In 2024, I joined Talking Birds as one of their 8 Neighbourhood Artists on the Green Ways project (working alongside artists Lou Sarabadzic, Tarla Patel, Pippa Church, Japhet Dinganga, Rene Francis-McBrearty, Navkiran Kaur Mann and Dom Breadmore/Ludic Rooms.)
Green Ways is one of the nine recommendations from the Citizen’s Assembly that Talking Birds held in 2021, exploring the role of arts, culture and creativity in shaping a better future for Coventry.
“Create a network of pocket parks and green spaces – connected by walking and cycling trails throughout the city, incorporate art and sculpture, build new parks and incorporate existing ones.”
Funded by Coventry City Council, West Midlands Combined Authority & UK Government, we set out to map a pilot route linking Stoney Stanton Road to Radford Road and worked across a number of projects with the people living and working along this route, to explore what Green Ways could look like.
We held a neighbourhood Green Ways mini-festival on part of the route, we organised litter picks, built urban planters, seeded an adopt-a-plant scheme, build sculpture with found objects, posted seeds, adopted unloved green spaces, crafted, walked together and held lots of conversation.
You can keep an eye on the future of Green Ways over here.