Bridge of Hope Project

The Bridge of Hope Project

Community Residency / Socially Engaged Practice

Bridge of Hope is a community-based arts project developed in response to a local bridge that had become associated with negative and harmful uses. The project set out to reframe and re-establish this site as a shared, positive space, using participatory art to support reflection, recovery and social repair.

Working in residency with The Old Chapel Café and local residents in Saltney Ferry, the project invited people to engage creatively with the bridge — not as a problem to be managed, but as a symbol of transition, connection and resilience. This approach aligns with my wider practice, which centres on place-based work, collaboration and the use of creativity as a tool for wellbeing and community dialogue.

Rather than producing a single authored artwork, Bridge of Hope prioritised process, access and participation. Creative activities were designed to be informal and inclusive, allowing individuals to contribute at their own pace and according to their own experience.

Activities included

Collaborative image-making, using a bridge motif that participants coloured and altered, later developed into shared bunting and displays within the community.
Collective songwriting, gathering words and phrases from participants to form the Bridge of Hope song, reflecting shared hopes and experiences.
Photography contributions, inviting people to document bridges — literal or metaphorical — that represented connection, change or recovery.

The resulting work forms an evolving collective archive shaped by local voices. It acknowledges the complex history of the site while offering an alternative narrative grounded in care, visibility and shared ownership.

Bridge of Hope reflects an ongoing commitment in my practice to using art as a means of reclaiming spaces, supporting wellbeing, and enabling communities to participate in shaping the meaning of their environment. The project demonstrates how socially engaged arts practice can contribute to longer-term conversations around place, identity and recovery, while remaining open-ended and responsive to the people involved.