A new solo commission at Abingdon Studios, Blackpool, in partnership with Grundy Art Gallery, supported by Arts Council England.
*24 Jul – 17 Oct 2026
Preview 23 Jul, 6-8pm. LIGHT REFRESHMENTS AVAILABLE. ALL WELCOME
*Open thereafter by appointment | FREE ENTRY.
About the exhibition Excavation of a Traitorous Body is Holly Kilner’s first solo exhibition, presenting a powerful new body of work developed through her lived experience of disability and chronic illness. Across paintings, biomorphic forms and repeated motifs, Kilner traces a journey through investigation, diagnosis, surgery, loss and recovery — not as a single event, but as an ongoing negotiation between the body, the medical world and the self. Loss is present throughout — of tissue, of certainty, of familiarity with one’s own body — but so is resilience. Kilner presents recovery not as a return to how things were, but as an adaptive, ongoing process in which pain, memory and healing exist side by side. The interpretation developed to accompany the exhibition will be written in the first person, adding to the reclamation of autonomy.
About Holly Kilner Holly Kilner is a visual artist whose work transforms intimate, embodied experience into a rich visual language of abstraction, biomorphic form and repeated motif. Graduating from Blackpool School of Arts in 2022, she continued on to graduate with a Master’s in Art Gallery & Museum Studies, from the University of Manchester in 2023. Kilner has exhibited in group presentations as part of Grundy Open (2022 & 23); The Manchester Contemporary through Abingdon Studios (2023 & 25) and recently as part of Auto Amor, The Birley, Preston (2026). This marks the artists first solo commission.
About Abingdon Studios Abingdon Studios is Blackpool’s flagship provider of artist studios and project space, founded in 2014. Our ethos is simple: Artists Being Supported. We believe artists do their best, boldest work when they are resourced, trusted and given room to experiment. Since 2014 we’ve invested in commissioning and presenting new work in Blackpool, working with artists at a local, regional and international level, and building lasting partnerships with organisations including Grundy Art Gallery, Showtown, Blackpool Council, and Arts Council England. Excavation of a Traitorous Body is a continuation of that commitment; supporting Holly Kilner to develop ambitious new work, and to present her first solo exhibition through our ongoing artist development partnership with Grundy Art Gallery and with support from Arts Council England.
Access Abingdon Studios is located up several flights of stairs, with no lift currently in place. We recognise the tension this creates in the context of an exhibition about disability and access. It is a tension Holly herself and founder director, Garth Gratrix meets with humour and defiance, seeing the climb as another barrier to make art in spite of, not a reason an artist shouldn’t be exhibited. If accessing the space is a barrier for you, please get in touch via our contact page so we can find a way for you to experience the work.
The year is 2006. Line dancers and flat bed trucks showcasing fabulously dressed people are heading down the promenade in the first ever Pride parade headed to Bank St car park where the Cheeky Girls will perform next to a wrestling ring borrowed from Trades hotel.
We’re Still Here! is back for our second History Club on Wednesday 8th July to celebrate 20 fabulous years of Pride in Blackpool with our very special guest, the brilliant Catherine Mugonyi.
A community organiser, Catherine was a key part of shaping early Pride celebrations here in Blackpool while working as Equalities Advisor for Blackpool Council and a Parade Coordinator for almost a decade. As a keeper of an amazing personal archive, she will be sharing stories, photographs and ephemera from some of the first ever Prides in Blackpool.
We’re also going to learn about the process of getting the first ever pride flag flown at the top of the Tower which once blew up Catherine’s sewing machine when she was trying to repair it.
Plus, we’ll be sharing what we captured and archived during this year’s Pride celebrations!
WSH! History Club also wants to hear from you… We are opening the invitation out to anyone who has experienced Blackpool Pride over the past two decades (including this year’s 20 year celebration), to come down for conversations about your experiences. Bring photographs, memories, items of clothing you wore, stories from your day. We want to have an evening filled with reminiscing about what Pride looks and feels like from the people and the community who lived it.
And if you haven’t ever been to Pride before and would love to learn what they were like then and now, this is a perfect environment in which to explore that too.
Presented in partnership with Aunty Social, the event starts at 6pm, with Catherine in conversation with artists Garth Gratrix and Harry Clayton-Wright between 6:15 pm and 7:15 pm, plus sharing our items and ephemera over tea and cake from 7:15pm to 7:55pm.
Tickets are free. Refreshments will be provided. Spaces are limited*.
*We ask that if you book a ticket and can no longer attend, please let us know so we can make that space available to someone else.
ACCESS
Please note that this session is in the upstairs workshop. This can be accessed by lift or up a single flight of 14 steps (then you go around the corner and there are two small steps).
We can provide level access – please let us know if you need a ramp at the front door (4 inch step)
There is an accessible toilet on the first floor, adjacent to the workshop space.
We can also offer a portable hearing loop and large print resources.
‘We’re Still Here!’, the first permanent collection of LGBTQIA+ Heritage in Blackpool, is a project run by Abingdon Studios. With thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players.
Be part of creating Blackpool’s first-ever LGBTQIA+ digital archive
We’re Still Here! is delivered by Abingdon Studios in partnership with:
Showtown
Grundy Art Gallery
Blackpool Council
You
This is History in the Making
Blackpool has one of the largest and infamous LGBTQIA+ communities in the North — but our stories, images, costumes, nightlife, activism, art, and everyday lives have never been properly archived.
Until now.
‘We’re Still Here!’ is creating the town’s first dedicated LGBTQIA+ digital archive, collecting photographs, oral histories, memorabilia and community stories from the 1950’s to today.
We are recruiting 6 volunteers to help us uncover, document and celebrate this hidden history, taking part in research, gathering stories from the community and attending our fabulous programme of events.
This is a chance to help discover, preserve and protect stories that have never been recorded before. To celebrate the archive we develop, we will create two major exhibitions that connect Blackpool’s LGBTQIA+ heritage with national archives and collections. These will go on display from February to June 2027, History Month to Pride Month, in Showtown and Grundy Art Gallery.
Why This Matters
Moments in LGBTQIA+ history are moving out of living memory.
Photographs are fading. Stories are at risk of being lost. Costumes, posters and flyers are tucked away in drawers. This project is about uncovering them – together.
You won’t just support a project. You will create a unique heritage archive that ensures future LGBTQIA+ generations can look back and see themselves reflected in art, community and society.
How to Apply
Full details about the role on the PDF below. Please send:
A short expression of interest telling us about you and why you’re interested including:
Your connection to Blackpool’s LGBTQIA+ community
What excites you about uncovering local queer heritage
Your expression of interest can be submitted in written, audio or video formats. For videos and audio these can be up to 5 minutes long, and for written formats up to 500 words.
Application deadline: 5th May Email: wsh@abingdonstudios.co.uk
Abingdon Studios is a flagship contemporary visual arts studio and producing organisation based in the heart of Blackpool. Simply put, we believe in Artists Being Supported. Providing permanent artist studios and a public project space for testing and exhibiting new work, ABS develops and delivers ambitious independent and co-commissioned projects in partnership with galleries, museums, consortium networks and partners. We are proud to have supported 150+ artists to date.
‘We’re Still Here!’ is looking for two Community Heritage Champions to take part in creating Blackpool’s first-ever LGBTQIA+ digital archive.
Blackpool has one of the largest and most infamous LGBTQIA+ communities in the North, but our stories, images, costumes, nightlife, activism, art, and everyday lives have never been properly archived.
Until now.
The ‘We’re Still Here!’ Archive focuses on documenting the history and contemporary experiences of LGBTQIA+ people connected to Blackpool creating the town’s first dedicated LGBTQIA+ digital archive, collecting photographs, oral histories, memorabilia and community stories.
We are recruiting 2 x Community Heritage Champions to help us uncover, document and celebrate this hidden history, taking part in research, gathering stories from the community and attending our fabulous programme of events.
This is your chance to help discover, preserve and protect stories that have never been recorded before. To celebrate the archive we develop, we will create two major exhibitions that connect Blackpool’s LGBTQIA+ heritage with national archives and collections. These will go on display Feb – Jul 2027 in Showtown and Grundy Art Gallery.
This is a paid role, essential to the project’s development, and is also an opportunity for you to develop skills in culture, heritage and community engagement.
Application deadline: Friday 1st May at Midnight
You will hear back from us with the outcome of your application on Friday 8th May by 8pm.
For full details about this position and how to apply, please view and download the PDF below.
Abingdon Studios presents a new solo commission by artist….
ABIGAIL HAMPSEY
CLOSE ENOUGH
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England, and developed in partnership with Grundy Art Gallery.
Join us for the preview📍 Friday 24 April🕓 4–6pm.
ACCESS: Please note our project space is up flights of stairs on the second floor. We have toilet facilities on the first floor.
This special preview aligns with our partners at Grundy Art Gallery, offering an early invitation ahead of their evening programme—celebrating a major solo presentation by Louise Giovenelli, alongside works by Apollo Painting School artists, and a rare opportunity to encounter a touring work by Claude Monet as part of the National Gallery’s programme.
In Close Enough, Hampsey invites us into a space where interior and exterior landscapes dissolve—where memory, lived experience, and environment fold into one another. Rooted in daily rhythms of making and living, her work moves fluidly between painting, labour, and life, holding moments of tension, distance, and intimacy in suspension.A multidisciplinary artist from the North West, Hampsey’s practice draws on autobiography, rural and urban landscapes, and art historical references—developing a vivid visual language of recurring motifs and symbolic forms.Join us as Blackpool’s leading independent visual arts studios, and continue the evening with the town’s leading institution for contemporary art.A night bringing together artists at all stages of their careers—across spaces, practices, and generations.
As part of the exhibition, a limited edition of risographs will be available that contain a piece of writing from the artist to accompany the exhibition.
FREE refreshments will be provided. Donations to Abingdons mission to see ‘Artists Being Supported’ are welcomed.
Do you have a story about feeling proud in Blackpool? Have you marched in the Pride Parade along the Golden Mile? Did you dance until the early hours at the Flamingo? When have you felt the strength and togetherness of being part of the community? What does Pride mean today? We want to hear from you!
To celebrate 20 years of Blackpool Pride Festival, ‘We’re Still Here!’ is working in partnership with Blackpool Pride and inviting both our local community and visitors to the town to share their memories from two decades of Pride celebrations which will form part of an exciting new Community Archive for Blackpool.
We’re interested in your stories and memories in any format – be they photographs, videos, posters, event flyers, voice notes, written memories, or simply an email to start a conversation. These stories will be spotlit in a new online community archive, showcased at one of our History Club events taking place on the week leading up to Pride, plus some of the materials shared with us may even be included in our upcoming ‘We’re Still Here!’ exhibitions, celebrating Blackpool’s rich LGBTQIA+ history, taking place at Showtown and the Grundy Art Gallery in 2027.
To take part and create a Community Archive with We’re Still Here!, Abingdon Studios and Blackpool Pride, email your story and memories to wsh.submissions@abingdonstudios.co.uk.
We’ll then get in touch to explain how your contribution might be used in the project and to answer any of your questions.
You can also get involved in our new series of WSH! History Clubs, as opportunities for the community to come together, share stories and contribute to the archive. Save the date! Our first History Club is on 14th April at Showtown where we’ll be looking at photos and articles from Blackpool’s nightlife history circa 1991-1995 with artist and photographer Stuart Linden-Rhodes, aka Linden Archives, who will be in conversation with artists Garth Gratrix and Harry Clayton Wright and show unseen work from his archive.
Book your free ticket to the first History Club here.
We’re Still Here!
We’re Still Here! is a groundbreaking LGBTQIA+ Heritage Project from Abingdon Studios, discovering and sharing the hidden heritage of the community in Blackpool, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The project began as an oral histories archive and formed our first public realm exhibition of photographic works by Stuart Linden-Rhodes documenting LGBTQIA+ nightlife in 2022 and reaching over 10,000 people.
This next phase of the project will see us hosting a vibrant programme of events throughout 2026-27 to celebrate Blackpool’s LGBTQIA+ community and create an archive of Queer Blackpool Stories, with some of the shared items featuring in our two major exhibitions at Showtown and the Grundy Art Gallery, running from February through June, History Month to Pride Month, in 2027.
Credits
We’re Still Here! is a project delivered by Abingdon Studios. Abingdon Studios operates as a unique bridge between studio provision for artists’ livelihoods, contemporary arts commissioning and community heritage development.
We’re Still Here! is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thank you to National Lottery players.
We’re Still Here! c/o Abingdon Studios are seeking to appoint freelance creative professionals to join our small team in 2026/27. You will work with us on a distinct contemporary arts and LGBTQIA+ heritage project in Blackpool.
HOW TO APPLY: Please submit your applications in PDF format to info@abingdonstudios.co.uk. Please use the email heading as follows: WSH! / JOB TITLE / YOUR NAME. Further details specific to each application can be read in the downloadable job packs.
Please click on the image below for our job packs.
Deadlines for Project Coordinator and Community Archivist roles: Monday 5th January.
Deadlines for Evaluation Consultancy and Fundraising Consultancy roles: Monday 19th January.
Photographs copyright of Stuart Linden Rhodes. Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
We’re Still Here! is a groundbreaking Queer Heritage Project in Blackpool building on a pilot project in 2021–2022 to discover and share the hidden heritage of queer people in Blackpool. The pilot began an oral histories archive and formed our first public realm exhibition of photographic works by Stuart Linden-Rhodes documenting LGBTQIA+ nightlife. This next stage of the project will create processes that unlock, catalogue and develop additional archive materials for We’re Still Here! – showcasing queer heritage contributions through oral histories and images from Blackpool LGBTQIA+ residents and a programme of cultural events about the queer heritage being collected during the project and ways in which we share, write and present LGBTQIA+ materials and subject matters. The project aims to create a queer heritage culture in Blackpool tied to national anniversaries and to celebrate the significant role of the queer community in the economic, resident and tourist ecology and creative ambition of Blackpool.
Abingdon Studios operates as a unique bridge between studio provision for artists livelihoods, contemporary arts commissioning, and community heritage and development. We’re Still Here will culminate in two major exhibitions for Blackpool’s residents and visiting public. To take place at Grundy Art Gallery and Showtown in 2027.
Photo by Timon Benson, taken at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
We’re Still Here! awarded £235k from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for an exciting series of public exhibitions in Blackpool in 2027.
Abingdon Studios commissioned project We’re Still Here! is delighted to announce it has secured major funding for the continuation of a pioneering LGBTQIA+ heritage project, producing two new major exhibitions at the Grundy Art Gallery and Showtown.
We’re Still Here! was founded in 2021 by Garth Gratrix and Harry Clayton-Wright – two internationally acclaimed artists from Blackpool with deep roots in the local cultural landscape – with the aim to create the first permanent collection of LGBTQIA+ heritage in Blackpool. As well as collecting oral histories, the artists invited Stuart Linden Rhodes, known as Linden Archives, for his first exhibition at the Grundy Art Gallery from February to June 2022 which reached over 10,000 people.
The next phase of the project, which sees the team produce two new exhibitions for Blackpool ties into two anniversaries: The 60th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK in 2027. It is also 40 years since Margaret Thatcher took to the stage at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, at the Conservative Party Conference in 1987, where Section 28 was introduced, and said the much quoted words, “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.”
Drawing on their initial pilot in 2021, Gratrix and Clayon-Wright will continue generating a community-built queer heritage collection, shaped by residents past and present. Building a team of community champions they will collect, archive and share these oral histories and personal testimonies through accessible and creative means. We’re Still Here! will also map out the town’s long standing LGBTQIA+ history, working with a historian and community archivist to research Blackpool’s brilliant history which will provide framework for the two exhibitions in 2027, running concurrently, at Showtown and the Grundy Art Gallery.
Garth Gratrix – Project Director, We’re Still Here! said:
“We love a bit of sparkle in Blackpool, and We’re Still Here! brings the stories to match the sequins. As both Founder and Director of Abingdon Studios – and artist/curator who helped bring the town’s first Pride arts exhibition together in 2013 – it’s a thrill to co-lead this project with fellow hometown star Harry Clayton-Wright, founder of Queer Amusements and the artist behind Mr Blackpool’s Seaside Spectacular which just headlined a new festival at the Southbank Centre. Over the past decade we’ve backed artists, filled museums and festivals, and teamed up with brilliant neighbours like Grundy Art Gallery and Showtown, plus Queer Heritage South from Marlborough Productions in Brighton. As well as the town’s amazing entertainment heritage which we all know and love, We’re Still Here is about everyday pride: Archiving joy, care and graft – so more voices are heard, remembered and celebrated.”
Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said:
“We are extremely proud to be supporting Abingdon Studios with their ambitious project ‘We’re Still Here!’ to celebrate LGBTQIA+ heritage with two new exhibitions in Blackpool. This grant, made possible by National Lottery players, ensures that the voices and memories of the community can be heard for generations to come.”
Councillor Lynn Williams MBE, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Tourism, Arts and Culture for Blackpool Council said:
“We are thrilled at the news Abingdon Studios has secured this landmark funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for ‘We’re Still Here!’, a project which celebrates and archives Blackpool’s rich LGBTQIA+ heritage. Connecting history with contemporary innovation, ‘We’re Still Here!’ furthers our commitment to inclusivity and representation, celebrating diversity and strengthening our town’s cultural identity.
As well as creating jobs and two brand new exhibitions that will delight and interest both local and visiting audiences, capturing and preserving the stories of LGBTQIA+ individuals through ‘We’re Still Here!’ will ensure that these voices influence future collection policies and programming, strengthening our legacy of relevance and inclusion in Blackpool.”
*Accessible via stairs only. There are three sets of stairs, each met with a small landing. Staircase 1=20 steps. Staircase 2=9 steps. Staircase 3=12 steps. A cubicle bathroom is available on the first floor and has two steps down into it.
In this exhibition, artist Kayt Hughes invites you into an intimate exploration of how we live, make, and inhabit space — inspired by the pioneering designer Charlotte Perriand’s idea of “the art of living”. Perriand believed that our dwellings should go beyond mere function, shaping environments that nurture harmony, freedom, and a deeper connection to our everyday lives.
Here, Hughes brings this philosophy into a contemporary dialogue, intertwining it with her unique sensory world as a synaesthete and late-diagnosed autistic woman. Through ceramics, sound, light, and design, Hughes crafts a multi-sensory environment that blurs the boundaries between studio and gallery, object and space, making and living.
At the heart of the show are ceramic objects and instruments — some capturing the shapes, colours, and textures Hughes experiences in sound, others are instruments used to create sounds of their own. These pieces are housed within a modular shelving unit, inspired by Perriand’s iconic ‘bibliothèque nuage,’ acting as both display and workspace — a reflection of Hughes’ studio practice and her evolving relationship with making.
Adding to the sensory tapestry are ceramic lamps with colour-changing lights, and a sound work composed from recordings of Hughes’ handmade instruments and found materials. Together, these elements create a spatial dialogue that invites visitors to experience how sound, colour, and form intersect in the lived environment.
The exhibition also includes a fold-out publication offering insights into Hughes’ thoughts on design principles, neurodivergency, and the nuanced ways we engage with the world through our bodies and senses, reflecting on Perriand’s principle of “the art of living”.
the art of living / the art of making is a moment of pause — a glimpse into Hughes’ creative process and the systems she has developed to navigate an uncertain and richly sensory life. It is an invitation to consider how the spaces we inhabit, the objects we touch, and the sounds we hear can shape a more thoughtful, balanced, and expressive way of being.Step inside, listen closely, and explore the evolving art of living through making.
The exhibition forms part of Abingdon Studios commissioning programme. Celebrating 10 years as Blackpool’s flagship contemporary visual arts studios and project space provision. Made possible thanks to Arts Council England’s Project Grant Funding (2024/25); and with additional support in partnership with Grundy Art Gallery.
Radical art is essential in addressing issues of power, desire, deviance, and marginalisation—particularly within the realms of kink and fetish culture, where the body becomes a medium for confronting taboos and redefining boundaries of identity and expression.
Kris Canavan’s work pushes these themes to their rawest extremes. With performances that straddle pain, endurance, and vulnerability, Canavan exposes the body’s limits and its potential as a site for queer resistance and transformation. Their interventions engage with both personal and political struggle, echoing the works of other groundbreaking artists in the canon of performance art.
Last Updated: 5th July 2026 by admin
HOLLY KILNER
Excavation of a Traitorous Body by Holly Kilner
A new solo commission at Abingdon Studios, Blackpool, in partnership with Grundy Art Gallery, supported by Arts Council England.
*24 Jul – 17 Oct 2026
Preview 23 Jul, 6-8pm. LIGHT REFRESHMENTS AVAILABLE. ALL WELCOME
*Open thereafter by appointment | FREE ENTRY.
About the exhibition
Excavation of a Traitorous Body is Holly Kilner’s first solo exhibition, presenting a powerful new body of work developed through her lived experience of disability and chronic illness. Across paintings, biomorphic forms and repeated motifs, Kilner traces a journey through investigation, diagnosis, surgery, loss and recovery — not as a single event, but as an ongoing negotiation between the body, the medical world and the self.
Loss is present throughout — of tissue, of certainty, of familiarity with one’s own body — but so is resilience. Kilner presents recovery not as a return to how things were, but as an adaptive, ongoing process in which pain, memory and healing exist side by side. The interpretation developed to accompany the exhibition will be written in the first person, adding to the reclamation of autonomy.
About Holly Kilner
Holly Kilner is a visual artist whose work transforms intimate, embodied experience into a rich visual language of abstraction, biomorphic form and repeated motif. Graduating from Blackpool School of Arts in 2022, she continued on to graduate with a Master’s in Art Gallery & Museum Studies, from the University of Manchester in 2023. Kilner has exhibited in group presentations as part of Grundy Open (2022 & 23); The Manchester Contemporary through Abingdon Studios (2023 & 25) and recently as part of Auto Amor, The Birley, Preston (2026). This marks the artists first solo commission.
About Abingdon Studios
Abingdon Studios is Blackpool’s flagship provider of artist studios and project space, founded in 2014. Our ethos is simple: Artists Being Supported. We believe artists do their best, boldest work when they are resourced, trusted and given room to experiment. Since 2014 we’ve invested in commissioning and presenting new work in Blackpool, working with artists at a local, regional and international level, and building lasting partnerships with organisations including Grundy Art Gallery, Showtown, Blackpool Council, and Arts Council England. Excavation of a Traitorous Body is a continuation of that commitment; supporting Holly Kilner to develop ambitious new work, and to present her first solo exhibition through our ongoing artist development partnership with Grundy Art Gallery and with support from Arts Council England.
Access
Abingdon Studios is located up several flights of stairs, with no lift currently in place. We recognise the tension this creates in the context of an exhibition about disability and access. It is a tension Holly herself and founder director, Garth Gratrix meets with humour and defiance, seeing the climb as another barrier to make art in spite of, not a reason an artist shouldn’t be exhibited. If accessing the space is a barrier for you, please get in touch via our contact page so we can find a way for you to experience the work.
Posted: 1st July 2026 by Abingdon Studios
We’re Still Here! History Club – 8th July
The year is 2006. Line dancers and flat bed trucks showcasing fabulously dressed people are heading down the promenade in the first ever Pride parade headed to Bank St car park where the Cheeky Girls will perform next to a wrestling ring borrowed from Trades hotel.
We’re Still Here! is back for our second History Club on Wednesday 8th July to celebrate 20 fabulous years of Pride in Blackpool with our very special guest, the brilliant Catherine Mugonyi.
A community organiser, Catherine was a key part of shaping early Pride celebrations here in Blackpool while working as Equalities Advisor for Blackpool Council and a Parade Coordinator for almost a decade. As a keeper of an amazing personal archive, she will be sharing stories, photographs and ephemera from some of the first ever Prides in Blackpool.
We’re also going to learn about the process of getting the first ever pride flag flown at the top of the Tower which once blew up Catherine’s sewing machine when she was trying to repair it.
Plus, we’ll be sharing what we captured and archived during this year’s Pride celebrations!
And if you haven’t ever been to Pride before and would love to learn what they were like then and now, this is a perfect environment in which to explore that too.
Presented in partnership with Aunty Social, the event starts at 6pm, with Catherine in conversation with artists Garth Gratrix and Harry Clayton-Wright between 6:15 pm and 7:15 pm, plus sharing our items and ephemera over tea and cake from 7:15pm to 7:55pm.
Tickets are free. Refreshments will be provided. Spaces are limited*.
*We ask that if you book a ticket and can no longer attend, please let us know so we can make that space available to someone else.
ACCESS
‘We’re Still Here!’, the first permanent collection of LGBTQIA+ Heritage in Blackpool, is a project run by Abingdon Studios. With thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players.
Last Updated: 15th April 2026 by Abingdon Studios
Opportunity: ‘We’re Still Here!’ is looking for project volunteers.
Be part of creating Blackpool’s first-ever LGBTQIA+ digital archive
We’re Still Here! is delivered by Abingdon Studios in partnership with:
This is History in the Making
Blackpool has one of the largest and infamous LGBTQIA+ communities in the North — but our stories, images, costumes, nightlife, activism, art, and everyday lives have never been properly archived.
Until now.
‘We’re Still Here!’ is creating the town’s first dedicated LGBTQIA+ digital archive, collecting photographs, oral histories, memorabilia and community stories from the 1950’s to today.
We are recruiting 6 volunteers to help us uncover, document and celebrate this hidden history, taking part in research, gathering stories from the community and attending our fabulous programme of events.
This is a chance to help discover, preserve and protect stories that have never been recorded before. To celebrate the archive we develop, we will create two major exhibitions that connect Blackpool’s LGBTQIA+ heritage with national archives and collections. These will go on display from February to June 2027, History Month to Pride Month, in Showtown and Grundy Art Gallery.
Why This Matters
Moments in LGBTQIA+ history are moving out of living memory.
Photographs are fading. Stories are at risk of being lost. Costumes, posters and flyers are tucked away in drawers. This project is about uncovering them – together.
You won’t just support a project. You will create a unique heritage archive that ensures future LGBTQIA+ generations can look back and see themselves reflected in art, community and society.
How to Apply
Full details about the role on the PDF below. Please send:
Your expression of interest can be submitted in written, audio or video formats. For videos and audio these can be up to 5 minutes long, and for written formats up to 500 words.
Application deadline: 5th May
Email: wsh@abingdonstudios.co.uk
About us
Abingdon Studios is a flagship contemporary visual arts studio and producing organisation based in the heart of Blackpool. Simply put, we believe in Artists Being Supported. Providing permanent artist studios and a public project space for testing and exhibiting new work, ABS develops and delivers ambitious independent and co-commissioned projects in partnership with galleries, museums, consortium networks and partners. We are proud to have supported 150+ artists to date.
Last Updated: 30th March 2026 by Abingdon Studios
Opportunity: ‘We’re Still Here!’ is looking for two Community Heritage Champions
Photo by Stuart Linden Rhodes. Blackpool, 1995
‘We’re Still Here!’ is looking for two Community Heritage Champions to take part in creating Blackpool’s first-ever LGBTQIA+ digital archive.
Blackpool has one of the largest and most infamous LGBTQIA+ communities in the North, but our stories, images, costumes, nightlife, activism, art, and everyday lives have never been properly archived.
Until now.
The ‘We’re Still Here!’ Archive focuses on documenting the history and contemporary experiences of LGBTQIA+ people connected to Blackpool creating the town’s first dedicated LGBTQIA+ digital archive, collecting photographs, oral histories, memorabilia and community stories.
We are recruiting 2 x Community Heritage Champions to help us uncover, document and celebrate this hidden history, taking part in research, gathering stories from the community and attending our fabulous programme of events.
This is your chance to help discover, preserve and protect stories that have never been recorded before. To celebrate the archive we develop, we will create two major exhibitions that connect Blackpool’s LGBTQIA+ heritage with national archives and collections. These will go on display Feb – Jul 2027 in Showtown and Grundy Art Gallery.
This is a paid role, essential to the project’s development, and is also an opportunity for you to develop skills in culture, heritage and community engagement.
Application deadline: Friday 1st May at Midnight
You will hear back from us with the outcome of your application on Friday 8th May by 8pm.
For full details about this position and how to apply, please view and download the PDF below.
Application deadline: Friday 1st May at Midnight
You will hear back from us with the outcome of your application on Friday 8th May by 8pm.
For full details about this position and how to apply, please view and download the PDF below.
Last Updated: 28th March 2026 by Abingdon Studios
Abigail Hamspey
Abingdon Studios presents a new solo commission by artist….
ABIGAIL HAMPSEY
CLOSE ENOUGH
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England, and developed in partnership with Grundy Art Gallery.
Join us for the preview📍 Friday 24 April🕓 4–6pm.
ACCESS: Please note our project space is up flights of stairs on the second floor. We have toilet facilities on the first floor.
This special preview aligns with our partners at Grundy Art Gallery, offering an early invitation ahead of their evening programme—celebrating a major solo presentation by Louise Giovenelli, alongside works by Apollo Painting School artists, and a rare opportunity to encounter a touring work by Claude Monet as part of the National Gallery’s programme.
In Close Enough, Hampsey invites us into a space where interior and exterior landscapes dissolve—where memory, lived experience, and environment fold into one another. Rooted in daily rhythms of making and living, her work moves fluidly between painting, labour, and life, holding moments of tension, distance, and intimacy in suspension.A multidisciplinary artist from the North West, Hampsey’s practice draws on autobiography, rural and urban landscapes, and art historical references—developing a vivid visual language of recurring motifs and symbolic forms.Join us as Blackpool’s leading independent visual arts studios, and continue the evening with the town’s leading institution for contemporary art.A night bringing together artists at all stages of their careers—across spaces, practices, and generations.
As part of the exhibition, a limited edition of risographs will be available that contain a piece of writing from the artist to accompany the exhibition.
FREE refreshments will be provided. Donations to Abingdons mission to see ‘Artists Being Supported’ are welcomed.
Last Updated: 17th March 2026 by Abingdon Studios
‘We’re Still Here!’ is looking for stories celebrating 20 years of Blackpool Pride!
Do you have a story about feeling proud in Blackpool? Have you marched in the Pride Parade along the Golden Mile? Did you dance until the early hours at the Flamingo? When have you felt the strength and togetherness of being part of the community? What does Pride mean today? We want to hear from you!
To celebrate 20 years of Blackpool Pride Festival, ‘We’re Still Here!’ is working in partnership with Blackpool Pride and inviting both our local community and visitors to the town to share their memories from two decades of Pride celebrations which will form part of an exciting new Community Archive for Blackpool.
We’re interested in your stories and memories in any format – be they photographs, videos, posters, event flyers, voice notes, written memories, or simply an email to start a conversation. These stories will be spotlit in a new online community archive, showcased at one of our History Club events taking place on the week leading up to Pride, plus some of the materials shared with us may even be included in our upcoming ‘We’re Still Here!’ exhibitions, celebrating Blackpool’s rich LGBTQIA+ history, taking place at Showtown and the Grundy Art Gallery in 2027.
To take part and create a Community Archive with We’re Still Here!, Abingdon Studios and Blackpool Pride, email your story and memories to wsh.submissions@abingdonstudios.co.uk.
We’ll then get in touch to explain how your contribution might be used in the project and to answer any of your questions.
You can also get involved in our new series of WSH! History Clubs, as opportunities for the community to come together, share stories and contribute to the archive. Save the date! Our first History Club is on 14th April at Showtown where we’ll be looking at photos and articles from Blackpool’s nightlife history circa 1991-1995 with artist and photographer Stuart Linden-Rhodes, aka Linden Archives, who will be in conversation with artists Garth Gratrix and Harry Clayton Wright and show unseen work from his archive.
Book your free ticket to the first History Club here.
We’re Still Here!
We’re Still Here! is a groundbreaking LGBTQIA+ Heritage Project from Abingdon Studios, discovering and sharing the hidden heritage of the community in Blackpool, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The project began as an oral histories archive and formed our first public realm exhibition of photographic works by Stuart Linden-Rhodes documenting LGBTQIA+ nightlife in 2022 and reaching over 10,000 people.
This next phase of the project will see us hosting a vibrant programme of events throughout 2026-27 to celebrate Blackpool’s LGBTQIA+ community and create an archive of Queer Blackpool Stories, with some of the shared items featuring in our two major exhibitions at Showtown and the Grundy Art Gallery, running from February through June, History Month to Pride Month, in 2027.
Credits
We’re Still Here! is a project delivered by Abingdon Studios. Abingdon Studios operates as a unique bridge between studio provision for artists’ livelihoods, contemporary arts commissioning and community heritage development.
We’re Still Here! is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thank you to National Lottery players.
Last Updated: 16th December 2025 by Abingdon Studios
We’re Still Here! is hiring…
We’re Still Here! c/o Abingdon Studios are seeking to appoint freelance creative professionals to join our small team in 2026/27. You will work with us on a distinct contemporary arts and LGBTQIA+ heritage project in Blackpool.
HOW TO APPLY: Please submit your applications in PDF format to info@abingdonstudios.co.uk. Please use the email heading as follows: WSH! / JOB TITLE / YOUR NAME. Further details specific to each application can be read in the downloadable job packs.
Please click on the image below for our job packs.
Deadlines for Project Coordinator and Community Archivist roles: Monday 5th January.
Deadlines for Evaluation Consultancy and Fundraising Consultancy roles: Monday 19th January.
Photographs copyright of Stuart Linden Rhodes. Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
We’re Still Here! is a groundbreaking Queer Heritage Project in Blackpool building on a pilot project in 2021–2022 to discover and share the hidden heritage of queer people in Blackpool. The pilot began an oral histories archive and formed our first public realm exhibition of photographic works by Stuart Linden-Rhodes documenting LGBTQIA+ nightlife. This next stage of the project will create processes that unlock, catalogue and develop additional archive materials for We’re Still Here! – showcasing queer heritage contributions through oral histories and images from Blackpool LGBTQIA+ residents and a programme of cultural events about the queer heritage being collected during the project and ways in which we share, write and present LGBTQIA+ materials and subject matters. The project aims to create a queer heritage culture in Blackpool tied to national anniversaries and to celebrate the significant role of the queer community in the economic, resident and tourist ecology and creative ambition of Blackpool.
Abingdon Studios operates as a unique bridge between studio provision for artists livelihoods, contemporary arts commissioning, and community heritage and development. We’re Still Here will culminate in two major exhibitions for Blackpool’s residents and visiting public. To take place at Grundy Art Gallery and Showtown in 2027.
Last Updated: 5th December 2025 by Abingdon Studios
We’re Still Here! – New Funding Announcement
Photo by Timon Benson, taken at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
We’re Still Here! awarded £235k from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for an exciting series of public exhibitions in Blackpool in 2027.
Abingdon Studios commissioned project We’re Still Here! is delighted to announce it has secured major funding for the continuation of a pioneering LGBTQIA+ heritage project, producing two new major exhibitions at the Grundy Art Gallery and Showtown.
We’re Still Here! was founded in 2021 by Garth Gratrix and Harry Clayton-Wright – two internationally acclaimed artists from Blackpool with deep roots in the local cultural landscape – with the aim to create the first permanent collection of LGBTQIA+ heritage in Blackpool. As well as collecting oral histories, the artists invited Stuart Linden Rhodes, known as Linden Archives, for his first exhibition at the Grundy Art Gallery from February to June 2022 which reached over 10,000 people.
The next phase of the project, which sees the team produce two new exhibitions for Blackpool ties into two anniversaries: The 60th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK in 2027. It is also 40 years since Margaret Thatcher took to the stage at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, at the Conservative Party Conference in 1987, where Section 28 was introduced, and said the much quoted words, “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.”
Drawing on their initial pilot in 2021, Gratrix and Clayon-Wright will continue generating a community-built queer heritage collection, shaped by residents past and present. Building a team of community champions they will collect, archive and share these oral histories and personal testimonies through accessible and creative means. We’re Still Here! will also map out the town’s long standing LGBTQIA+ history, working with a historian and community archivist to research Blackpool’s brilliant history which will provide framework for the two exhibitions in 2027, running concurrently, at Showtown and the Grundy Art Gallery.
Garth Gratrix – Project Director, We’re Still Here! said:
“We love a bit of sparkle in Blackpool, and We’re Still Here! brings the stories to match the sequins. As both Founder and Director of Abingdon Studios – and artist/curator who helped bring the town’s first Pride arts exhibition together in 2013 – it’s a thrill to co-lead this project with fellow hometown star Harry Clayton-Wright, founder of Queer Amusements and the artist behind Mr Blackpool’s Seaside Spectacular which just headlined a new festival at the Southbank Centre. Over the past decade we’ve backed artists, filled museums and festivals, and teamed up with brilliant neighbours like Grundy Art Gallery and Showtown, plus Queer Heritage South from Marlborough Productions in Brighton. As well as the town’s amazing entertainment heritage which we all know and love, We’re Still Here is about everyday pride: Archiving joy, care and graft – so more voices are heard, remembered and celebrated.”
Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said:
“We are extremely proud to be supporting Abingdon Studios with their ambitious project ‘We’re Still Here!’ to celebrate LGBTQIA+ heritage with two new exhibitions in Blackpool. This grant, made possible by National Lottery players, ensures that the voices and memories of the community can be heard for generations to come.”
Councillor Lynn Williams MBE, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Tourism, Arts and Culture for Blackpool Council said:
“We are thrilled at the news Abingdon Studios has secured this landmark funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for ‘We’re Still Here!’, a project which celebrates and archives Blackpool’s rich LGBTQIA+ heritage. Connecting history with contemporary innovation, ‘We’re Still Here!’ furthers our commitment to inclusivity and representation, celebrating diversity and strengthening our town’s cultural identity.
As well as creating jobs and two brand new exhibitions that will delight and interest both local and visiting audiences, capturing and preserving the stories of LGBTQIA+ individuals through ‘We’re Still Here!’ will ensure that these voices influence future collection policies and programming, strengthening our legacy of relevance and inclusion in Blackpool.”
Blackpool 1991, photo by Stuart Linden Rhodes.
END
Last Updated: 18th August 2025 by Abingdon Studios
Kayt Hughes
the art of living / the art of making
Solo Exhibition by Kayt Hughes
Preview Thursday 11th September, 2025.
Abingdon Studios, Project Space
https://www.instagram.com/abingdonstudios_projectspace?igsh=bDdtbTlxOTluMXVp
*Accessible via stairs only. There are three sets of stairs, each met with a small landing. Staircase 1=20 steps. Staircase 2=9 steps. Staircase 3=12 steps. A cubicle bathroom is available on the first floor and has two steps down into it.
In this exhibition, artist Kayt Hughes invites you into an intimate exploration of how we live, make, and inhabit space — inspired by the pioneering designer Charlotte Perriand’s idea of “the art of living”. Perriand believed that our dwellings should go beyond mere function, shaping environments that nurture harmony, freedom, and a deeper connection to our everyday lives.
Here, Hughes brings this philosophy into a contemporary dialogue, intertwining it with her unique sensory world as a synaesthete and late-diagnosed autistic woman. Through ceramics, sound, light, and design, Hughes crafts a multi-sensory environment that blurs the boundaries between studio and gallery, object and space, making and living.
At the heart of the show are ceramic objects and instruments — some capturing the shapes, colours, and textures Hughes experiences in sound, others are instruments used to create sounds of their own. These pieces are housed within a modular shelving unit, inspired by Perriand’s iconic ‘bibliothèque nuage,’ acting as both display and workspace — a reflection of Hughes’ studio practice and her evolving relationship with making.
Adding to the sensory tapestry are ceramic lamps with colour-changing lights, and a sound work composed from recordings of Hughes’ handmade instruments and found materials. Together, these elements create a spatial dialogue that invites visitors to experience how sound, colour, and form intersect in the lived environment.
The exhibition also includes a fold-out publication offering insights into Hughes’ thoughts on design principles, neurodivergency, and the nuanced ways we engage with the world through our bodies and senses, reflecting on Perriand’s principle of “the art of living”.
the art of living / the art of making is a moment of pause — a glimpse into Hughes’ creative process and the systems she has developed to navigate an uncertain and richly sensory life. It is an invitation to consider how the spaces we inhabit, the objects we touch, and the sounds we hear can shape a more thoughtful, balanced, and expressive way of being.Step inside, listen closely, and explore the evolving art of living through making.
The exhibition forms part of Abingdon Studios commissioning programme. Celebrating 10 years as Blackpool’s flagship contemporary visual arts studios and project space provision. Made possible thanks to Arts Council England’s Project Grant Funding (2024/25); and with additional support in partnership with Grundy Art Gallery.
Posted: 5th August 2025 by Abingdon Studios
KRIS CANAVAN
Radical art is essential in addressing issues of power, desire, deviance, and marginalisation—particularly within the realms of kink and fetish culture, where the body becomes a medium for confronting taboos and redefining boundaries of identity and expression.
Kris Canavan’s work pushes these themes to their rawest extremes. With performances that straddle pain, endurance, and vulnerability, Canavan exposes the body’s limits and its potential as a site for queer resistance and transformation. Their interventions engage with both personal and political struggle, echoing the works of other groundbreaking artists in the canon of performance art.
www.kris-canvan.com