders in arts and culture. These panel discussions will centre around shared experiences and the fresh perspectives and inspiration that have emerged from a month of creative community encounters in Bolton.

• How can we make arts and culture the pride of Bolton?' What’s next?

During this space intervention we will start to transform the former library site into a creative hub. From ideas to action: Make group decisions, experiment and explore new ways of transforming objects and space to create our own place for creativity and play.

In the time we have together, we’ll experiment with many different ways of moving and creating.

We’ll explore and value the creative capacities in ourselves and link this to ways to unlock talents in our students.

• How can play facilitate discovery?

• How might investing in myself power my skills as a creative practitioner?

Develop a tool kit for creative health and play-generated artstic discovery.

Let´s unlock creative places and experiences for young people in Bolton!

We will explore and value the ways we can generate creative exchange between cultural organisations and young people in our town.

• Which collaborations could contribute to empowering experiences for children and young people in Bolton, inside and outside the classroom?

• Which possibilities can be opened by the use of our creativity, collaboration and networking skills?

Let´s play and explore!

A community conversation through body movement, connection, photography and imagination. We all share stories and ideas.

Together we will find the ideas for the design of Bolton’s Town of Children mural.

From April 19th - May 4th, muralist Victor Seus will be creating a mural translating the message of Bolton´s community.

We will move together on the floor canvas, painting with our bodies through guided movements.

• Why should we disobey when we are creating artwork?

Take the lead, bring colour to the town centre and open a visual conversation with the community through giant window displays.

• What if it was interest in youth creativity rather than window shopping that brought people to Bolton town centre?

´Looking for the point at which natural talent meets personal passion´

In a world that’s constantly changing, how will we live in the future? All we know is that it will take a lot of imagination and creativity to transform ourselves. Learning how to collaborate is essential to face the new challenges. In this workshop we experiment moving and creating in many different ways and discover surprising capacities and talents within us.

Let´s unlock the street secrets of Bolton.

In this game, we move to the streets and connect with our community. Every group starts the game with a barter-box, from which we generate forms of creative exchange. We engage with people in the town centre to exchange our talents for positive community input. There will be 1 hour to exchange and collect objects of value for our place.

• What generates creative exchange between people in our town?

• What treasures can we find for our new creative hub?

Let´s play and explore!

Masterclass with Italian director Simone Turinese

If you've got a skill for storytelling and want to explore the world of documentary filmmaking, this is your chance. We're looking for young creators interested in crafting short films that explore the vibrant mix of arts, culture, and community-powered change in our town. With a team of 4 other young filmmakers you will be filming the Town of Children during April 2nd to April 6th, supported by Simone Turinese, and sharing your results at the Bolton Film Festival in October ´24.

We will hold a community session in the Crompton Place that aims to bring about positive and innovative changes in your town. The event will be hosted by Creatives Now and BASECLAN and we invite Boltonians of all ages to imagine the future with us and to share ideas.

• How might we create a town full of play and creativity?

• How might we initiate exciting plans in this creative hub for Bolton in 2024?

Let´s go imagine!