Sir Nicholas Serota went home this week with a ceramic sheep under his arm.
It's not the kind of thing you'd expect the Chair of Arts Council England, and former Director of the Tate, to leave with. But it's exactly the kind of detail that keeps drawing him back to Matson.
Read MoreThe space between something and nothing: learning from Create Local
One question we get asked a lot is: “What do you actually do in a neighbourhood?” The honest answer is: often, we wait.
It's not the kind of thing you'd expect the Chair of Arts Council England, and former Director of the Tate, to leave with. But it's exactly the kind of detail that keeps drawing him back to Matson.
Read MoreHow joined up local alliances create new opportunities in communities…this one in Gloucester with Culture Matson.
Read MoreExciting Create Local news for 2026, read on to find out more!
Read MoreIn 2024, the National Gallery marked a historic milestone—200 years of bringing people and paintings together—with a year-long celebration known as NG200. This ambitious initiative looked both to the past and the future, launching a nationwide festival of art, creativity, and imagination to set the tone for the Gallery’s third century.
Read MoreCreate Local is Create Gloucestershire’s transformative programme that addresses the unmet demand for arts, culture, and creativity in Gloucestershire, particularly in communities that have historically received limited public funding. It connects artists with individuals who are passionate about enhancing the creative fabric of their area, and collects data to showcase the transformative impact of community creativity, paving the way for increased investment and decision-making by the local community.
Read MoreCreative Catalyst Sophia, works in the Forest of Dean for Create Gloucestershire. She has used Ripple Effects Mapping to keep track of the connections she is making through her work.
Read MoreIn Spring this year two Gloucestershire secondary schools took part in a new creative programme called ‘Create Your Future’ (CYF). It was designed by Abi Nicol, founder of Creative Communities, an arts organisation based in Cam & Dursley, supported by Create Gloucestershire and funded by NHS Gloucestershire’s Integrated Care Board.
Read MoreCreate Gloucestershire stands firmly against all forms of racism and discrimination and believe the diversity and creativity of our communities is to be welcomed and celebrated. As an infrastructure organisation our job is to bring people together to listen and respond to what they need.
Read MoreThe Art Road Trip van will in Gloucestershire from 13th - 28th July. with opportunities for people to get involved with the road trip in 4 locations around the county. No need to book, just drop in!
Read MoreThe first Art Road Trip events have taken place in Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland, kicking off a year of arts activities which will be wendign their way to Gloucestershire this Summer.
Read MoreLast week Culture Matson had its second visit from Sir Nicolas Serota, Chairperson of Arts Council England. The group ‘got out the good biscuits’ before sitting down and talking through the amazing journey they have been on in the last 5 years.
Read MoreThis is the first in a 2 part series of blogs from a conversation where Pippa and Debbie look at the story of Culture Matson. In this blog they look back at how Culture Matson came about and how the group has developed.
Read MoreIn 2023 Culture Matson started a trial to develop a ‘Community Chest’. A community chest is a shared investment fund that supports health and wellbeing and joins up money from the NHS, local authorities, and other sources. Read how members of Culture Matson met the challenge of running a community chest to collectively decide how best to use the money for their neighbours.
Read MoreFind out more about the Off we Go project and the impact joining in with the activities had on those taking part.
Read MoreThis is the question that sits behind our Create Health strand - a series of test projects to develop and understand how to live well. Our experience in Gloucestershire and evidence drawn from practice across the UK and internationally, confirms that arts, creativity and culture are a fundamental part of living well.
Read MoreCG’s take away from the new national and local funding picture is that there are many brilliant arts and cultural organisations who secured funding and just as many that didn’t. There was simply not enough funding available to meet the incredible aspirations and potential of arts and cultural organisations in England.
Read MoreWhen Cam and Dursley Creatives and GL11 Community Hub collaborated on the Platinum Jubilee Flag making project the community went silkscreen crazy, producing over 2,500 flags depicting images created by local children that celebrated our Queen.
Read MoreOur new team leader will be working within the Create Local team, supporting the existing creative catalysts in their work, and also facilitating the development of our new place-based alliances.
Read More
