Open House Artist in Residence, Isabella Martin, hosted two community tea parties over the weekend. The tea parties were an invitation to people in North Cambridge to come along and share their thoughts, knowledge and creativity to help Isabella make a new map for the area.

Despite being a rainy day, Arbury Court Library was full of people making souvenir tote bags with artist Jane Waterhouse and crafting house signs with ceramicist Rosanna Martin. Storyteller Marion Leeper told fantastic tales with the help of her avid audience, including the Princess of Arbury and her lost Golden Hen. All of this was accompanied by a very welcome cup of tea served by TurtleDove and displays of postcards, maps and tiles made by local people during Isabella’s residency to date.

The sun shone on Brown’s Field in East Chesterton on Sunday. Isabella worked with visitors to construct a new colourful monument for North Cambridge celebrating the vibrancy of the community. Ceramicist Paula Armstrong and illustrator Rachel McGivern supported people to create their own souvenirs of the day on bags and signs. Chesterton Camera Club displayed their beautiful photographs celebrating what was special about the local area and the City Council ChYpPs team worked with younger visitors to make clay models of what they’d like to see locally and to map their favourite tricks and stunts on the BMX track. Lots of people brought along amazing maps and wonderful stories of the local area, all of which will support Isabella as she creates her final creative map.

Thank you to everyone who helped make these events so wonderful!

You can follow live updates on Isabella’s research, ideas, and activity here.