Our Artists

Our Artists


At Space2 we have a long and established history of collaborating with a range of leading artists. We know that strong collaboration and communication with a variety of artists can inform our work, which in turn diversifies our projects and the ways we engage with our local communities.  
Our participatory arts practice brings together a community of artists from a range of backgrounds and specialisms. We are committed to pushing the boundaries between artist, consumer and creator, working towards a more collaborative approach to the creative process and exemplifying our principles of creating art that is co-produced and  community focused. It wouldn’t be possible to execute many of our projects without the original and creative work our artists produce for Space2. 


Michelle Scally Clarke 

Michelle Scally Clarke is a poet and writer from Leeds and is a leading voice within the contemporary U.K poetry scene. Her work ranges from drama, creative writing, and poetry to music and performance, and much of her work focuses on the outlet of art as a source of empowerment for the individual, in turn coalescing the individual to the wider society and community.  She has worked alongside Space2 on a range of projects. These have included our 2016 performance and workshop focusing on mental health ‘Suitcase’ [link] , our 2018 cross-cultural play ‘Jeans, Whose Genes?’ and our now peer-led Clear Out Your Closer poetry group, focusing on writing for wellbeing.



Christella Litras

Christella Litras is a University of Leeds graduate and a musical director, composer, lyricist, vocalist, keyboard player, percussionist, workshop facilitator and musical mentor. She is also the founder of Caution Collective, a collective group celebrating musical talent in Leeds, particularly from the Chapeltown and Harehills area. In Feburary 2020 she was featured as a singer for the popular West End dance musical 'Sting’, building upon her wealth of global music performance experience.

 


Natalie Anastasia Davies

Natalie Anastasia Davies is a Yorkshire born performance poet, writer and facilitator. Her work draws upon themes of dual-heritage identity, inequality, women’s experiences and the natural environment. She has performed for Leeds Lit Fest, Black Voices Matter and Extinction Rebellion.

She was 1 of 20 to earn a place on the national programme ‘Platform Poets 2020’; here Natalie learned a host of experimental techniques with Apples and Snakes, the UK’s leading spokenword organisation.

Natalie facilitates Space2’s weekly writing workshop ‘People Poetry’ and runs our monthly 'Open Lit Book Club', where she explores creative writing, lesser-heard narratives and mental wellbeing with communities. She is passionate about enabling people to connect with their identity, find their voice and impact the world around them.



Boff Whalley

Boff Whalley is an English musician and writer and formally the guitarist for the anarchist punk and folk band Chumbawamba. His work explores issues such as social class, gender equality, pop culture and politics. He has since turned his creative talent to theatre, opera and community-based work and has worked with Space2 on a multitude of projects, including co-directing our two sell-out shows 'Gipton the Musical' and 'Oh I Do Like To Be Beside the Seacroft'. He has recently been working with Red Ladder Theatre, Welsh National Opera and  Cardboard Citizens Theatre in London, as well as being involved in various recent Space2 projects.



 Jane Morland 

Jane Morland is a multi-talented performing arts practitioner. She’s performed in many theatres across the country,  she facilitates, in character, historical workshops and sings with Commoners choir.

 
Jane worked alongside Space2 on two of our most ambitious and successful projects, directing both our sell-out 2015 show ‘Gipton the Musical’ and our follow up, the lively and vibrant musical ‘Oh I Do Like To Be Beside theSeacroft’. She directed and performed in our 2016 co-produced play for parents and children, ‘Ch-ch changes’.  Amongst others, Jane has also worked with us on the ‘I am’ project with Thorpe Primary School, a multi-sensory project aimed at giving children a creative voice. 
 
 
 


Kevin Hickson 

Kevin Hickson is a Leeds-based artist, photographer, designer and freelance community arts practitioner. He’s successfully delivered numerous creative and educational workshops in art, ceramics, design and digital photography. Much of his visual art and digital imagery focuses on imaginative representations of soothing natural environments. His postcards for Space2 explore patches of lush wilderness within urban landscapes, focusing on Potternewton, Chapeltown, Gipton, and Seacroft. This proudly showcases the artistic representations within East Leeds. Amongst other venutres, he is also a regular house, soul disco and funk DJ. 



Joe Knowles

Joe Knowles is a freelance artist who has a background in fine art. Her work has a particular focus on environmental art and how we can sustainably create art using tools and resources from the earth. She is also interested in working with natural materials, painting and various uses of sculpture.

She has worked alongside Space2 on a multitude of gardening projects and is committed to showcasing the transformative and artistic potential within the natural world, and how this can interlink with community development and engagement.


Tony Stephenson 

Tony Stephenson is an artist and facilitator with a background in textile design. He is passionate about social inclusion and has been working with people with dementia, mental health issues and special needs for more than 10 years, aligning with our strong ethos of challenging mental health stigma and the capacity of art and creativity in promoting mental wellbeing. He facilities our popular long-running Heart 2 Art group, which is showcased on our social media . He was the chair commissioner of our hugely popular independent socially-engaged arts project ‘Many Happy Returns – The NHS At 70’.




Matthew Bellwood 

Matthew Bellwood is a Leeds-based writer and storyteller. He’s performed at festivals globally, including Canada, Germany and New Zealand. His experience includes theatre, live art, site-specific performance and his projects promote the importance of inclusivity and engagement within the arts, engaging communities as co-authors and creators. He has written and produced a wide range of shows for young people.