IAA Project type: Partnership grant

Duration of project: November 2024-July 2025

Partner organisation: 

Northamptonshire Archaeological Resource Centre (NARC)

Earthly Arts Studio (EAS)

MOLA staff leading IAA grant: Jenni McNulty & Ffion Rogers

Individual partners: 

NARC – Ben Donnelly-Symes & Georgina Clipstone

EAS – Lisa Lovett Igo

Project aim

The main aim of the project is to improve the wellbeing of community members through the production of art inspired by archaeological archives.

Audiences

Residents of the Nene Valley area who are experiencing low to moderate poor mental or physical health or are supporting a loved one through that experience.

The project

Participants were recruited through NHFT’s Talking Therapies (NHFT TT) service and invited to a casual drop-in session at Earthly Arts Studio on the Chester House Estate.  

Participants attended a 2-hour session on Wednesdays over the course of 7 weeks. Each week we focused on a different time period in the Nene Valley, working back through time:

  • Post-medieval / modern
  • Medieval
  • Early Medieval
  • Roman
  • Iron Age
  • Bronze Age
  • Palaeolithic to Neolithic

Staff from MOLA and NARC introduced each time period and the archaeological evidence from Northamptonshire, while artist Lisa Lovett Igo led on the creative techniques. The artefacts chosen from the archives were from projects that MOLA had excavated in the area. These were used to encourage discussion and inspire the participants to create their own artworks based on them. Lisa fired the ceramic pieces created and participants were able to add glazes and paints to their creations.

An additional wrap-up session allowed participants to finalise their artistic pieces and an exhibition of a selection of these pieces will be held in the museum at Chester House Estate, to run from June until September 2025.

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