About
The Pride Of Place Project started with a chance conversation between Artist and Producer Talia Giles who was planning a ‘Creative Hub Pop-Up’ and Elaine Midgley, Director of Bedford Creative Arts launching an art in empty windows project initiative. Through their shared interests in reimagining vacant town centre spaces it make sense to collaborate as they were working towards the same goal.
From this starting point, while searching for suitable locations and finding the support necessary to make it a reality, Pride of Place was born - an umbrella ‘project’ with a more powerful approach to help drive change and demonstrate that a creative approach to placemaking through co-creating, and working together with not alongside the community can help regenerate the high street.
Through the many challenges we have had to overcome to get this far, we have found that there needs to be a complete overhaul in the current town centre. There is a disconnect between government, landlords, local authorities and the communities that live and breathe within them that needs to be repaired in order for our town centres to have a future.
Using initial funding from Bedford Borough Council’s Town Centre Priority Fund, three different place-making project have evolved: POP Art, POP Bedford and POP Studios.
Talia Giles
A local artist and producer, Talia Giles is founder of Pride Of Place Bedford.
Having recently opened the first shared studio space in Bedford town centre for some years in the Old Arcade: POP STUDIO 4, her aim is to help support the creative community of Bedford by securing larger, more permanent co-creating spaces in Bedford. A Creative Hub.
Talia is interested in the link between people, places, and spaces and finding new ways to engage and interact within them. Talia also co-manages Bedford Flea, Affordable Art & Local Produce market that supports and promotes grassroots, local businesses.
Bedford Creative Arts
Bedford Creative Arts is a contemporary arts charity that has worked across Bedfordshire for 38 years. It is committed to commissioning high quality art with, for and inspired by communities - working with people to make great art in response to the place where they live.
Throughout our work we seek to make new work that is accessible and engaging for audiences, and questions and develops social practice within contemporary art. Bedford Creative Arts is an Arts Council England national portfolio organisation.