These are exciting times for Keighley Creative as we prepare to move to our purpose-built home on Hanover Street.

The building work on the former department store is almost complete, and we’re working hard on a smooth transition as staff and studio holders make the move from our present home on Cooke Lane, shifting all our equipment, art works and paraphernalia of a creative organisation into the new culture hub, which will be known as the Hanover Works – a nod to its heritage, as it stands on the site of the former Hanover Mill.

It’s the culmination of Keighley Creative’s growth and development, which began in 2019 when a group of individual artists and community projects came together to collaborate using arts and creativity as a common focus in Keighley and district. 

From humble beginnings in the redundant Sunwin House store, we’re now happily working with the charity East Street Arts, to move back into that very same building, now transformed in a £4m project, into an amazing new facility with two galleries, an education room, 26 artist’s galleries, a large multi-use room and a meeting room.

Keighley College will be joining us in Hanover Works with three rooms to be used for adult learning.

There has been a great deal of interest in this new culture hub, and we’ve had visits from Bradford Council’s deputy leader Andrew Judson, Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore, Bradford Council’s assistant director for culture, policy and events David Watson and West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin.

We’re currently devising with East Street Arts a launch event and, when we’re settled in, we’ll be working on our programme of events, activities and group sessions for which we’ve been renowned in the seven years of our existence.

Watch this space!