Conversations Over a Brew

Heart of Glass (arts organisation North West, UK)

A series of intimate recorded conversations exploring the stories of the people we make art with.

  1. 12/10/2024

    Season 5, Episode 4: Marina and Susan

    We dedicate this series of Conversations Over A Brew to getting behind the scenes of ⁠Strong Women⁠; a public art project highlighting the untold stories of local women, created by mosaic artist Carrie Reichardt, in collaboration with communities in St Helens and Knowsley. In these four episodes we’ll explore a number of different aspects of this project. We’ll delve into local histories, hear from community members, and speak with artists and researchers about their work as part of a collective effort to make visible the histories and legacies of our Strong Women. In this episode, curator and researcher Marina Bortoluzzi and writer Susan Hansen discuss the current landscape of street art and where the Strong Women project fits into this. Marina is a curator and researcher with a specialist interest in raising the profiles of women, trans and non-binary artists. She is the founder and CEO of Women on Walls, an international online platform that connects and promotes women artists with a particular focus on street art. Susan is the chair of the Visual and Creative Methods Research Group at Middlesex University in London, and is Europe's most cited street art scholar. She is the editor of Nuart Journal and co-editor of Visual Studies, and vice president of the International Visual Sociology Association. Conversations Over a Brew is a series of intimate recorded conversations exploring the stories of the people we make art with.

  2. 01/24/2024

    Season 4, Episode 1: Sarah Bailey and Danielle Lewis-Egonu

    For this episode of Conversations Over A Brew, we spotlight Textbook; a project which reimagines the future of schools, by giving us the space to dream of alternative approaches to learning together. Artist Sarah Bailey developed Textbook in collaboration with teachers and for this conversation is joined by Danielle Lewis-Egonu, one of the teachers who helped develop Textbook.  “It’s easy to forget that we were children” - Danielle Lewis-Egonu, Educator At the time of recording Danielle was the deputy CEO of the Golden Thread Alliance, a Multi Academy Trust based in Kent. In July 2023, Sarah was invited by Danielle to facilitate a workshop based on Textbook for a group of Early Career Teachers from the Golden Thread Alliance schools. The following conversation reflects upon this workshop, the experience of creating Textbook, and the discourse it enables.  Danielle is a thought leader with over two decades of experience in education. She is known for her commitment to creating supportive and inclusive school environments, where all students are valued and encouraged to reach their full potential. Danielle believes in the value of education as a tool for empowering individuals and promoting social justice. At the time of recording Danielle was the deputy CEO of the Golden Thread Alliance, and has since become the CEO for the Cygnus Academies Trust. Sarah is an artist, educator and consultant. Her practice sits at the point where learning, community, childhood and art meet. She is a long term collaborator with Heart of Glass. In 2021 Sarah began working with a group of 10 teachers on a project that would become known as Textbook. The first stage of the project produced a pamphlet that playfully and poetically took the traditional idea of an educational text to question the values we want to place at the centre of education. It places a red pen in the hands of learners to write back. Read more about: Textbook The Talk Learning Resource Sarah Bailey Danielle Lewis-Egonu Access the transcript for this episode on the Heart of Glass website.

    Season 4, Episode 1: Sarah Bailey and Danielle Lewis-Egonu
  3. 09/29/2023

    Season 3, Episode 2: Fiona Whelan and Lucy Powell

    Conversations Over a Brew is back! Join Youngsook Choi and Radha D’Souza, Frances Disley and Sean Roy Parker,  and Lucy Powell and Fiona Whelan for three special in depth episodes exploring Care and the Commons the theme of our With For About conference (2023). In this episode we hear from Dr Fiona Whelan and artist Lucy Powell.  Both Fiona and Lucy employ the act of listening as a central tool in their work.  Fiona’s artistic research explores systemic power relations and inequalities. Working with diverse individuals, groups and organisations over sustained periods of time, Fiona situates herself as an embedded researcher. Rather than wondering how best to ‘platform voice’ Fiona instead works with others to create context specific conditions for listening. Lucy’s long standing focus is upon exploring human relationality to our more-than-human world. Through her work she seeks to enact a post-individualist praxis and often works in collaboration with others. Listening is employed to unpick received hierarchies or false notions of human dominance and supremacy. Through this process of unlearning, Lucy’s work invites us to consider what it means to live care-fully now.  As practitioners, their lines of investigation may at first seem distinctly different from one another. However, as you’ll hear through their discussion, these differences often form two sides of the same coin.   Find out more about Dr. Fiona Whelan Find out more about Lucy Powell This episode of Conversations Over a Brew has been supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation as part of the Speculative Futures Programme. Download episode transcript here.

    Season 3, Episode 2: Fiona Whelan and Lucy Powell

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A series of intimate recorded conversations exploring the stories of the people we make art with.