Events

Photograph: Dougie Allward

A day of
ART INVESTIGATIONS


Join the Company of International Artists,
a top-secret global creative agency, for a day of art investigation and hands-on creativity that will result in you being awarded an Arts Award qualification!

Extraordinary Streets:
Stockwood

a free self-led sound walk featuring interviews and sounds of Stockwood people at
work and play


available at any time

 

The Discovery Lab


CALLING ALL EARTH EXPERTS!

Friendly alien spacecraft requires assistance.

Share and make discoveries about your planet.

Wild Words

a free self-led sound walk made with young people in Badock's Wood, Southmead
BS10 5PY


available at any time

Extraordinary Streets:
Withywood

a free self-led sound walk showcasing the creative writing skills of people in BS13


available at any time

Saxons to the Seventies

a free self-led sound walk uncovering hidden histories in Manor Woods Valley, Bishopsworth


available at any time


OR join a Guided Walk on

Sat 11 May, 11am

as part of Bristol Walk Fest

free family
art trail

investigate families in art at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery


available whenever the museum is open

free family
art trail

investigate nature in art at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery


available whenever the museum is open

free family
art trail

investigate travel in art at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery


available whenever the museum is open

A day of ART INVESTIGATIONS

with the Company of International Artists


Drop-off creativity day for children aged 7-12

2 or 3 April

10am - 3pm

Waterside 3 Event Space
Watershed, 1 Canon's Rd, Bristol BS1 5TX


This is during the Easter holidays.


N.B. It's the same thing both days, don't book both days!

LIMITED SPACES, BOOKING ESSENTIAL

Calling all 7-12 year old creative agents!


Join Agents Kahlo and Dali of the Company of International Artists,a top-secret global creative agency, for a day of art investigation and hands-on creativity that will result in you being awarded an Arts Award Discover qualification!


<< WHAT IS AN ARTS AWARD? FIND OUT HERE >>


Drop your agent off with a packed lunch at 9:45am and collect them at 3pm.


We are the only organisation this year to be awarded Trinity Champion Centre status for our innovative and successful delivery of Arts Award courses. We've had this status for 3 years running now, so we must be doing something right!


About the price... 


We get 70% of the fee and Watershed get 30% of the fee and the booking fee.
Plus we have to pay £5 per child to get their Arts Award Certificate.


So you pay £61.60
Watershed take £23.10
We pay £5 to Arts Award
We take £33.50 per child.

That £33.50 is paying for 2 of us working all day.
We have 20 spaces available on each Arts Award course.

Dorchester Arts
Corn Exchange

High East Street, Dorchester
DT1 1HF


Sunday 17 March

11am / 2pm

Running time: 50 minutes
(no interval)

The Discovery Lab is next performing at Dorchester Science Festival 2024.


Flights launching from Dorchester Arts Corn Exchange on Sunday 17 March

at 11am and 2pm.

Become an art detective!


Meet Agents Kahlo and Dali from the Company of International Artists and go on investigative art missions around Bristol Museum & Art Gallery!

Choose from three totally free family art trails, available whenever Bristol Museum & Art Gallery on Park Street is open. Check opening times here.


These art trails can also be completed without attending the museum in person.

Trails are most suitable for families with children aged 6+.


Click images to find out more!

Extraordinary Streets: Stockwood

a community sound walk for Stockwood, by Stockwood


Our latest sound walk will take you on a range of short strolls around Stockwood in south Bristol.
As you walk, listen in to the stories and memories of Stockwood people, mixed with sounds of Stockwood people at work and play.


Featuring spaceships, snail races, heart-stopping rugby matches and much more besides!


This sound walk is available at all times, and is a self-led experience.


There are three trails around Stockwood to choose from, each one beginning at
Stockwood Square, Hollway Road, BS14 9PG


Download the sound walk and the route maps here.


Once you have downloaded the sound walk, you don't need to use mobile data to experience the sounds. Just bring headphones that work with your mobile phone. 


This sound walk is hosted on a free sound walk app called Echoes, which requires no roaming data provided you have already downloaded the app and this sound walk before setting out.


This walk is geo-located meaning you need to be in specific places in Stockwood to hear the sound. It covers fairly easy paved terrain. We have provided postcodes for all the sound locations in the map. If you need to take an alternative route to the one we have suggested, the sound will still play for you.

There is free street parking in the area, and toilets are available when Mario's Cafe is open (but please support them if you use their facilities).
Quotes from the stories are also displayed at the new pocket park outside Stockwood Library, where you are encouraged to sit, relax and enjoy the plants.


This project is being delivered as one of the activities under the City Centre and High Streets Recovery and Renewal Programme, funded by Bristol City Council and the West of England Combined Authority’s Love our High Streets project.

Designed and produced by Brave Bold Drama.

Original artwork seen on the Echoes app by Amy Hutchings.

Sound design by Gill Simmons.


If you don't use smartphones, this sound walk will also be available to borrow in CD format from Stockwood Library in late December 2023. Also available in the library will be large font transcripts of the content and audio descriptions of the accompanying artwork.


We have also published an A4 book containing all four of our sound walks around Bristol, featuring maps, route guidance and technical support. This is available from our online shop here.

Extraordinary Streets: Withywood
a free sound walk showcasing the creative writing skills of BS13 people

Let the memories, dreams and imaginations of BS13 residents transform an apparently ordinary short pavement walk into something extraordinary.


Extraordinary Sounds: Withywood is a free sound walk available at any time, and is a self-led experience.


Route starts at Campus Pool Skatepark, Whitchurch Lane, BS13 7RW


The creative writing produced took inspiration from local features on a short, mile-long pavement walk in Withywood between Campus Pool Skatepark (BS13 7RW) and Withywood Park (BS13 8PL).


The sound walk is voiced by the writers themselves: Diana, Helen, Jacob, Jan and Sophie.


It is hosted on a free sound walk app called Echoes, which requires no roaming data provided you have already downloaded the app and this sound walk before setting out. 


This walk is geo-located meaning you need to be in specific places in Withywood to hear the sound. It covers fairly easy terrain suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs. There is free street parking in the area, and toilets are available when Campus Pool Skatepark is open. Campus Pool Skatepark also has a carpark which is free if you support them by using their cafe and validating your car on their system in the building.


Funded by Arts Council England.

Sound design by Gill Simmons.


We have also published an A4 book containing all four of our sound walks around Bristol, featuring maps, route guidance and technical support. This is available from our online shop here.

The Saxons to the Seventies:
a free sound-walk within Manor Woods Valley, Bishopsworth, Bristol

Discover the amazing hidden history of Manor Woods Valley, a small patch of ancient woodland in Bishopsworth. Listen in to moments of the wood's history from the Saxons to the Seventies retold with humour and song.


Circular route just under one mile, lasts approx 45 mins. Some hills.


Content is appropriate for children aged 8+ to adult due to the concept and length of the experience. One sound spot features a bomb explosion.


You can enjoy this sound walk at your own pace free of charge at any time. This is a self-led experience.


Route starts opposite St Peter's Rise Convenience Store, BS13 7LU


We are also provided a GUIDED WALK of this sound walk as part of Bristol Walk Fest on Sat 11 May at 11am.

Limited spaces available so please book in advance.

The sound walk is hosted on a free app called Echoes. You can download the app and then the walk via the links below. Once you've downloaded the walk, you can access it without needing to use mobile data on your phone.


"Sound spots" we've made that animate the history of the woodland have been added to certain waypoints on the walk. When you're at that spot in the walk the sound will play automatically.


We advise you enjoy our sound-walk through headphones. If coming with children who don't have their own phone, we advise the use of headphone splitters so an adult and child can listen together.

The walk is circular, just under one mile, and is on varying terrain with some hills. It is part paved and part woodland, so sturdy footwear is recommended. 

You can access this walk on the 75 bus, getting off just past Bishopsworth Library. The entrance to Manor Valley Woods is opposite St Peter's Rise Convenience Store, 6A St Peter's Rise, BS13 7LU.  Dogs on leads are welcome. There is street parking near the start of the walk.


This sound walk has been funded by a Magic Little Grant from Localgiving and the Neighbourly Community Fund, and was made in 5 days.


We have also published an A4 book containing all four of our sound walks around Bristol, featuring maps, route guidance and technical support. This is available from our online shop.

Enjoyed this sound walk? Want to know more about the history of Hartcliffe & Withywood, not just Manor Woods Valley? Listen to "Hartcliffe, Bristol", a 14 minute audio history of the wider area, made by Gill Simmons,  Artistic Director of Brave Bold Drama. which was first shared as part of an art exhibition called Centre of Gravity in Bristol in 2020.

Wild Words

This sound walk takes you through the beautiful Badock's Wood in Southmead, and features 10 sound-filled spots featuring sounds of the woodland, rhythms the children made there, local history and wild imaginings inspired by the woodland.


We worked with young people aged 7-12 between September and December 2021 to create a aound walk around Badock's Wood, a nature reserve in North Bristol. This was a partnership project with Mud Pie Explorers Forest School and Southmead Development Trust.


This sound walk is free to access at any point, and is a self-led experience. 


Route starts outside the entrance to the Greenway Centre, Doncaster Road, BS10 5PY


The audio uses a free sound walk app called Echoes, which requires no roaming data provided you have already downloaded the app and the audio walk before setting out. 


This walk is geo-located meaning you need to be in specific places in Badock's Wood to hear the sound. It covers some steep terrain and there is some shallow open water in the woods. Free parking and toilets are available at The Greenway Centre, Doncaster Road, BS10 5PY. Please contact the Greenway Centre HERE for any further guidance on directions or facilities.


We have also published an A4 book containing all four of our sound walks around Bristol, featuring maps, route guidance and technical support. This is available from our online shop here.