Peterborough Culture Forum
Providing support and a place to connect for those interested in arts and culture in Peterborough.
What started in April 2020 as an online catch-up for Peterborough’s arts network has since grown into a city-wide open group for artists, arts organisations, community groups and individuals who are interested in the arts.
Free monthly meetings about pressing arts-focused topics and sector needs relevant to Peterborough. Connect with others and get support, build partnerships, trust and skills.
Suggestions for speakers and topics are welcome.
To receive notifications about the Peterborough Culture Forum events, including Zoom links for online events, please sign up for the newsletter.
Monday 21 July, [online session] 7:00pm-8.00pm
Finding joy in a turbulent world
An online session with artist and facilitator Emily Bowers for creatives and community members. This session will explore how to reconnect with joy when life feels overwhelming or draining. This session is designed for anyone who feels like joy has escaped them - whether through constant funding applications, creative blocks, or simply feeling the weight of the world.
Emily Bowers is an artist living on the rural outskirts of Peterborough, working in both personal practice based around feelings and nature, and socially engaged practice with local communities. Having experienced challenges with self-esteem and negative headspace, they've pivoted their attention to the power of finding joy, connection, and building resilience.
Finding joy in a turbulent world
This relaxed, gentle online session will provide space to pause and turn inwards to listen to where you need a bit of joy in your life. Through tools such as journaling and drawing, we'll explore what brings each of us joy and create a personal toolkit based on what emerges during the session.
Take time to reflect on where joy has gone missing in your life and what might bring it back
Share and explore joy through creative exercises, including journaling and drawing
Build a personal toolkit of joy-finding strategies to take away
This session will end with each participant having their own personalised toolkit for reconnecting with joy, plus insights and inspiration shared by the group. Looking after yourself is vital and in turn will help keep the collective ship afloat.
Emily is a visual artist who is deeply inspired by the natural world and our connection to it. Through her work, she hopes to create conversation and engage people in the arts.
Emily has been commissioned by a number of local art organisations and councils to create public pieces of art in response to their communities' connections to their local natural spaces.
You can find out more about Emily via her website: emilybowers.studio
Please RSVP to let us know if you’ll be attending any of the sessions. This is essential if the session is online so we can send you the online link, and for IRL sessions it helps us plan for refreshments.
IImage of Emily Bowers | mage Credit: Ruth Towell/ ruthtowell.co.uk
Thursday 24 July: Jumped Up Theatre Summer Social
6-9pm at The Willow Cafe, Central Park, Peterborough.
Join us for a chilled and informal evening of celebration, connection, and good vibes as we bring together the brilliant people who make our work possible – participants, partner artists, audiences, and supporters. If you’ve been part of what we do, as a creative, participants, audience or cheerleader, we want to thank you in person.
We’ve booked a live band and local DJ Gaz Jones to soundtrack the evening, with BBQ sausages and burgers (vegetarian and vegan options available) served between 6-7:30pm, and lawn games to keep things lively. It's a chance to unwind and catch up.
This is a free event, but places are limited – RSVP is essential. You're welcome to bring partners and family – just make sure to reserve a ticket for everyone attending.
Please note: While the event is free to attend, we’ll be inviting donations on the day to help support the next wave of our Cypher programme – a dance and beatbox project for young people.
More events will be announced soon.
All events are shared via our newsletter and old events are documented on our blog and website.
Previous sessions have included What do young artists need to thrive?, Environmental Responsibility in the Arts, Insights into ACE Project Grants, Freelancers - Strategies for Survival, Social Media Top Tips and more.
Peterborough Culture Forum
The Peterborough Culture Forum is a free-to-access network created by Jumped Up Theatre and funded by Peterborough Cultural Alliance and Arts Council England in 2024-2026 to support the networking, skill development and agency of local creatives, arts organisations and community activists who support the arts in Peterborough.
