Projects

Ella Hempsted is a multi-disciplinary artist educator based in Brighton. Ella’s approach to making and facilitating is always process driven. Her interests lie in the investigation and experimentation of the potential of materials. Her chosen materials are usually found or collected, saved from being waste to be repurposed and reimagined. This way of working has led to a playful approach to making.

There is always space left for the unexpected, learning through doing is prioritised, and a focus is placed on process over outcomes.

Wriggle Room is Towner’s free programme for under-5s and their caregivers on selected Tuesdays during termtime. Our fun and creative sessions are developed by artist Ella Hempsted with Towner’s Learning team, building on a four-year partnership with Willingdon Trees Community Centre.

Activities and workshops are developed collaboratively with participants and staff at Willingdon Trees Community Centre in Hampden Park who feed directly into the programme for cross-site audiences. 

The programme explores connection to the natural environment around Eastbourne and East Sussex including histories, folkore and natural materials.

Seasonal trips across autumn, spring and summer into the landscapes around us offer families the opportunity to experience Sussex's unique landscapes first hand with cost barriers including transport, food and ticket costs covered. Wriggle Room families have previously visited Friston Forest, Middle Farm, Berwick Church, Cuckmere Haven, Hampden Park and Rooted Allotments.

Wriggle Room encourages child-caregiver collaboration through crafting activities, story-time and sensory play. We aim to create informal spaces for open-ended individual and collective making, play and story-time. Wriggle Room is also a social space where we encourage caregivers to meet and chat and under-5s to develop social skills.

If you'd like to hear more or have any questions on Wriggle Room, please contact Mollie (Learning Curator: Children and Young People)

Please visit our What's On page for dates.

Tanvi Kant was lead artist for Wriggle Room from September 2024 - July 2026. Tanvi is an interdisciplinary artist based in East Sussex. Her works span across textile jewellery, participatory installations, collage and sculpture, responding to materials through tactility, colour and construction.

Tanvi's sessions were inspired by the curiosity and open-ended exploration of young children, while encouraging intergenerational interaction. Gentle themes included folklore, heritage, natural materials and sustainable approaches to making.

Tanvi's workshops embrace repurposed materials from her studio and surplus from gallery workshops and exhibitions. Participants engage with tactile and sensory materials through both individual and collective making, including installations, food-making, and tasting activities.

From Spring 2022 to Summer 2024, Wriggle Room was led by Visual and Performance artists Katy Beinart and Lydia Hunt. They developed creative sessions for under-5s and their caregivers across Eastbourne inspired by the seasons and habitats that surround us through crafts, storytelling and movement.

Wriggle Room has previously been delivered in partnership with the South Downs National Park Trust.