Green Roots

Have you ever wondered what is growing on your doorstep? How can we make the High Street a welcoming place to live for people, insects and birds? How do you use green spaces in your neighbourhood?

Through a community programme of art and creativity Green Roots invites you to explore these questions and get involved in workshops, walks and events in and around the High Street.

Over the next three years, Multistory will deliver Green Roots, a cultural programme that is part of the wider West Bromwich Urban Greening Scheme that Sandwell Council is delivering. The Scheme will focus on green public realm improvements that will animate the town with new green spaces that Green Roots will enhance through its programme of co-produced community and creative-led activities.

Putting art and creativity at its heart, Green Roots will provide inclusive opportunities for communities and groups local to West Bromwich to have greater engagement in, and knowledge about, the natural capacity of the town centre and will offer training and apprenticeships.

Visual Poetry with Soheila Javaheri

Filmmaker Soheila Javaheri collaborated with a group of 8 Photography and Media students from Phoenix Collegiate on a project called Visual Poetry from January to March 2023. Over 6 workshops they explored local
environments through photography, digital film-making and storytelling. We will hold a celebration event to showcase the work in Spring 2023.

Workshops with Kate Green & Sandwell College Photography students

Photographer Kate Green will run workshops with photography students at Sandwell College throughout
March 2023 to:

– explore and document how they feel about their
local environment;
– gain photography, digital and editing skills.
The students started their project with a walk led by Jake from The Wildlife Trust, who was explaining what
wildlife, plants and trees can currently be found along the High Street and the Urban Greening route.

Image © Kate Green Photography

Coffeegraphy with Razi Mohebi

Socially engaged artist Razi Mohebi is running Coffeegraphy, a regular workshop, social gathering and coffee morning at Central Library for people interested in painting with coffee and meeting for a creative discussion.

Wildlife Walks

8 seasonal educational and creative guided walks with The Wildlife Trust to survey and map the plants, weeds and wildlife along the High Street.

The first community walk took place with Sandwell College on 28 Feb 2023. The next walk was with Sandwell Visually Impaired on the 10 April 2023 and the first public walk took place on the 20 May 2023 as part of the City Nature Challenge.