For, By, With: a New Era of Community Arts
Science Fair, 2025; image by Alistair Brookes
After years of consultation, experimentation and refinement, we’re now seeing the impact of our work come together; strengthening our ambition to be a nationally celebrated hub for socially engaged arts. By joining the dots across multiple projects, partners and communities, we’re reaching more people than ever and embedding creativity into everyday life.
At the heart of this transformation is our for, by, with methodology, which ensures that everything we do is created for communities, shaped by those with lived experience, and developed with the people and partners who help bring it to life. Through this approach, we’ve secured major multi-year funding, providing the stability needed to invest in long-term change and build deeper relationships that ensure our work is truly relevant and impactful.
Partnerships with Bristol Drugs Project and Bristol School of Art are creating new pathways for adults to engage with creativity as a tool for health, wellbeing and personal development. Through targeted workshops by expert facilitators and with individuals who may not otherwise access creative spaces, we are providing opportunities to build confidence, express identity, and develop new skills - whether in music or performance.
Our Cultural Alliance and after-school programmes are ensuring that creative opportunities exist for local children - many of whom are engaging with the arts for the first time. By embedding arts provision within schools and community settings, we’re developing work by and with young people that helps them discover their creative potential, make new connections, and gain valuable life skills.
Trinity's combined arts programme continues to flourish, bringing an exciting mix of dance, theatre and live performance from emerging artists both local and touring to allow new audiences to access this exciting work at Trinity and beyond. Alongside this, our Seeding Sessions are platforming some of the most exciting new sounds offering an enchanting and experimental evenings for true music enthusiasts.
By expanding our work for audiences in schools, community spaces, and public spaces, we are ensuring culture is more accessible than ever. Whether through powerful theatre performances by local artists, high-energy dance workshops with community groups, or participatory projects that put people at the centre of the creative process, we are bringing communities together in meaningful ways.
This progress has been made possible by an ambitious, empowered, and dedicated team whose passion for socially engaged arts is driving change. With strong foundations in place and an exciting future ahead, we’re ready to take our work even further - expanding our reach, deepening our impact, and ensuring that culture and creativity remain at the heart of community life for, by, and with the people who need it most.
By Adam Gallacher, Deputy CEO
