Artists

Casey Bailey

Casey Bailey is an award winning writer, performer and educator from Nechells, Birmingham. Casey was the Birmingham Poet Laureate 2020-2022.

Casey’s latest poetry collection From This Soil was published by The Broken Spine in 2022 and his play Please Do Not Touch toured theatres nationally in 2026.

Az

Admired for his striking realism and impressionistic style, Artbyaz, known as ‘Az’, is a Chelmsley Wood local.

A self-taught contemporary artist, he works in a variety of mediums, including oils, charcoal, pastels, installation art, watercolours, markers, and acrylics,  he has developed a versatile and distinctive approach.

Az has been commissioned by the likes of Snoop Dog, Dynamo, Dizzie Rascal, and is responsible for the iconic Peaky blinders mural in the centre of Birmingham

Jasmine Gardosi

Jasmine Gardosi is the former Birmingham Poet Laureate and an Honorary Doctor of Letters. They are a multiple slam champion, beatboxer, winner of the Out-Spoken Prize for Poetry and winner of the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Performer 2023. Their work exploring beatbox poetry, neurodivergence, LGBTQ identity and mental health has appeared on Button Poetry, at the Tate Modern, Glastonbury Festival, Symphony Hall, BBC and Sky Arts. They have been invited to perform and run workshops around the world, and their poem about the pandemic, filmed on a rollercoaster, was broadcast across America on PBS. Their debut solo single about sexuality  ‘Dancing To Music You Hate’ fuses Celtic Dubstep and spoken word. 

Emily Holtom

Alongside working as Assistant Producer on this project, Emily will be delivering poetry workshops in several of our locations. Emily is best known for creating pop-up poetry on demand on a vintage typewriter, writing custom poems live in response to people, places, and conversations. She is passionate about giving poetry a place in the most unexpected contexts, and helping all ages to access it.​

Following a six-month poetry residency in Knowle in 2025, she and her typewriter will appear at festivals across the UK in 2026.

Kurly McGeachie

​Alan (Kurly) McGeachie delivers fun mass engagement poetry workshops in schools, colleges and universities to help increase literacy confidence, oracy, curricular attainment and wellbeing. He is a multiple Birmingham Poet Laureate finalist and CEO of Memorhyme - a collective of professional poets, with works recognised by Her Majesty The Queen, performed at The Royal Albert Hall and used to brief the Cabinet Office. Kurly is passionate about supporting young people in accessing poetry at any level of experience.

Katie O

Katie is an artist living and working across the midlands. She loves to create large scale murals transporting the viewer to another world. Katie likes her work to have a magical element and create a feeling of awe and wonder within her paintings. She loves to tell a story with paint and let the viewers imagination take hold.

Katie works collaboratively with a variety of groups, youth groups, community organisations and businesses to brighten spaces, build connections and create pride in areas. 

Panda

David Brown, otherwise known as Panda, is a grafftti artist and muralist based in Birmingham. He has over 30 years experience in the graffiti world, with a range of projects including community workshops and corporate murals.

You name it, he's probably painted it... from 8 story buildings to film sets, throughout his time, he's been commissioned to urbanise some amazing spaces!

Millie Yarwood

Millie is an lllustrator and Muralist based in Solihull. Her art has a distinct style consisting of long-limbed funky characters, which exist in a universe of bright colours and bold shapes. Community and connection are themes that are often explored throughout her illustrations.

Sanne Blanco

Sanne is an artist, producer and workshop facilitator based in West Yorkshire and the West Midlands. Her recent work, shown in the Wolverhampton Art Gallery, was part of the More Art Inc 3 exhibition, showcasing community in Wolverhampton and the cost of creativity through large scale digital drawings. She is currently the producer of Poetry Jam, a free open mic event in Birmingham. 

India Birtwisle

India is an artist, creative producer, and workshop facilitator from Wolverhampton, driven by a passion for inspiring the local community in the West Midlands through the arts. Her practice goes beyond making; she aims to create meaningful impact by encouraging people to use creativity as a tool for self-expression and to explore the world around them.

Ayan Mahamud

Ayan Mahamud uses both poetry and painting to reflect and examine transformation, meticulously chart progress and dismantle old patterns. Ayan explores the intricacies and chaos of human living through exploration of themes such as identity, loss, migration, diversity and inclusion.