Fenland wildlife inspires creativity at St Wendredra’s Church in March as it is set to hold an exhibition next month

A church is holding an exhibition with activities for all ages.

St Wendredra’s in March is hosting a wildlife exhibition from Saturday, March 2 until the following Friday thanks to having received support from Fenland District Council’s Culture Fund.

There will be creative talks and hands-on sessions, aimed at local people of all ages. They will run on Wednesday, March 6, and will be run by established March-based artist Syrah Arnold.

Syrah has worked as a community artist for more than 30 years and is currently exhibiting monoprints inspired by Fenland plants at the Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery.

She will be running a drawing and collage bug-themed workshop for parents and carers with preschool children where you can drop in from 10am–11am and a simple printing session from 11.30am-1pm for adults using leaves and feathers found locally.

Syrah said: “The printing session, which will be repeated later in the day too, is suitable for all abilities and especially for anyone with arthritis or other health issues which affect their hands.

“Reverend Ruth Clay from St Wendredra’s and I have planned a creative day which we hope will make creativity at the church accessible to many, appealing to different ages and abilities.

“We really hope lots of people will come along to enjoy expressing themselves, to have some creative time-out and fun, and to experience the exhibition within the church too”.

From 1.30pm-3pm Syrah will work with local home-schoolers and their children, working with collage and large-scale loose drawings.

To end this day of creativity at St Wendredra’s there will be a drop-in session between 3.30pm and 4.30pm aimed at people 13 years and over where Syrah will be exploring gelplate printing, using natural found objects.

Both Syrah and Rev Ruth Clay have also joined forces with Aria Court Care Home in March and will be welcoming residents into the church for creative well-being sessions linked to the Nature exhibition on the Thursday.

Rev Ruth Clay said: “We have a fantastic free exhibition waiting for you as you come into the beautiful grade 1 listed building.

“Drawn from across Fenland we have photographers, artists, and crafters who have come together to celebrate the wonderful wildlife which is all around us.

“From fabulous photography from local clubs and individuals to knitted rabbits and steam-punk style works by students at Neale-Wade Academy.

“We have competition entries from adults and children and up to the minute information from wildlife and environmental groups.

“Alongside this, we have the amazing Syrah Arnold, a community artist with over thirty years experience as an artist and development worker, leading creative workshops on Wednesday in the church.

“We also have Dr Laurie Friday from the University of Cambridge giving us a talk on ‘Future-proofing the fens’ on Tuesday, March 5 at 7pm in the church and a wonderful creative service on Sunday at 11am about caring for creation.”

The sessions on Wednesday, March 6 are drop-in but if possible people are being asked to register their intention to come by emailing Rev Ruth Clay on revruth.marchchurches@outlook.com