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.

How joined up local alliances create new opportunities in communities…this one in Gloucester with Culture Matson.

Exciting Create Local news for 2026, read on to find out more!

Create 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.

The 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!

The 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.

In 100 days the National Gallery will begin a year long celebration to mark bringing people and paintings together for 200 years, called NG200. And Create Gloucestershire and partners are taking part in ‘The Art Road Trip’ bringing the celebrations to communities in Gloucestershire!

Last 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.

Pippa Jones, CG’s founder and director was speaking at the Culture, Health & Wellbeing (CHWP) Alliance Conference in Barnsley as part of a panel convened to discuss how arts organisations and the health sector can work better together.

This 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.

In 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.

Find out more about the Off we Go project and the impact joining in with the activities had on those taking part.

This 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.

CG’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.

When 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.

Our 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.

A new culture board has been set up for Cheltenham to develop a new cultural strategy for Cheltenham

• The board includes representatives from cultural and creative communities

• They want to include artists and residents views in the strategy

• They have developed an online survey so they can get some feedback and hear your views on how culture is supported in Cheltenham

• Residents and creative practitioners are warmly invited to complete this survey.

The Great Jubilee Flag Project!

GL11 Community Hub and Cam and Dursley Creatives have come together to create an amazing Jubilee Project for the whole community to enjoy!

In early May Dursley Craft Market hosted a group of talented young people who launched a range of products for the first time. They have been attending a weekly class at The Quarry Chapel, Cam where they were taught a range of craft skills and approaches to making products with the view to sell.