• Historic Yardley: Over 1000 Years of History is a community exhibition featuring the work of local residents.

• It was created through a series of drop-in art workshops held at Blakesley Hall.

• The workshops were commissioned by Arts in the Yard and delivered by Juneau Projects.

A community exhibition featuring the work of local residents from Yardley in East Birmingham was opened by the city’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Zafar Iqbal MBE, on Wednesday 1 October 2025.

Historic Yardley: Over 1000 Years Of History was created through a series of monthly drop-in art cafes organised by community arts charity Arts in the Yard held at Blakesley Hall during 2024 and 2025.

The participants were guided and supported by professional artists Philip Duckworth and Ben Sadler, commissioned by Arts in the Yard, from Birmingham-based Juneau Projects who specialise in working with communities to create artworks for their area.

The exhibition was inspired by the people and places of the past and present connected to Old Yardley Conservation Area, which includes buildings such as Tudor manor house Blakesley Hall and grade I-listed St Edburgha’s Church.

The pieces on display, made in response to the history of the local area, include a selection of still lives, landscapes and portraits.

The still lives reference some of the objects from inside Blakesley Hall itself and historical still life paintings from the collection at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Participants created their own still life set-up to draw and paint, connecting the historical and the modern day.

Taking inspiration and direct references from the scenes and buildings of the conservation area, paper cut-outs were used to create landscape scenes which were used as the basis for laser cut pieces, constructed and painted by participants in their own individual styles.

Portraits of well-known past and present residents from the area also form part of the exhibition, with some pieces including personal references and observations.

The artists from Juneau Projects will be running a free arts workshop alongside the exhibition from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm on Wednesday 29 October. This session is suitable for all ages and abilities and materials will be supplied.

Nicola Toms, chief executive of Arts in the Yard, said:

“Blakesley Hall has provided a warm and welcoming home for our arts café sessions since 2023.  Guided by professional artists, this friendly community event helps residents build stronger connections to their neighbours and cultural assets in the local area.

“All the participants in this project are excited to see their work go up on public display at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and we are very grateful to the Lord Mayor for opening the exhibition.”

Dina Brabbin, a participant in the project, said:

“Working with Juneau Projects and Arts in the Yard has been instrumental to my health journey, by building meaningful connections with people in my community and the historic places in Yardley.

“Each month, I look forward to catching up with new friends and learning new artistic techniques, thanks to the nurturing guidance of Ben and Phil.”

Andrea Bonnell, participation manager at Birmingham Museums Trust, said:

“Each of our sites aims to build relationships with its local community and provide our audiences with opportunities for self-expression and personal development.

“We are delighted to host this exhibition at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery to celebrate and showcase the amazing work that has come out of the partnership between Arts in the Yard and Blakesley Hall as a great example of what can be achieved.”