Ebor Studio Group is an artistic collective based in Littleborough, Rochdale, consisting of professional artists and designers who meet and collaborate regularly. For this application to the Whitaker Museum, nine artists from a range of disciplines would like to propose a group show in response to the current collection housed at The Whitaker. 

We are an experienced collective of artists who have worked together on a range of multi-disciplinary exhibitions and events including an event for Manchester International Festival, several events for Littleborough Arts Festival and an online exhibition with Touchstones, Rochdale. We are a group who work in a vast range of mediums, for example; ceramics, sound, installation, performance, fashion, painting and print.

We would like to work together with your team to explore the Whitaker archive, we propose to create new and responsive works inspired by select items from your collection such as items linking to local history. We have discussed being guided by an overarching theme and would be keen to work with the museum’s current areas of interest in conversation with your curatorial staff. 

Maryanne Royle is the programme manager for Ebor Studio and would be our lead contact for this project at The Whitaker. We also have Alison Cooper who is a museum curator for Towneley Hall Museum who would be our named lead for the collections element of the project. We also have Angela Tait, an experienced treasurer and bank manager, who will be the lead for our budget management.

We are from a range of disciplines but have a lot of experience in creating complimentary pieces as a group to create a cohesive show. For example, we recently organised a sound art event for Manchester International Festival in St Chad’s Church in Rochdale. The event showed five responsive and site specific new works, we considered each other and remained in conversation throughout the project with regards to space and, in this case, how to ensure that sound works were complimentary rather than clashing.  The project was received as rich and diverse in the individual approach of each artist and their differing interests and studies of the site. We have a strong cohort of sound artists within the group which would make the Whitaker exhibition a unique and rich experience for audiences.

In addition, we have several members of the group who have experience in teaching and leading workshops on topics such as print making, field recording and craft. There are also group members with experience working collaboratively with community groups. We would be interested in discussing options around this with your team and would be capable of delivering to a range of participants.

As well as gaining development in their individual practices, the participating creative practitioners are interested in working together to strengthen the community of artists at Ebor which in future will produce more opportunity for innovative projects and collaborations. 

To plan for the event we will organise several site visits and archive visits as well as keeping in regular contact with one another and the Whitaker.