'An Unremarkable Wood' Symposium

Chrysalis Arts Development and York St John University present a one-day symposium exploring creative relationships and processes that aim to reset connections with place, nature and artists' responses to the ecological crisis.

This event will combine presentations, panel discussions, breakout sessions offering a choice of themes and content and creative activities.

Details

Venue: Creative Centre, York St John University

Date & Time: Thursday 12 June 2025, 10am–6pm

Fee: £40. Includes buffet lunch, tea/coffee and end-of-the-day wine reception.

Limited number of bursary spots are available at a reduced rate of £15. See symposium website for more details.

Themes

The programme will address the following themes:

Collaboration and shared learning: Creative partnerships and transdisciplinary collaborations

Ecological Responsiveness: our understanding of place and storytelling, durational research and slow art.

New Narratives and Examination/Beyond the Human: ethical and imaginative connections across species boundaries, the creative use of data to map and explore natural and human environments, including local and global perspectives 

The symposium builds on a longstanding collaboration between Chrysalis Arts Development, (CAD) a North Yorkshire-based visual arts organisation, and York St John University.  It is designed for artists, including those with an environmental research focus, other creatives, arts and environmental organisations, academics, local authority officers and others working with place-related and environmental issues.

It also draws upon CAD’s current project, ‘Mapping Marton Wood,’ an extended slow art project which weaves artists, ecologists, and the public together focusing on a 6.6-hectare local woodland.

Further details about the symposium can be found on the symposium website.