The Portland Inn Project: Raising the Roof

The Portland Inn Project is a creative arts project for a community in Stoke-on-Trent that aims to achieve community cohesion, economic, social and cultural development by involving the community in the development of a pioneering community space, cultural hub and social enterprise. This is a collaborative delivery led by artists Anna Francis (Community Maker) and Rebecca Davies (The Oasis Social Club) and is supported by AirSpace Gallery, Appetite, My Community Matters, Arts Council England, Aziz Foundation and Stoke City Council.
In 2018, The Portland Inn Project delivered a public art programme, which first collaborated with Architects Baxendale, to co-build a temporary Community Hub with residents from the local area, and then to run a month long programme of activity, events and performances from that temporary building.
The project was funded by Arts Council England, and shortlisted for a RIBA Macewen Award (an award that recognises architecture for the common good.)