Crafty students have been sharing their skills as part of a community initiative to celebrate the bicentenary of Stockton and Darlington Railway.
The art and design students from Stockton Riverside College lent a hand by supporting community workshops where members of the public were invited to create textile panels for a commemorative quilt.
The college’s course leader Liz Dixon said: “As we have been working on textile techniques this seemed like a great opportunity to put what they have been learning into practice.”
“As artists looking to build future careers in the creative arts, it is always valuable for the students to experience different projects, working to a real brief, and seeing how different organisations can and do work together.”
The quilt project is part of the S&DR200 Fringe Festival and was organised by Stockton Central Library and led by local artist Harriet Mee, with funding from Libraries Connected and Arts Council England.
When the library approached the college to see if they could help, the art department was happy to offer up their students’ creative skills and support. Film and TV students also got involved capturing the process.
Picking up some new skills himself at one of the workshops, art student Adam, 18, said: “I had never used a sewing machine before but during the workshop there was a lovely lady teaching me what to do. It was a bit of a change of pace from using a pencil, but I had quite a lot of fun.”
Emma, 19, said: “It has been a really good project celebrating the achievements of the area. I have done a lot of embroidery before, I find it quite relaxing, so this has been a nice thing to do.”
Members of the public attending the series of free weekly workshops have been invited to create panels that reflect their own fond memories and associations of the railway.
Artist Harriet said: “I wanted to keep it as an open brief to make it a really organic process. This means, when complete, the quilt will be a much more accurate reflection of what is important to people, allowing them to explore their own ideas.”
With such creative freedom, the final outcome will, no doubt, be as much a surprise to Harriet as it will be to those seeing it for the first time.
The quilt will be exhibited as part of series of events and celebrations to make the railway’s milestone year.
The S&DR200 Fringe Festival is a programme of public events to mark the Stockton and Darlington railway’s anniversary organised by creative and community organisations.
Also part of the festival, watch out for The Whistle Stop, a touring exhibition which showcases the Stockton and Darlington Railway’s history using reproductions of important artefacts and documents, brought together from archives across the UK.
It provides a fascinating insight into the birth and subsequent development of the modern railway into what we see today. The Whistle Stop will be at Thornaby Central Library and Stockton Central Library between Monday April 14 and Saturday June 7.
To find out more about the S&DR200 festival visit: https://www.sdr200.co.uk/
