From Bog to Brook: Tracing the Hidden Journeys of Water

Join artist and researcher Alex Shaw for a hands-on workshop exploring the hidden connections between water, soil and landscape. Drawing on her MA Art in Science research at Liverpool John Moores University, Alex’s practice brings together art, ecology and local history to explore peatland degradation and restoration, the unseen life within soils, and the ways in which water moves through connected landscapes.

Through simple demonstrations and creative activities, the workshop will explore how peatlands act like natural sponges, slowing the flow of water and supporting diverse ecosystems. Alex will also share how her research into historical maps and archival images helped shape her artwork for the museum, revealing how the brooks and rivers around Wigan connect both upstream to peatland landscapes and downstream to wetlands and waterways across the wider region.

About the artist

Alex Shaw is a Wigan-based artist and MA Art in Science researcher at Liverpool John Moores University. Her work explores the relationships between art, ecology and landscape, with a particular focus on peatland restoration, hidden microbial life and the movement of water through interconnected environments.

Additional Information:

On-Site Facilities:

Accessible toilets.

Parking and Transport

Rodney Street pay and display carpark is just two minutes away.

Wigan Wallgate and Wigan North Western train stations are just a five-minute walk.

Wigan Bus Station is a five-minute walk.

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Host or Publisher Museum of Wigan Life