Here we have listed FREE things to do in Coventry this spring, inspired by Coventry UK City of Culture.

The Show Windows

SAT 15 MAY 2021 TO SUN 1 MAY 2022

COVENTRY CITY CENTRE

LOCATIONS ACROSS THE CITY

The Show Windows is co-produced in partnership with Coventry City of Culture Trust, Coventry Business Improvement District and the Royal Institute of British Architects. Funded by Arts Council England.

THE SHOW WINDOWS

Following a year where everyone has mainly been gazing out of their windows, you are now being invited to look in. 

Once upon a window…

As part of Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, artists, designers, architects and makers are transforming Coventry city centre, turning shop windows into portals to fantasy worlds and mindscapes.

These site-specific artworks, framed behind the window glazing, by local and international artists will act as picture book pages and mirrors in which to see new narratives and reflections of ourselves and the city. 

As they re-join public spaces after a year of being at home, The Show Windows aims to inspire hope, adventure and imagination, inviting people to rediscover multi-faceted Coventry, ever-evolving and home to diverse and creative communities and businesses, and its people.

You can scan the artwork with the Smartify app and step into The Show Windows portal to find out more.

In Paint We Trust

SAT 15 MAY 2021 TO SUN 1 MAY 2022

COVENTRY CITY CENTRE

IN PAINT WE TRUST

Produced by Street Art Strategy with support from Coventry Business Improvement District & Coventry City of Culture Trust. 

ABOUT THE PROJECT

From May 2021, In Paint We Trust will see new artworks appearing in unique spaces across the city centre and neighbourhoods across Coventry and Warwickshire. Artists will be given opportunities to animate along pathways and walls giving audiences a chance to explore.

Produced by Street Art Strategy a team of Coventry Artists and Event Producers. Michael Batchelor, Melissa Smith, Jay Holder and Andrew Clare (Spray Station).

In Paint We Trust is not just about decorative works, it also features opportunities to tell the stories that are important to the city through art in our everyday spaces. To spark conversation and allow for communities to get creative with workshop days.

In Paint We Trust will also offer opportunities for young people, local artists and facilitators to be part of the experience with managed legal walls, workshops and opportunities to paint in the programme.

A crossover with the Youthful Cities programme will offer an international exchange of ideas and work with Bogota, Columbia which will be led by Coventry artist Jay Mckeown, Leicester’s Graffwerks and Columbia’s Vertigo Graffiti.

The first commission is being delivered with a West Midlands Police Neighbourhood Team in Hillfields. The local Police Community Support officers recently ran a competition in conjunction with primary schools in the area to design artwork that was based on tackling the topics of bullying, internet safety, road safety and knife crime. The winning artwork is being recreated by the street art specialists in conjunction with The Watch Charity and Community Centre.

Radford Bubbles Exhibition (Jubilee Crescent Community Centre)

THU 23 SEP 2021 TO THU 28 APR 2022

JUBILEE CRESCENT COMMUNITY CENTRE
JUBILEE CRESCENT, CV6 3EX

A photographic exhibition at Jubilee Crescent Community Centre of ‘support bubbles’, families and other groups of residents that supported each other during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020-21. 

Community leaders in Radford came up with the idea of setting up a portrait photography project for Coventry’s UK City of Culture year that would take a snapshot of life in during the pandemic, creating memories for future generations. Designer Ella Clarke created a frame for subjects to be photographed within, inspired by the bright colours seen in a sunlit soap bubble, providing a translucent quality to images.

Ten local people signed up for the challenge of taking the support bubble photographs, some with no previous experience of photography.  They were guided and mentored by portrait photographer Fran Monks and together they explored the possibilities of taking images of people through dichromatic film which diffuses the light passing through so that subjects on the opposite side are often not clearly visible.  The results are interesting and often surprising.

Little Acorns Drop In Session At Moat House Park

TUE 8 MAR 2022 TO TUE 24 MAY 2022

MOAT HOUSE PARK
WINSTON AVENUE, COVENTRY CV2 1EA

Please join the Little Acorns on Tuesdays in the park for these woodland wellbeing sessions where you and your little one/s can explore the park with Nature Tots fun activities with Anna from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, relax and unwind in The Woodland Library with Coventry Libraries staff and have a cuppa and a biscuit under the canopy of trees.

Song and Soil – Spring Appreciation at Food Union Allotment

SUN 27 MAR 2022 @ 13.00

FOOD UNION CV5 SITE, COVENTRY
FOUR POUNDS AVE, COVENTRY CV5 8DH

With winter done and the warmer weather on the way, Food Union will be turning their attention to all the spring prep work needed on the allotment. Join them as they sow new seeds, nurture their growing beds tidy the allotment up ready for the growing season ahead.

Once they’re finished they’ll retire to the bonfire for some hot food, cooked up by The Pod Café and live music (TBC).

Shelter provided if the weather is bad.

Friendly dogs welcome.