Smethwick Imaginarium is a place-based arts programme celebrating the cultural diversity, canal heritage and community spirit of Smethwick.
Six artists working across photography, performance, poetry, graphic design, sculpture and curation are collaborating with local residents and community organisations to co-create work that explores the role of the Galton Valley Canal in our community.
The programme launched in February 2026 with free creative workshops at Smethwick Library. There will be more workshops in Easter; canal activities in partnership with Brasshouse Community Centre. Through summer and autumn, artists will share their work at public moments along the canal and in local venues, culminating in a celebratory festival.
Join us for free workshops and events exploring themes of heritage, ecology and wellbeing. Activities are designed for everyone: families, individuals and community groups.
Meet the artists
Juneau Projects
(Ben Sadler & Philip Duckworth) have a participatory practice embedded in creative empowerment and shared learning. They have worked extensively with communities in urban planning, natural landscapes, and ecological settings through temporary, digital, and permanent sculpture. They participated in the 2023 Smethwick Imaginarium pilot, developing laser-cut fish assemblages exploring canal biodiversity.
Beth Derbyshire
An artist and educator working with social practice, sculpture and storytelling. Her work explores interconnecting themes of togetherness, displacement, loss of identity and active citizenship through temporary, time-based works and performances in non-art alternative spaces. In the 2023 pilot, she invited participants to create terrariums with waterway plants, sparking discussions about the canal’s value to the community.
Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora
A Birmingham-based socially engaged artist working with photography. Previous work includes tender family portraits at Lightwoods House, Smethwick, as part of the BLAST! festival. (2019), and Aurat ki Himmat (A Woman’s Strength), a co-created publication with women from Birmingham Crisis Centre exploring the world through their eyes. Jaskirt grew up in Sandwell, bringing a personal connection to Smethwick.
Sharonjit Sutton
A Birmingham-based emerging multidisciplinary artist, designer and co-founder of the South Asian Arts Collective (SAAC). Her practice involves graphic design for community, education and heritage projects, paintings, videos and emerging conceptual projects, including His Name’s Not Charlie, about her grandfather’s migration from Kenya to London in the 1970s. In the 2023 pilot, she created an ecological activity connected to water mythology at Smethwick Library.
Anneka French
A curator and writer based in Halesowen with family roots in Smethwick. She produced the 2023 pilot project and has worked with Coventry Biennial on new commissions connected to canals and the River Sherbourne. She has worked at Tate Modern, Ikon, and Wolverhampton Art Gallery; curated exhibitions at Grand Union and Croome (National Trust); and served as Director at New Art West Midlands (CVAN). She contributes to Art Quarterly, Burlington Contemporary and works for art publisher Anomie as Editor.
Credits and funders
A Canal & River Trust project funded by Arts Council England and through funds raised by players of People's Postcode Lottery.
Delivered in partnership with North Smethwick Development Trust / Brasshouse Community Centre and Smethwick Interfaith Friends Group.
