Creative projects celebrating everything from Luton’s carnival heritage to refugee experiences and the town’s chalk landscape have been awarded funding through a programme designed to support community-led arts.
Seventeen projects across the town have secured grants through the Evolution Fund, part of the Luton Create Fund, which backs initiatives that use creativity to strengthen wellbeing, connection and community pride.
The fund offers grants ranging from £5,000 to £20,000 and attracted strong interest from across the town, with 148 applications submitted by local artists, organisations and community groups.
The successful projects span a wide range of artistic disciplines including visual arts, performance, textiles, literature, digital media and heritage. Several initiatives also focus specifically on supporting children and young people or people with special educational needs and disabilities.
The programme forms part of the wider Luton Arts initiative, a two-year programme designed to support the town’s cultural sector through funding, partnerships and opportunities to help creative work grow and reach more communities.
The funded projects will take place in neighbourhoods across Luton between now and October 2026.
Leader of Luton Council Hazel Simmons said the awards highlighted the strength and diversity of the town’s creative sector.
“Creativity is part of Luton’s DNA. The Evolution Fund backs ideas that grow from our neighbourhoods, our histories and our communities,” she said.
“These projects are full of imagination, courage and local pride. They show the impact that’s possible when people are supported to tell their stories.”
Among the projects receiving support are a visual arts initiative exploring Luton’s chalk landscape using chalk pigments and travelling sculptures, a site-specific theatre production inspired by folklore and working-class history, and a community archive and exhibition marking 50 years of Luton Carnival’s Afro-Caribbean heritage.
Other initiatives include workshops where refugees, asylum seekers and people with disabilities will create mixed-media “postcards” about home and belonging, an intergenerational textiles project exploring identity and sustainability, and a film and mobile exhibition collecting stories and experiences from residents across the town.
Several projects also focus on health and wellbeing, including a portrait and storytelling project featuring people recovering from heart attacks, sustainable fashion and craft workshops supporting mental health recovery, and creative enterprise sessions for women receiving support from Women’s Aid.
There are also projects aimed at children and young people, including school-based arts programmes, an immersive digital sound artwork created by pupils capturing local voices and sounds, and a “suitcase theatre” initiative helping primary and SEND pupils create stories, puppets and performances.
Councillor Javeria Hussain, vice chair of Luton Rising, said the funding recognised the power of creativity to strengthen communities.
“At Luton Rising, we’re proud to champion the Evolution Fund because we believe creativity can truly change lives and bring people together,” she said.
“These projects showcase the incredible talent and spirit that make our town unique, and we’re delighted to help them flourish. When Luton thrives creatively, the whole community benefits.”
James Gough, independent chair of Luton’s Arts and Culture Strategy Group, said programmes like the Evolution Fund were key to helping local artists and organisations develop sustainable creative work.
“The Arts and Culture Strategy Group acts as a strategic connector for Luton’s cultural vision, bringing partners together to create the conditions in which arts and culture can flourish and supporting those who make and create to do so sustainably,” he said.
“Funding programmes like the Evolution Fund are vital in turning that vision into tangible support for artists, organisations and communities.”
The full list of funded projects and upcoming events are:
• Abi Spendlove – Exploring Luton’s chalk landscape: A hands on visual arts project using chalk pigment, a travelling sculpture and a public exhibition celebrating the town’s natural landscape.
• Cheryl Prince – play called AWAKEN: A site responsive performance exploring witch heritage, folklore and working class stories.
• Dianne Thomas – Voices of Nubian Queens: A multidisciplinary International Women’s Day event featuring poetry, storytelling, dance and drama celebrating Black women’s voices.
• Gabrielle Smith, Jade Scott and Karis Beaumont – Beyond Luton Carnival 50: A community archive and exhibition marking 50 years of Luton Carnival’s Afro Caribbean history.
• Mary Hearne – Postcards from Home: Mixed‑media workshops supporting refugees, asylum seekers, and people with disabilities to craft expressive “postcards” about home and belonging.
• Woven voices: An intergenerational upcycled textiles project exploring identity, storytelling and sustainability.
• Thomas Young – ‘Who are you… really?’: A film and mobile exhibition collecting voices and experiences from the local community.
• Elaine Lister and Fiona Martin – Luton at Heart: A portraiture and storytelling project exploring the experiences of people recovering from heart attacks.
• SIG Penrose Roots working with Elizabeth Aldous: Sustainable fashion, natural dyeing and therapeutic craft workshops supporting mental health recovery.
• Women’s Aid in Luton working with Priya Ramkisson: Creative and micro enterprise sessions empowering women with complex support needs.
• Lugus Ceramics: A SEND led collaborative sculpture project producing a permanent sensory garden installation.
• Luton Urban Radio working with The Peter Honegan Band: A cultural event celebrating Windrush Day and Father’s Day through music, art and wellbeing messages.
• Denbigh Primary School working with local musicians, poets, and sound artists: Children capturing local sounds and spoken word to create an immersive digital artwork.
• Pioneer Learning Trust working with Lucy from Opal Arts: After school art clubs supporting pupils eligible for Pupil Premium.
• Sophie Gresswell – The Perpendicular Poetry Prize: An expanded poetry competition with workshops, events and two new anthologies.
• Aaron Spendelow: A suitcase theatre programme helping primary and SEND pupils co create stories, puppets and performances.
• Communities 1st/Trestle Theatre Company: A drama based CPD programme supporting teachers to develop inclusive speech and language approaches.
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