New name for Wigan community arts organisation helping people to be creative

Wigan STEAM is changing its name to Everyday, following the news that it will continue to receive funding through GMCA’s cultural portfolio.

Alongside the new name, the organisation will use the tagline “Making Space for Creativity”, highlighting its commitment to supporting people of all ages and backgrounds to develop their everyday creativity.

The rebrand project was initially supported with funding from Arts Council England in 2021, which allowed the team to do research and development and consult with community members, before working with designer Studio Baba to develop the brand.

Engagement director Emily Calland said: “The name Everyday is a nod to the idea of ‘everyday creativity’ – that everybody, no matter their ability, has creativity within them to be nurtured, and that this can take place through simple acts that are unpretentious and small scale, that you might view as ‘everyday’.

"Our goal is to foster transformative creative experiences for even more people within our communities, and we hope our new brand will support us to do so.”

Wigan STEAM began in October 2016 as a pop-up project supported by Wigan Council to foster digital skills and engage people in STEM through creativity.

It has since developed into a broader creative and cultural programme offering shared creative experiences, cultural learning opportunities and artist-led, socially-engaged practice.

Over the last seven years the organisation has built up a successful engagement programme which features a youth programme for 11 to 17 year olds (Young Makers and Young Producers), a youth voice project (Creative Activators), an early years group (Mini Makers), holiday activities for children and families, and evening workshops for adults.

It has also delivered various projects supporting artists from across the region to develop their work with communities and education settings.

Though the organisation works in venues across Wigan and Leigh, it has had several bases during its existence, including on Library Street, within The Galleries shopping centre and most recently within The Old Courts.

Creative director Louise Robson said: “We’ve been exploring the possibility of a name change and rebrand for the last few years, having identified that people were often confused about our name and what we do. We also really wanted to drop the ‘Wigan’, as it gives people the impression that we only work in Wigan when in actual fact, we work across the borough and Greater Manchester.

"A lot of thought has gone into this change and we’ve taken a really considered approach, with community consultation and focus groups, to ensure that our community have been involved every step of the way. The new branding better represents who we are and what we do, and puts an emphasis on what is most important for us – fostering creativity. This places us in a position where we are better able to communicate our aims, and therefore reach more people and produce wider impacts.”

A free community event to celebrate the launch of Everyday will be held from 11am to 1pm on Saturday, April 29 at The Old Courts. It is ticketed but free and open to all.