Young Artists Promote Inclusion at Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival

An arts collective determined to make art more accessible and inclusive have unveiled two new exhibitions as part of Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival.

Womanstanley was founded by Sophie New from Warrington and Roxy Ball from Wigan who met at Leeds College of Art, and is based on a shared passion for bringing pop-up style art collective exhibitions to the North West.

Sophie, 26, said: "As an artist myself, I had felt there wasn't a creative platform in Warrington that included me; I had also witnessed the despair of artists residing in the town who felt excluded or felt the town was lacking in creative energy, with people often leaving in search of something and taking their talents elsewhere.

"It is important to move with the times, make something happen, get up and build something."

And build something they did. Womanstanley has flourished and there can now be up to 40 artists taking part in exhibitions.

The name Womanstanley derives from a quote by Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street when she and her husband Stanley kiss. He asks "what's that lipstick taste of?" and she says "woman Stanley, woman!"

Sophie and Roxy liked the way the words rolled off the tongue and the link to their North West roots, as well as the use of humour.

"I feel it's important to be approachable and down to earth when forming a group that can only exist with the commitment of other artists," Sophie added. "The fact that the word is half 'woman' and half a typically male name is also kind of cool. It illustrates nicely that everyone's welcome."

The Coronation Street theme continues with the names of Womanstanley's two exhibitions, Betty's Hot Pot and The Making of Muriel, which are available to visit now at Warrington Museum & Art Gallery and Pyramid respectively, until the close of the festival on Saturday 29 October.

Betty's Hot Pot is a retrospective of the group's work previously displayed at each of the three annual exhibitions, brought together in one collection for the first time.

Items include a handmade banner from the first ever Womanstanley exhibition by Abbi Hughes, Roxy Ball's Hilda Ogden monoprint - a lucky charm at every show, photographs, posters and stills from their events, and plenty of new pieces which have never been seen in public before.

Muriel is an exhibition, due to go on display in Leeds next month, which will re-consider what 'home' really means in housing-crisis Britain. Methods and techniques will range from painting and embroidery to installation, sculpture and performance.

The Making of Muriel invites visitors to Pyramid to witness the artists creating work for the Muriel exhibition and encourages them to engage with members through an 'open studio' style exhibition.

The group has hosted exhibitions in a variety of places from friends' apartments to Warrington Sports Club and Sophie admitted Womanstanley had never been part of anything like Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival.

"Having the work hung in the museum and gallery is a turning point for us. It means we are being taken seriously by Culture Warrington and that is something we're very happy about. We have a lot to give the town and for this to be recognised is very important.

"Having the open studios in the Pyramid for The Making of Muriel is also really exciting because many of us do not have access to studio space so being able to work alongside each other as we create something collaborative is really special.

"We're excited about being exposed to new audiences who may not have heard of Womanstanley and maybe getting a few new members in the process. We're constantly looking at how we can make new creative relationships and we hope this exhibition will enable that."

Culture Warrington is a charitable trust that was established in May 2012 to manage Pyramid & Parr Hall, Warrington Museum & Art Gallery and cultural events across the town including Warrington Festival and Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival.

Situated in the heart of Warrington's Cultural Quarter, Pyramid & Parr Hall are two of the North West's leading arts and entertainment venues for music, comedy, dance, drama and much more. The venues have played host to big name acts including John Bishop, The Stone Roses, Billy Ocean, Jools Holland and Peter Kay to name a few.

Warrington Museum & Art Gallery is one of the oldest museums in the country, opening in 1857. The permanent galleries feature a wealth of material from the natural world and also local pieces from Warrington's history. The art gallery showcases the work of local, national and internationally renowned artists and recent exhibitions have featured Banksy, Tracey Emin and Sam Taylor-Wood. The venue has been awarded the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence for the last three years running.