About us
Brook Arts Hub is located in the leafy village of Shottery, Stratford upon Avon, right next to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and opposite The Garden Café. The building, a thatched cottage, is owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, who has leased it to Arts Rising Collective for an initial two-year period.
Address: 24 Cottage Lane, Shottery, CV37 9HH. Email: brookartshub@gmail.com
ARC's Mission, VisionS & Values
Mission
Support local artists, creatives, and anyone interested to learn about the arts. Connect communities through the arts, including the provision of an arts hub. Develop and enhance artistic opportunities for residents, and the wider community, via low-cost sessions, workshops, classes, events, networking opportunities, artist studios and a free warm hub. Provide a welcoming, inclusive space to improve community wellbeing through the arts. Enable local people to share and learn new skills, reduce loneliness and increase mental and physical wellbeing.
VISIONS
CREATIVITY: ARC’s vision is to create a welcoming and inclusive creative space for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. For us, ‘creativity’ and ‘the arts’ cover a broad range of disciplines, especially, but not limited to, the visual arts, creative writing and music. We provide affordable or free opportunities for people to come together to exhibit, share, teach and learn new creative skills. ARC is specifically committed to fostering wellbeing through creativity and social connectedness for socially disadvantaged individuals. We believe in the transformative powers of creativity and the arts for social support and wellbeing.
WELLBEING: ARC is making Brook Arts Hub a place for wellbeing by offering a free, communal warm hub and Warmth & Wellbeing Art Sessions as well as creative and restorative activities for disadvantaged, isolated, deprived and vulnerable individuals and families in Stratford upon Avon and surrounding areas. ARC will, in addition to the warm space project, programme accessible talks, classes, workshops, events and exhibitions where the healing effects of nature, creativity and community are evident.
COMMUNITY: ARC has established a thriving creative community with over 500 active members which has grown steadily since 2021. At Brook Arts Hub we will nurture and expand this community, fostering a sense of belonging and the opportunity to forge new friendships and connections not least for those who are vulnerable, isolated and in poverty. Combating loneliness and isolation is vital to ARC. By hosting creative classes, workshops, events and exhibitions, as well as providing artist’s studios and a new, creative, warm, sociable space with armchairs, books and free hot drinks, we will provide a friendly and inclusive environment, where everyone is equal, appreciated and welcome.