About

Based at County Hall in Matlock, Derbyshire County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England.

Local is a creative placemaking arts organisation, specialising in place-based community engagement and cultural programming.

Arts Derbyshire is the strategic arts charity for Derbyshire and is at the heart of the county’s creative sector. The organisation’s aim is to enrich people’s lives through the arts.

Junction Arts is an award-winning participatory arts charity based in Chesterfield.

Part of the Creative People and Places programme, funded by Arts Council England thanks to the National Lottery, Make/Shift collaborates to create projects that support communities in the Amber Valley.

High Peak Community Arts provides opportunities for people to participate in high quality creative arts projects.

The Arkwright Society is a registered charity aimed at promoting education and conservation, focusing on the Cromford Mills site.

People Express is a professional participatory arts organisation, rooted in communities in South Derbyshire since 1990.

Autin Dance Theatre is an award-winning interdisciplinary company based in Birmingham and Walsall, led by choreographer and director Johnny Autin. The company creates bold, visually striking performances that blend contemporary dance, physical theatre, puppetry and large-scale design for theatres, outdoor spaces and unexpected locations.

Rooted in contemporary social themes, their work explores environment, belonging, identity and community through immersive storytelling.

The are bringing Parade - The Giant Wheel to Cromford and Bolsover Festivals in 2026.

Matt Pang is a performer-maker, self-described “DIY engineer”, and community organiser who has been creating and touring inventive circus-inspired performances since 2005.

His creative process often begins in the workshop, designing and building unusual objects that become central to his playful, high-energy shows. Alongside international touring, Matt works with schools and communities to spark creativity and STEM learning through hands-on workshops.

Matt's is bringing his ingenious solo street show Thingamabob to Chesterfield, Heanor and Glossop Festivals in 2026.

John Whall is a multi-award-winning Digital Participation Artist, Curator and Producer who brings people together through immersive digital creativity.

Combining technology with hands-on participation, John creates interactive experiences where audiences actively explore and co-create rather than simply observe. His practice focuses on making complex digital tools accessible and playful, opening up creative possibilities for diverse communities.

John is bringing MakeLAND - an immersive VR journey - to Cromford and Chesterfield Festivals in 2026.

Maison Foo are Derbyshire-based makers of theatre, art and community, using creativity to build human connection and grow inclusive spaces. Founded in 2008, their work spans theatre shows, pop-up encounters, installations, workshops, audio stories and cultural exchanges.

They create performances in theatres and festivals across the UK, as well as in unexpected spaces — from hospital wards to back gardens. A proud Theatre Company of Sanctuary, Maison Foo are committed to working with people seeking sanctuary and fostering belonging through storytelling, participation and shared creative experience.

Maison Foo presents… Val and Friends Community Living Room at Heanor and Glossop Festivals in 2026.

Mixed media and textiles artist, based in the High Peak.

Sue has developed her own mixed media process that combines paint, print and prominently hand stitch. Whilst the final pieces are often abstract, they are based on observation of the world around her.

Sue is lead artist on one of our countywide programmes, Dare to Dream, a mass participation project.

Alex is based in the High Peak. She is a maker, primarily sewing, with a particular interest in recycling and reusing materials. She was a contestant on the BBC's The Great British Sewing Bee.

Alex is working with Sue Reddish to champion the Dare to Dream mass participation project.

Cathy is a Public Art Curator and Consultant.

She has extensive knowledge and practical experience of public art commissioning, project delivery, strategic work and public sector partnership.

Part of the Dare to Dream team.

Bea Uprichard and Ruth Farris are weavers, designers and textile makers based in Manchester. Their work is playful, joyful and rooted in a shared commitment to conscious consumption and heritage craft.

The work as restorers and weavers at Paradise Mill in Macclesfield, home to a rare collection of Victorian jacquard handlooms.

Through their partnership, Fishbone and Sycamore, they are preserving and reimagining silk weaving for a new generation.

Part of the Women Who Make team.

Milly is an Interdisciplinary Artist, Garment Maker and Textile Heritage Tour Guide at Derbyshire's Masson Mill.
Her work explores the tactile layers woven between social history and textile making processes. Expressing her psychogeographic practice through participatory heritage and crafts, sculptural installations and through her garment making practice 'oB wear', where she carefully creates tailored everyday garments from sustainable materials and natural dyes.

Clare will be delivering workshops in The Makory during the 2026 Festival.

Clare is an Artist Educator based in Nottinghamshire and the founder of Bus and Bird Arts, a participatory arts organisation supporting creative wellbeing through hands-on making.

Working across ceramics and textiles, her joyful, experimental practice embraces sustainable processes, including botanical papers, inks and ceramic stains made from natural and locally sourced materials.

Clare will be delivering workshops in The Makory in Bolsover during the 2026 Festival.

Clare is a Derbyshire-born milliner, educator and maker with over 25 years’ experience connecting people with creativity and heritage.

With a background in Ancient History and Archaeology, she creates contemporary occasion hats using traditional techniques, embracing slow fashion and sustainable materials.

Clare will be delivering workshops in The Makory during the 2026 Festival.

Jenny is a Scottish artist based in Manchester who uses heritage weaving techniques to create bold, tactile sculptural installations.

Her research-led practice explores celebration, ritual and collective histories, combining archival research with locally sourced and sustainable materials.

Jenny will be delivering workshops in The Makory during the 2026 Festival.

Christine is an artist, researcher and educator based in Belper. She works with textiles - hand and machine embroidery, using stitch for mark making, and 3D Textiles. She also works with Mixed Media Collage, Printing & Photography.

She has recently received seed funding from Make/Shift to organise meetings for Neurodivergent Artists in Amber Valley.

Part of the Dare to Dream team.

Bernie is a visual artist, working with photography, printmaking and sculpture, based in Wirksworth.

She is fascinated by the layers of both geology, history and industry that leave its traces in the
landscape across Derbyshire, the impact of sedimentary processes and the later human intervention and invention.

Part of the Dare to Dream team.

Abigail is a sustainable textile activist based in Derby with extensive experience in ethical fashion and textile development.

She is passionate about promoting sustainability through educational initiatives and community-driven events.

Part of the Dare to Dream team.

Karen is an artist and creative practitioner, with a passion for nature and wildlife and is based near Heanor.

She engages audiences in creative processes, assisting participants in questioning, exploring, inventing and enjoying visual art.

Part of the Dare to Dream team.

Rosie is an emerging artist based in the High Peak.

Drawing with thread is at the heart of Rosie’s hand embroidery practice. Her approach is compelled by narrative, creating a web that ties together all aspects of her current process, devising a story and character for each project.

Part of the Dare to Dream team.

Stephanie is a photographer, creative practitioner, workshop lead and guided walk facilitator with a passion for arts, wellbeing and nature connection. She is a project manager for Derbyshire Makes and manages the international partnership between Derbyshire and Toyota City in Japan.

Steph is currently the Derbyshire correspondent for the Great Food Club.

She is one of three curators for the Women Who Make Countywide strand, working with Claire Tymon, Derbyshire Makes Creative Director.

Samantha is the Chief Executive of Platform 31, a women-led organisation working across the arts, culture, community and education sectors in the East Midlands.

Samantha is one of three curators for the Women Who Make Countywide strand, working with Claire Tymon, Derbyshire Makes Creative Director.

Sophie an artist and poet exploring interconnected belonging and identity and is based in Bolsover.

Life transcends our individual lifespan and we connect over continents, through generations, between cultures and along a shared history. Her work aims to remind us of these connections and is greatly influenced by her mixed British, Saint Helenian and South African heritage.​​

Sophie lead workshops in The Makory during the 2025 Festival and is joining The Makory tour again in 2026 at Cresswell Craggs, Ambergate and Ashoubrne.  Sophie is one of the curators for Women Who Make, working with Claire Tymon, Derbyshire Makes Creative Director.

Verity is a Potter and Therapeutic Practitioner based in the heart of the Derbyshire Dales, where the landscape and local heritage continually inspire her work.

Clay captivates her because it can become anything – shaped, textured and transformed – offering endless creative exploration. Working mainly by hand, she creates both functional and sculptural forms influenced by nature, animals, everyday life and stories from the past. She is particularly inspired by the history of Hardwick Hall, which informs her series of Elizabethan clay maquettes.

Through her practice, Verity combines traditional craft with a reflective, therapeutic approach to making, encouraging connection through touch, material and shared creative experience.

She delivered workshops in The Makory during the 2025 Festival, and is joining The Makory 2026 tour in Matlock and Hardwick Hall.

Gordon works as artist and storyteller Creeping Toad and is based in Buxton.

Gordon combined his love of ecology and delight in people to create Creeping Toad which sets out to “help groups find ways of celebrating the relationships between people, places and wildlife”.

He is the author of a number of art and poetry books. He works closely and optimistically with the environment movement believing that when we add creativity and personal spirituality to the mix, we get a very dynamic force for personal and community change. As an artist, Gordon works with words - telling stories, writing stories and creating stories with groups; with paper: card sculptures, pop-ups, printing with natural materials, book-building all feature; and with puppets and celebrations from the small and personal to the large, spectacular and troublesome.

He lead workshops in The Makory in Cromford during the 2025 Festival.

Jenny is a Derby-based collage and book artist whose work is inspired by memory, architecture, and community. Her mixed media collages, layered with paper, fabrics and materials from local industries, explore the legacies of workers and industries that shaped their communities.

Jenny lead workshops in The Makory in Swadlincote during the 2025 Festival.

Clare Savory is a sound artist, musician & podcaster; who lives and works in Glossop.

Her work is often a blend of history, music, and sound, offering immersive storytelling experiences that connect people to place. She is fascinated with how places sound, and observing when sound becomes music...

During her Derbyshire Makes residency in 2025 Clare will sound-mapped Glossop to create an extraordinary yet very ordinary visualised sound tapestry, capturing the everyday sounds of the town to help its residents listen closer to reconnect where they live - for health, wellbeing and oral history.

Lois is an artist specialising in arts and health based in the High Peak. She creates issue-based artworks, with a particular focus on batik and quilt-making.

Lois’s art tells stories, offering both artist and audience a space to relax, laugh, cry, and find solace. It celebrates resilience and frames experiences in new ways—helping to understand, share, and ultimately celebrate life’s challenges.

Part of the Dare to Dream team.

Artists Cora Glasser and David Ball of Glassball Studio, are based in Buxton. Glassball Studio is an interdisciplinary arts practice rooted in place-based research and collaborative making.

They lead on one of our 2025 countywide programmes, MAKE Room, exploring our culture-based connection with Nature.