Rethinking the Brownfields is an ongoing project that explores the outcomes of using public arts practice to reframe ex-industrial brownfield sites in the public consciousness. It has focused on Stoke-on-Trent, which has exposed several brownfield sites following a late twenty-first-century industrial downturn. These sites have generated community fears, being seen as dilapidated and dangerous. The research has shown that public arts practice can inspire people to reconsider these spaces as resilient eco-systems with significant ecological value.
Initial research stemmed from a research residency in Nara, Japan, which was focused on the flower-arranging technique Ikebana (2012). Francis explored how inviting Stoke-on-Trent residents and professional artists to take part in ‘Brownfield Ikebana’ (2012, 2015, 2018) in three city centre brownfield sites (the greyhound track, the abattoir, and the ABC Cinema) provoked dialogue on the spaces’ ecological importance. Francis has extended these engagement activities to include workshops, walks, and community meals. She has also investigated the effects of artist-focused research residencies, and responsive interventions on changing public perception. She has taken both public- and artist-engagement activities to other major cities including London and Birmingham.
In collaboration with the AirSpace Gallery, Francis has used her findings to develop the Spode Rose Garden, a community garden located at the shuttered Spode ceramics factory. The Rose Garden has engaged community members in creating, maintaining, and celebrating an urban space that is specifically intended for people and natural life to cohabit.
Francis has disseminated her methodologies and findings through addresses and workshops delivered at academic and practitioner conferences throughout the UK and Europe. She has also disseminated her work through public group exhibitions throughout the UK, including Treeline, (Vivid, Birmingham (2018), Cryopreservation (SYSON, Nottingham (2015), Small Worlds (New Art Gallery Walsall, (2015), and BCB (Stoke-on-Trent (2015).
