Craft Bombers Brighten Up The Bandstand

Last weekend the Cotton-on Craft Club ‘craft bombed’ the bandstand in Belper River Gardens.

The display featured 18 inventive, mill-inspired, embroidered slogans to attract visitors over the summer holidays to investigate the nearby North Mill museum.

The Cotton-On Craft Club was established as a space to learn, teach and share craft skills with the emphasis on exploring and representing local heritage, specifically the industrial heritage of Belper and the Mills.

Ola Wilson set up the club, as part of her role as Craft Coordinator at Belper North Mill, to engage the rich variety of skilled and interested local crafters. For £3 a session crafters receive a hot drink and get to try their hand at different activities plus some one-off invited crafters are available to lead in a particular technique

She said: “The ‘craft-bombing’ is to help grab people’s attention over the summer holidays in the often busy River Gardens through their visual appeal and quirky/pertinent North Mill slogans and remind people that just two minute walk away is an interesting and important museum about the Industrial Revolution.”

What is Craft Bombing?

Craft bombing is a type of street art that uses outside spaces as a canvass for artistic works. During the Belper Arts Festival Yarn Bombing was installed throughout the town and in Belper Woods (Anne Clark’s Woollen Woods). It was first used as a way of reclaiming sterile, cold public areas and has evolved into a technique used by a variety of artists and organisations.

The Strutt’s North Mill Museum sits within Belper’s North Mill, which is at the centre of UNESCO’s Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

Through the Museum, the Belper North Mill Trust helps to raise public awareness of the industrial heritage of the Derwent Valley and promote the protection and conservation of the heritage for the public benefit.

How can you join in?

With funding from the Foyle Foundation, the Cotton-On Craft Club meets on the second Monday of each Month, 7.00-8.30pm

The next meeting will be on the 14th August, followed by the 11th September.

It costs £3 to attend with refreshments and resources included. For more info email: artsage@hotmail.co.uk