SAWDUST: Mechanisms For Supporting Culture

Sawdust will lead a conversation about why they set up Sawdust, how they work with artists and communities, their ambitious for the future.
About this Event

SAWDUST: Mechanisms For Supporting Culture

The team from SAWDUST WORKSHOP CIC, placemaker Bobbie Bailey, artist Eve Cromwell, artist Adam Shaw and Artist Will Hughes will lead a conversation about why they set up sawdust, how they work with artists and communities in Teesside, their ambitious for the future and share a few recent projects. 

This is a free event as part of the Turner on Tees wrap around activities which are taking place across the Tees Valley, commissioned in collaboration with MIMA and programmed by Penny Payne & Will Hughes

SAWDUST

Sawdust is a creative fabrication workshop and placemaking organisation. We provide affordable access to the equipment, space and technical knowledge artists need to produce ambitious work locally.

Alongside supporting individual practice, we deliver projects in public space. Working with partners and communities, we use fabrication as a practical way to test ideas, improve everyday environments and bring creativity into our streets.

A workshop for artists. A resource for Teesside.

@sawdust.workshop 

www.sawdustworkshop.co.uk 

Eve Cromwell 

Eve Cromwell is an artist and fabricator living in Newcastle. She creates sculptural works that play with scale and material, often with a focus on our relationship with objects and the built environment. Alongside her practice, Eve works as a freelance gallery technician for Baltic and the Newbridge Project. She is also a co-director of Sawdust in Middlesbrough where she delivers workshops that aim to make woodworking accessible. 

@evelyncromwell 

evelyncromwell.weebly.com

Bobbie Bailey 

Bobbie Bailey is a placemaking consultant and researcher working across arts, community development and urban regeneration. His practice focuses on activating underused spaces through practical, small-scale interventions, with experience delivering projects alongside local partners throughout Teesside. Bobbie’s work centres on helping communities shape their environment and build lasting, positive change. He collaborates with local authorities, arts organisations, businesses and residents to beautify public spaces and build vibrancy to Teesside’s urban centres.

@asmoggyworld 

www.sawdustworkshop.co.uk

Will Hughes

Will Hughes is a visual artist and co-founder of SAWDUST. A graduate of Bath Spa University and the BxNU Institute, concepts of aspiration, queerness and glamour are central themes within their practice. Which often takes form in sculpture, print and installation. Curatorially they are interested in ways of supporting early and mid career artistic voices and building strong networks.

In 2025 they were named Tees valley Artist of the year which represented a significant investment in their practice, and also co-founded SAWDUST WORKSHOP CIC A workshop for artists, a lab for reimagining our streets and a place where ideas get built.

@will_hughes_art_

www.willhughesartist.com 

Adam Shaw

Adam Shaw is an artist and creative practitioner based in the Tees Valley, known for bold, playful public art that brings people, place and storytelling together. His work spans printmaking, painting, installation and community-led projects, including Kiosk in Middlesbrough's Most Creative Station, and commissions connected to S&DR200, Darlington. Adam is particularly interested in how art can transform everyday spaces, spark curiosity and create a stronger sense of identity and belonging.

@Contempainting

www.shawadam.co.uk