The Grateful Web Art Podcast

Episode #25 Weaving Connections with Nicola Ellis

Today on @the_grateful_web Art Podcast I’m joined by Nicola Ellis, an artist whose practice is deeply rooted in industry, collaboration, and materiality. Much of Nicola’s work has developed through her long-standing relationship with the Blackburn-based engineering company Ritherdon & Co, where she has worked alongside fabricators and factory workers to explore how knowledge, skill, and labour are embedded within materials and industrial processes. Alongside discussing the exhibition, we also talk openly about the importance of artist support, the Festival of Making, networks, collaboration, and creating sustainable ways for artists to continue working and developing outside increasingly fragile arts structures.  I had the privilidge of speaking to Nicola at her current exhibition Exercises in Knowing at HOME, Manchester a major new presentation that brings together sculpture, sound, and installation. Her film documenting the factories workers creates a fitting backdrop to our conversation echoing her process and the environment and the workers who inspired this fabulous exhibition.       @_nicola_ellis_ @homemcr https://www.nicolaellis.com/ [https://www.nicolaellis.com/] https://www.homemcr.org/theme/spring-2026-exhibitions-md7x [https://www.homemcr.org/theme/spring-2026-exhibitions-md7x] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode #24 Weaving Connections with Katy Morrison

Hello and welcome to The Grateful Web with me Dr Jo Clements.   This week I’m delighted to be taking to Katy Morrison, Katy is a Manchester-based independent curator/researcher and is the Director of PINK, a curatorial project and artist studio space in Stockport. She is pursuing a practice-based PhD at Manchester School of Art, exploring artist residencies as performative spaces for curatorial enquiry. Do join me for this fascinating discussion where we talk about the pitfalls and benefits of our working class roots, how her background in hospitality has given her the tools and business mindset to create spaces where art can thrive. Discover her innovative curatorial approach, the importance of resource-led practices, and her vision for sustainable, community-focused art spaces. https://www.pink-mcr.com/about [https://www.pink-mcr.com/about] @pinkmcr_ @KATHERINEANASTASIA_ If you’re enjoying this podcast, please consider supporting it. I am currently unfunded any support you can give to help keep this labour of love going would be really appreciated. You can sign up to my Patreon for just £2 a month, make a one-off donation, or get in touch if you’d like to support in another way.  I genuinely believe this is becoming a valuable resource—an evolving archive documenting what’s happening across the art world in the North West of England and want to continue shouting about our art community and meeting more brilliant artists.https://www.patreon.com/14900165/join [https://www.patreon.com/14900165/join] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode #23 Weaving Connections with Alan Ward and Jeffrey Knopf

Welcome to The Grateful Web with Dr Jo Clements. This week I’m joined by artists Alan Ward @alanjward_axisdesign and Jeffrey Knopf @jeffrey_knopf to talk about their collaborative exhibition *Nothing Remained Unchanged but the Clouds*. Do tune in to this fascinating conversation about a project that started out with one slide bought on ebay during lockdown that developed into an amazing collaborative project with participants from a whole French village. Developed through eventual residencies in Grandpré in the French Ardennes, the project weaves together photography, text, 3D scanning, and community participation to create a kind of living archive — where fragments of memory (personal, historical, imagined) are held, reshaped, and seen anew. Alan brings a deep sensitivity to narrative and sequencing, shaped by decades as a book designer, while Jeff’s use of mobile 3D scanning introduces a fascinating instability — where objects blur, shift, and take on new meanings. 🔗 Listen now: [link in bio] 🎧 Available on all major platforms Links below for more details and images of the project and to buy a copy of the fabulous accompanying book – which I highly recommend: https://www.alanjward.co.uk/news/ [https://www.alanjward.co.uk/news/] https://www.alanjward.co.uk/product/pre-launch-subscription-offer-nothing-remained-unchanged-but-the-clouds/ [https://www.alanjward.co.uk/product/pre-launch-subscription-offer-nothing-remained-unchanged-but-the-clouds/]   https://www.jeffreyknopf.co.uk [https://www.jeffreyknopf.co.uk/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode #22 Weaving Connections with Dr Kimberly Foster and Jane Scobie

In this episode, I am joined by artists Dr Kimberley Foster and Jane Scobie to discuss their participation in the Compass Residency.  The residency connects two artists based in Manchester—Margaret O’Brien and Emma Illingworth—with Kimberley and Jane who are based in Norfolk. The project is organised by Proforma and Cromer Art Space in Norfolk  and is structured around a dialogue between urban and coastal environments. The Manchester phase of the residency takes place at Rogue artists Studios, located within a former school building. This setting provides a layered context in which histories of learning, labour, and place intersect, offering a rich framework for artistic development and it is here that I first met with Kimberley and Jane Kimberley’s work engages closely with the building’s educational past, reflecting on questions of pedagogy and the legacy of learning environments. By drawing connections between historical and contemporary approaches to knowledge, her practice considers how these structures continue to inform artistic thinking. In contrast, Jane’s work responds to the surrounding landscape, focusing on the traces of the area’s industrial history. Through careful observation and documentation, she examines the material and cultural remnants that persist within the urban environment. Together, their perspectives offer two complementary approaches to site-responsive practice, shaped by the context of the residency and the specificities of place. @kimberleyfostersorhed [https://www.instagram.com/kimberleyfostersorhed/] @emmaillingworth_ [https://www.instagram.com/emmaillingworth_/] @obrienmgt [https://www.instagram.com/obrienmgt/] @janescobieartist [https://www.instagram.com/janescobieartist/] https://cromer-artspace.uk/event/compass/ [https://cromer-artspace.uk/event/compass/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode #21 Weaving Connections with 1838 Collective

On this weeks episode I’m joined by members Rebecca, Blake and Aliya from 1838 Collective - an artist-led organisation based at Islington Mill in Salford. Founded by 7 postgraduate students who met at Manchester School of Art, the collective takes its name from 1838, the year the school was established. Their work focuses on supporting emerging and graduate artists as they navigate the often-uncertain shift from art education into professional practice. Through exhibitions, workshops and a strong culture of peer support, they’re building a community that helps artists in Manchester develop their work, their networks and their confidence.      @1838_collective ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.