Ones to Watch 2026

CREATIVE SKILLS DAY

Join the Sunny Bank Mills Arts Team in the Old Woollen for a day of inspiring talks aimed at emerging artists, makers and creatives!

The Skills Day is a new addition to our existing Ones to Watch programme, which aims to support young and emerging talent through workshop opportunities, studio residencies and experience working with a professional independent gallery.

The event is open to post-GCSE to PhD level students, recent graduates, self taught artists, and those hoping to kickstart their creative career.

PLEASE NOTE – Under 18s must be accompanied by a paying adult. As capacity is limited, free carer tickets are reserved for those with a registered Carer/Personal Assistant.

Topics of the day:

• How to photograph your work with Harry Meadley
• How to price your work with Anna & Millie from the SBM Arts Team
• Diversifying your practice (workshops, markets etc) with Lucy Hook
• How to market your work (curating an online presence) with Lydia Nutter
• Setting up as a freelancer (landing jobs, self assessment tax, invoicing) with Alice Boulton-Breeze

Running Times:

11:00 – Doors open, teas and coffee
11:15 – Opening (15 min)
11:30 – Diversifying your practice with Lucy Hook (45 min)
12:15 – How to Price Your Work tutorial with the SBM Arts Team (20 min)
12:45 – Break/Tour (60 min)
13:45 – How to market your work with Lydia Nutter (45 min)
14:30 – Break (10 min)
14:40 – Setting up as a freelancer with Alice Boulton-Breeze (45 min)
15:25 – How to Photograph Your Work tutorial with Harry Meadley (30 min)
15:45 – Closing Q & A
16:00 – Finish

If you’re unable to make the full day, please feel free to drop in during the sessions that are most useful to you. Please ensure you still book a ticket in advance.

A massive thank you to Opera North and Arts Together Creative Careers for supporting this event.

Wednesday 25th March | 11:00 – 16:00 | £5 entry + booking fee 

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OVERTIME ART CLUB

We’re staying late at the Mills this Spring to bring you the Overtime Art Club! Come along for relaxed evenings of painting, storytelling and more – all facilitated by local emerging artists.

You’re welcome to bring your own drinks to the session, we’ll provide all the materials you’ll need.

This season’s sessions are a series of Ones to Watch specials, getting to know some of our exhibiting emerging artists and learning new skills in a relaxed setting! We are keen to help our Ones to Watch artists develop other areas of their careers outside of Gallery walls, and find many artists and makers diversify their practice through teaching workshops.

🧶 Stone Weaving
w/ Tom Hardwick
Thursday 18th March
18:00 – 20:00 | £14

In this workshop, you’ll learn to weaving using only a stone, a needle and some yarn to create a beautiful and unique ornamental stone.

🐴 Create Absurdist Sculptures
w/ Charlotte Miles
Tuesday 24th March
18:00 – 20:00 | £14

This workshop will focus on Absurdist narratives, which are stories containing illogical events, characters and sometimes even lack an ending. These narratives can be translated into three-dimensional sculptures in the form of vignettes (snap shots) of the story’s climax.

By using imagery from magazines and newspapers as a foundation for our stories, we will embellish and attach them together to form illogical and surreal scenes from an Absurd narrative of your creation.

👁️ Make Your Own Eye Charm
w/ Reece Kelly
Thursday 5th March
18:00 – 20:00 | £14

Create Georgian era eye charms to take home, or add to Reece’s exhibited collection.

During this workshop, participants will learn the history behind a lost fashion trend from the Georgian era, and how this lost piece of history has informed artist Reece’s practice and the eye charms that appear in their work.

In the workshop we will sew, embroider and bead these charms and use a mix of materials to embellish and create a beautiful unique charm personal to you! You can take your charm away with you or choose to leave it with Reece to add to their exhibited collections.

Both sessions are suitable for ages 18+. Spaces are limited.

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