The Schoodio, the successor of this research, is to be sited in a newly-founded art & craft school in Ryedale. It is located in a picturesque village on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. This close proximity to nature aims to inspire nature-related art & craft projects, both individually and at a community level.

"Schoodio" stands for school and studio. It offers a creative space where art & craft courses may take place that mainly use naturally resistant materials, such as wood, stone and clay.

Apart from regular, traditional craft courses, the Schoodio also offers possibilities for art & craft collaborations and participatory creative processes. For example, family courses, where parents and their children may choose to share an art & craft project. It encourages the participants to take notice of and to recognise the benefit of different artistic contributions made by adults and children (based on the unique values of the various age groups) during a shared project.

The Schoodio will also offer special courses, at which, all course participants may jointly create one ambitious art & craft work. These events may be organised as regular meetups or one-off charitable events. These events can also be children's parties or adult parties, where, for example, forest school games are woven into an art & craft activity. These projects are not dissimilar from the participatory projects listed on this website.

In the long term, the Schoodio intends to accommodate research in the field of participatory art & craft and become a study-hub for participatory art & craft projects in North Yorkshire.

The art & craft school will operate an open-door policy with a friendly cast iron kettle (fondly called Mu) on a woodburning stove to welcome anyone who calls by, with free tea and coffee. There will also be a non-commercial display area that may be used for displaying art & craft pieces created by the course participants at the Schoodio.

An old Methodist chapel was purchased for the Schoodio two years ago and since then, the building has been undergoing renovation. Meanwhile, some courses have been held at the local village hall. This is a continuity of the woodcarving courses that took place between 2006 and 2016 at my studio in Sussex. The Schoodio is planned to be opened to the public by Spring 2020.


Find out more about this art & craft school project by visiting the Schoodio's website www.schoodio.co.uk