Presentations
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Presentations
Across six thought-provoking sessions, Spark will bring together leading voices from across Warwick District’s creative sector to share ideas, showcase innovation, and explore the big issues shaping our future.
We’ll open with Shaping a Thriving Creative Future, a dynamic plenary setting the tone for the day with stories from organisations driving prosperity and place identity through creativity. From there, the programme dives into Spotlight – New Work, New Opportunities, celebrating fresh projects across arts, heritage, film, and digital technology, and offering a springboard for collaboration.
Practical know-how comes to the fore in Public Art in Practice, where the launch of Warwick District Council’s new Public Art Toolkit is paired with real-world insight from public art specialists. Later, Fundraising and Philanthropy tackles today’s toughest funding challenges, giving you tools and strategies to secure sustainable support.
Looking to the future, Creativity and AI showcases how artificial intelligence is transforming workflows and sparking bold new creative possibilities, while Audience Development – Understanding and Engaging Local Communities offers practical tools and data-driven insights to deepen connections with local people.
With a mix of inspiring presentations and lively panel discussions, this is your chance to connect with peers, discover new ideas, and take away practical tools to strengthen your work.
Explore the draft session outlines below - and register your interest in taking part in the programme.
Quick Links
- Session 1: Opening Plenary – Shaping a Thriving Creative Future
- Session 2: Spotlight - New Work, New Opportunities
- Session 3: Audience Development – Understanding and Engaging Local Communities
- Session 4: Creativity and AI – Tools, Trends, and New Frontiers
- Session 5: Public Art in Practice - Your Guide to Making it Happen
Photo by Jo Lewis
Session 1: Opening Plenary – Shaping a Thriving Creative Future (10.30am - 11.30am)
Aim
To set the scene for the day and reinforce Spark’s purpose: to connect, collaborate, and inspire.
Who is it for?
Anyone interested in discovering how local creative organisations are making a meaningful impact on Warwick District and beyond.
Description
Warwick District is home to one of the UK’s most vibrant creative clusters, where rich cultural heritage meets pioneering innovation. From heritage venues to cutting-edge digital studios, local programmes and projects are creating shared cultural experiences that reflect the dynamic character of the area.
In this hour-long opening plenary, hear directly from three leading creative organisations who are navigating a fast-changing landscape to deliver world-class products and services. Their stories will highlight how creativity is driving prosperity, shaping place identity, and reinforcing Warwick District as a destination of choice to live, work, and visit.
Be inspired, gain insight, and set the tone for a day of collaboration and discovery.
Speakers:
Chris Knight, Co-Founder, SALT Creative Movement
Chris is a Warwick-based creative entrepreneur and co-founder of SALT Creative Movement, a bold creative agency working across choreography, storytelling and immersive brand experiences. Having lived and worked in Warwick District for many years, Chris founded SALT locally and has grown it into an agency delivering standout projects across the UK and Europe. His journey reflects both the ambition and reality of building a creative startup - navigating risk, growth and momentum while staying rooted in the place he calls home. Chris brings an honest perspective on what it takes to do brilliant creative work, build sustainable businesses, and shape a thriving creative future from within the district.
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Register your interest in speaking at this session
Photo by Estevão Teixeira on Unsplash
Session 2: Spotlight - New Work, New Opportunities (11.45am - 12.45pm)
Aim
To showcase and celebrate new arts and cultural initiatives taking shape across the district.
Who is it for?
Anyone eager to hear first-hand about exciting new projects in arts, heritage, film, technology, and community creativity, and those looking for opportunities to collaborate.
Description
Warwick District’s creative scene never stands still. From grassroots community projects to ambitious cross-sector collaborations, a wave of new initiatives is emerging that will shape the cultural life of our towns in the months and years ahead.
This session is your chance to be among the first to discover what’s coming next. Hear directly from local artists, organisations, and innovators as they share news of projects in development or about to launch, spanning everything from cutting-edge digital work to heritage storytelling, film, and place-based creative programmes.
Designed to inspire and connect, this showcase is also a springboard for collaboration. Come along to find potential partners, uncover opportunities to get involved, and celebrate the energy and ambition driving Warwick District’s creative future.
Speakers:
Kath Kimber-McTiffen, Dance Artist, Musician and Creative Producer
Kath is a dance artist, musician and creative producer with over 25 years’ experience creating and performing work with and for early years audiences, families and older adults. Trained at the Coventry Centre for Performing Arts, she holds a first-class BA (Hons) in Arts Practice and Cultural Policy from Coventry University. Kath’s portfolio career spans performing, choreography, composition and community engagement. As co-director of Wriggle Dance Theatre for 11 years, she toured nationally to theatres, schools and libraries with interactive performances for young children and families. Alongside her dance work, she has co-written and recorded vocals and flute for several albums with Latin jazz band Sonrisa. In 2023 she founded Sonrisa Arts, bringing her diverse practice under one umbrella to produce professional performances and community-focused projects for early years, families and older generations. Her recent production, Dance in the Dark (2024–25), toured nationally to critical acclaim. Kath also leads Moving with Parkinson’s classes and creative projects for people livinShe is currently supported by an Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice grant to explore the integration of music into her early years dance practice.2. tbc
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Register your interest in speaking at this session
Photo by Magnus Lunay on Unsplash
Session 3: Audience Development – Understanding and Engaging Local Communities (11.45am - 12.45pm)
Aim
To share knowledge, insight, and practical tools that help cultural organisations attract, understand, and engage audiences from across Warwick District.
Who is it for?
Anyone with responsibility for marketing, communications, or audience development, as well as those curious about how to build deeper connections with local people.
Description
Audiences are at the heart of every cultural experience. Understanding who they are, where they’re based, and what motivates them to engage with arts and culture is crucial for any organisation aiming to grow ticket sales, boost attendance, and build long-term loyalty.
This session will shine a spotlight on Warwick District’s audiences within a 30-minute drive time, offering valuable data and insights into local demographics, behaviours, and interests. You’ll also be introduced to tried-and-tested tools, frameworks, and techniques to help you shape your marketing and audience development strategies.
Through a mix of local evidence and practical guidance, this session will help you to:
- Identify and understand your potential audiences.
- Explore what motivates people to attend cultural events.
- Tailor your marketing activity to reach and engage communities more effectively.
- Strengthen relationships with existing audiences while welcoming new ones.
Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or simply interested in how organisations connect with communities, this session will give you a clearer picture of Warwick District’s audiences, and the confidence to reach them in meaningful ways.
Speakers:
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Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash
Session 4: AI and the Future of Creative Work (1pm - 2pm)
Aim
To explore how artificial intelligence could shape the future of creative work, considering a range of possibilities, uncertainties and emerging directions.
Who is it for?
Creative practitioners, cultural organisations, educators, students, arts leaders, policymakers, and anyone interested in how technological change may impact the creative industries in the years ahead.
Description
Artificial intelligence is evolving rapidly, and its influence on creative work is likely to expand in ways we are only beginning to imagine. For some, these shifts signal exciting new opportunities; for others, they raise important questions about authorship, employment, ethics and artistic identity. What is clear is that the future will be shaped by a mixture of innovation, critical debate and lived experience across the sector.
This session looks firmly to that future.
Bringing together University of Warwick academics and staff who are also active creative practitioners, the panel will explore a range of possible futures for AI and creative work, from new artistic forms and emerging skillsets to potential disruptions, challenges and long-term implications. The conversation will not promote one stance over another; instead, it will consider multiple viewpoints and uncertainties to help the sector think ahead.
Together, the panel will discuss:
- Where AI developments might lead creative practice in the next few years.
- How creative roles and workflows could evolve as technologies advance.
- What opportunities AI could open up and what pressures or barriers might emerge.
- The cultural, ethical and practical considerations that future creative workers may need to navigate.
- What organisations might want to prepare for as part of longer-term planning.
This future-focused discussion builds on the University of Warwick podcast released in early 2025, which introduced key themes around AI and creativity. The podcast offers helpful grounding for anyone attending the session, while this conversation moves beyond it, imagining what could come next and how the sector might respond. You can listen to the podcast on YouTube.
Whether you are optimistic, cautious, questioning or simply curious, this session offers space to explore the possible futures of creative work in an age of accelerating AI.
Speakers:
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Artwork by Natasha King
Session 5: Public Art in Practice - Your Guide to Making it Happen (1pm - 2pm)
Aim
To launch Warwick District Council’s new Public Art Toolkit and inspire those interested in shaping the local public realm through creativity.
Who is it for?
Artists, community groups, developers, and organisations keen to commission, create, or install public art in Warwick District.
Description
Public art has the power to transform our shared spaces, telling stories, celebrating heritage, sparking conversation, and creating a sense of belonging. Warwick District Council has published its first Public Art Toolkit, a practical and accessible guide designed to help anyone bring creativity into the public realm. The toolkit provides step-by-step advice on everything from permissions and funding to sustainability and community engagement. Crucially, it underlines the Council’s role as an enabler, supporting creativity to flourish rather than controlling it, and reinforces a wider commitment to creative placemaking across the district. In this session, hear from the toolkit’s author, Jonathan Branson, Projects & Development Manager (Arts), who will explain why it was developed and how it can be used. You’ll also hear reflections from two practitioners working directly with public art in very different contexts:
- Sarah Shalgosky - Reflections on Public Art, People and Place
Sarah will offer insights drawn from her extensive experience curating and caring for public art across the University of Warwick campus. Her reflections will explore how people encounter art in everyday spaces, what shapes meaning and connection, and why context, audience and lived experience matter just as much as the artwork itself. She will highlight practical considerations for anyone commissioning or creating public art, from interpretation to long-term stewardship.
- Tim Robottom - Making Public Art Happen on the Ground
Tim will provide a practitioner’s perspective on delivering murals and street-art projects across the Midlands. His reflections will focus on the real-world process behind successful public art - from developing concepts and embedding community voice to navigating permissions, logistics and installation. He will share learning from recent large-scale projects and highlight how public art can support identity, regeneration and local pride.
Together, the panel will explore how the toolkit can empower your own creative ambitions and support more confident, collaborative approaches to public art across the district.
Speakers:
Johnathan Branson, Projects & Development Manager (Arts), Warwick District Council
Johnathan is the Projects & Development Manager (Arts) at Warwick District Council, working across culture, place and the creative industries to connect ideas, people and opportunities. He is the author of the Warwick District Council Public Art Toolkit, the Arts & Cultural Strategy (2025–2028) and the Creative Framework (2025–2030) - documents that encourage more joined-up, creative approaches to placemaking and public engagement. Johnathan’s role often involves spotting potential, bringing partners together and finding practical ways to make cultural projects happen. He has commissioned and supported several public art projects across the district, including Down by the River by Spencer Jenkins outside the Royal Spa Centre (part of Warwickshire County Council’s Our Spaces programme), Jenny Moncur’s bridge artwork at Princes Drive, Stacey Barnfield’s Royal Leamington Spa Colour Palette and Warwick Colour Palette, and the Priory Pools mural in Warwick. Through this work, he has developed a strong, hands-on understanding of how public art projects evolve and the opportunities and challenges they present within local contexts.
Tim Robottom, Brink / Mercia Murals
Tim is a Midlands-based artist, curator and producer specialising in large-scale street art and community-driven murals. He founded Brink Contemporary Arts in 2010 to champion contemporary art beyond traditional galleries, and co-directs Mercia Murals CIC, the organisation behind the Leamington Mural Festival. Tim’s curatorial approach connects international street artists with local partners, unlocking high-quality public art that supports regeneration, visitor experience and local identity. Recent highlights include designing The Lady of Shrubland Street (2024), coordinating 11 murals around the former Riverside House site (2025), and earlier public pieces such as Brink Billboard (2023) and NHS (2020). His projects are regularly profiled in the regional press; Mercia/Brink works and festival activity have been shortlisted for community and global mural awards. Alongside production, Tim leads participatory programmes with schools and young people, embedding community voice in concept development and delivery. He currently serves as curator of the Leamington Mural Festival and advises on street-art commissions across Warwick District.