Our Art Podcast

From Bo Selecta to Keith Lemon and Celebrity Juice, Leigh Francis has been "titting about" on our televisions for years, but did you know he's also an artist? Well he is. BUT he's never done and exhibition of his work...until now! 1853 Studios in Oldham is host Leigh's work for his debut show and it's all thanks to a chance meeting on holiday and our Deggy. Prior to the e...

Becky J. Field is the "non-artist" who has just put on an art exhibition...right! UNSEEN is an immersive art exhibition exploring the hidden and lasting impact of cyber bullying - the unseen consequences that ripple far beyond the screen and into everyday life. For more information about Becky's work click here . 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater M...

Oldham's Dare To Know Theatre are specialists in working class and community theatre. For the second consecutive year they are delivering Dare To Create, Oldham Arts Festival with a packed programme of theatre, activities and workshops, largely delivered by the people of Oldham, for the people of Oldham. This year, Oldham is Greater Manchester's Town of Culture so you'd imagine that th...

In this episode, our Deggy catches up with our very own Dylan Lisle. Dylan is a figurative painter who studied at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. He is based at 1853 Studios working as both a painter and tattooist. His work has been exhibited extensively, with solo exhibitions in London, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Manchester as well as group shows in New York, London, Eton, Edinburgh, Glasgow and M...

Jake McNeill is the founder of Creative Hackers. His job is to "Get Multipotentialites With  Big Ideas  Unstuck" with coaching sessions that help creative minds unlock their potential. Matt discovered Jake on TikTok, where he has amassed a following of over 160K, by sharing engaging content about the "divergent thinking paradox", which holds many a "creative" back. We...

There are exciting times ahead for Oldham and one of the reasons is us, 1853 Studios and Gallery and the amazing talent who create within. I this episode Deggy & Matt catch up with founder and artist Rachel to discuss the progress of the studios and how it has the potential to sit at heart of Oldham's future development. 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Man...

What does peripheries mean to you? More in importantly, what does it mean to the eight artists who answered our open call? In this episode we find out as we discuss what it means to be on the edge of things, open call culture, and the arts eco-system. Recorded on 8th May 2026 at the Peripheries launch event at 1853 Studios & Gallery in Oldham, Greater Manchester, the exhibition runs until 23rd...

Jack Horner aka Leon The Pig Farmer is a Manchester-based Yorkshire beat poet and ex-serviceman who creates high-energy, raw spoken-word performances about mental health, PTSD recovery, and working-class life. Jack is also one half of The Dirt , a transglobal collaboration with his life and musical partner, Japanese musician Sachiko, combining Psych shoe gaze guitars, electronic rhythm and abrasiv...

DIPACT is an award-winning Manchester-based, artist-led organization founded in 2016 that blends art, food, and culture to build community wealth and empower artists from diverse backgrounds. Follow them here on Instagram and here on Facebook . 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is not only home to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠The Northern Media Co.⁠ but to an ever gr...

Federico Cossu is an Italian artist born in Cagliari, Sardinia, who relocated to Manchester in 2014. During lockdown, Fede discovered the beauty of painting, a passion that has since become an integral part of life, along with a passion for music and keeping it real. Listen to Fede's band, Shiva May Care on Spotify here . 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Mancheste...

Kim Hubball is a freelance graphic designer and artist who works out of 1853 Studios Greater Manchester. Heavily inspired by her background in graphics, Kim loves to explore shape, colour and texture and is excited by the emotional response that can be achieved with the abstract.  In this episode she chats with our Deggy about her exhibition Order, Chaos, Harmony in which featured in the Mill 2 ga...

Following on from our preview of Ripples in the previous episode, this edition of Our Art Podcast features an audience with the show's writer and perfromer Tafadzwa Muchenje and director Rosie MacPherson. Host Matt Dean leads the chat along with questions from the audience as we find out more about this "epic" piece of work. 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester...

Stand & Be Counted Theatre (SBC) are located across Sheffield, Bradford and here with us in Oldham. They describe themselves as a "theatre company of sanctuary", working with those whom have recently arrived in the country to create a broad range of artistic and creative projects. Their not to be missed, upcoming show Ripples with Tafadzwa Muchenje, addresses some of the most crucial issues of...

Based at 1853 Studios in Oldham, Dare to Know Theatre are specialists in Working Class & Community Theatre. This August they are launching the towns first independent arts festival , so Matt is joined by Jake, Jess and Miranda to find out how and why now is the time. 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is not only home to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KUPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , O...

In this episode, we chat with our Luca Shaw. Luca is not only an incredibly important part of the 1853 Studios community and our podcast, but is also a very talented artist in her own right. Luca’s story is deeply personal and inspiring, if you’d like to follow her visit luca.visual on Instagram. 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is not only home to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

In this episode we chat to our Ami, an incredible artist who's work has featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, British GQ Magazine and many more publications as Angelcasts. Angelcasts are a female led life casting company created by Ami Crabb, a former prop maker with years of experience casting for Fashion, TV & Film. Vist Angelcasts website here and follow on Instagram here . 1853 Studios &...

Our Art Podcast is BACK! Series Two kicks off with an introduction to our Kathy, Luca tells us about the Arts Council England funding she's secured and we meet artist Scott Brown , who's debut solo exhibition is running at 1853 in July 2025. 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is not only home to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KUPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , Oldham’s only professional podca...

Our Art Podcast never really ends, but we're taking a little break so this is a bit of a summary about where we're up to and what lies ahead. Oh, and washing machines. 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is not only home to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KUPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , Oldham’s only professional podcast production company, but also to an ever growing, wonderfully varied and extremely...

Federico is an Italian musician and artist living in Manchester and a new addition to the 1853 community. You can follow Fede on Instagram here . 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is not only home to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KUPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , Oldham’s only professional podcast production company, but also to an ever growing, wonderfully varied and extremely talented collection of ar...

Emma Crawley is an artist and art teacher, who's vocation is to help you find your inner artist...she joins Rachel and Matt to chat about how and why. 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is not only home to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KUPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , Oldham’s only professional podcast production company, but also to an ever growing, wonderfully varied and extremely talented collection...

In this episode our Luca chats with our Matt (Dean), this podcast's producer and occasional singer about his turbulent path to eventual adulthood. 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is not only home to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KUPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , Oldham’s only professional podcast production company, but also to an ever growing, wonderfully varied and extremely talented collection of art...

Bill Eiffert is without doubt one of the most loved characters at 1853 Studios. Despite an initial reluctance on his part, his first exhibition Melange, was a tremendous success and we're delighted to be able to bring you the man behind the art... 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is not only home to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KUPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , Oldham’s only professional podcast production...

Photographer Gavin Taylor decided that making films should be for everyone and that the basics could be taught over a weekend, so he started Weekend Film School Manchester , here at 1853 Studios. In this episode, Gavin shares his passion for teaching affordable film making courses and, obviously, what he's having for his tea... 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is n...

In this episode we chat with Diane Bramma from Dee Selecta which offers a "T girls shop, dressing service, photoshoots and events a discreet and safe space for you to dress" and was "nominated for Outstanding Contribution to the Transgender Community". In other circles, Diane is known as The Fairy Godmother and as you'll hear, that's a whole other story... 1853 Studios...

In this episode we chat with the amazing Jake and Miranda from Dare to Know Theatre , who are specialists in Working Class & Community Theatre creating work with a Social Purpose that centres Community Participation & Diversity. 1853 Studios & Gallery⁠⁠⁠ in Oldham, Greater Manchester is not only home to ⁠⁠⁠KUPOD⁠⁠⁠ , Oldham’s only professional podcast production company, but also to an...