Making Culture
University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, England
Wednesday, October 21 • 1:30 PM - 6:30 PM
HOST
University for the Creative Arts, Farnham
HOST LOCATION
UCA Farnham, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7DS
Farnham is England’s first World Craft Town. To coincide with Farnham craft month, we will be hosting research informed pedagogical and industry focused symposium on Making Cultures at the UCA Farnham campus. The symposium will take place in the classroom, and in the James Hockey Gallery around a community-built table made from locally sourced materials to UCA’s Canterbury campus, which is part of a larger project Harvest Moon. The accompanying interdisciplinary exhibition on Making Cultures has been selected from recent work from post graduate students.
Making Culture Schedule
1.40–1.55pm
Arrival and registration
James Hockey Gallery
2.00–2.05pm
Event introduction
• Caroline Molloy
2.05–2.15pm
Further introductions
• GLAD
Session 1 · 2.15–3.15pm
Making Cultures: Creative Practice and Pedagogies
Y21A
The focus of this panel is on how research informs pedagogical delivery. Each invited speaker will introduce their own creative practice before entering into dialogue with the panel chair.
Speakers
• Ashley Howard, Senior Lecturer in Ceramics
• Lucy Jones, Senior Lecturer in Architecture
• Natalie Ryde, Senior Lecturer in Jewellery
Chair
• Nikolai Elkins, Programme Director of Creative Education
Session 2 · 3.15–4.15pm
Option A · Tour
Tour of Craft and Fine Art facilities and gallery
Option B · Workshop
Making Cultures: Collage Making Triptych
James Hockey Gallery
This interactive practical workshop, in the James Hockey Gallery will take place around the Harvest Moon Table. It will encourage you how to use collage making methods to overcome creative block. By following the collage triptych technique, you can use collage and drawing to work through ideas, develop themes for other projects, and to understand how anything can be used to make meaningful artworks.
Alongside of the making, we will discuss ideas around supposed hierarchy structures in the classroom, and sustainable ways of using materials when teaching in art and design.
Led by
• Dr James Green, Programme Director of Craft
4.00–4.30pm
Refreshments in the Gallery
Tea, coffee and biscuits
Timing may vary depending on the Session 2 option selected.
Session 3 · 4.30–5.20pm
Making Cultures: Local Stakeholders
Round-table discussion
This industry focused panel will share some of the insights into the thriving craft culture in Farnham.
Contributors
• Pippa Hufton, Coordinator of Farnham Craft Month
• Nina Jex, Farnham-based gallery owner, curator and creative business advocate
• Outi Remes, Director, Ashgate Gallery
• Stephen Knott, Director, Craft Study Centre
5.20–5.30pm
Closing comments
• Claire Parvitt, Research and Knowledge Exchange Manager
5.30–6.30pm
Wine reception and networking
The GLAD Regional Series 2026–27: PLACE is delivered in partnership with CHEAD (Council for Higher Education in Art and Design). We gratefully acknowledge CHEAD’s support in making the series possible.Our GLAD events since 2023, have increasingly highlighted that creative education is essential civic infrastructure, not peripheral to society, but central to cultural, economic and community development. Participants have challenged deficit narratives about art and design education and emphasised how creative practice can advance equity, sustainability, collaboration and future-ready skills. In response, GLAD are doing something a little different in 2026/27!
Instead of a one-off event, GLAD will present a UK-wide series of regional half-day gatherings at HEIs. The series will create a distributed platform for exploration and co-creation under the broad theme of PLACE. By situating these conversations across the UK, the series will recognise diverse regional strengths and local contexts, elevating collective narratives that demonstrate how art schools lead through, for, and with their communities.
