Birmingham Heritage Week 2026
Heritage Walk & Creative Workshop
Birmingham Heritage Week 2026
Heritage Walk & Creative Workshop
On Friday 11 September, Make Your Mark returned to Birmingham as part of Birmingham Heritage Week 2026, in partnership with We Go Outside Too.
Starting at the Mailbox, we followed Birmingham’s canals on a gentle creative walk, exploring the city through colour, texture and the materials beneath our feet.
Along the way, participants were invited to slow down, observe, sketch, write and gather inspiration from the landscape around them, before using handmade natural earth pigments to create their own artwork inspired by the journey.
Each participant also received a small creative kit to take away, encouraging them to continue noticing, collecting and creating beyond the workshop.
Thank you to everyone who joined us and made their mark on the city.
Presented as part of Birmingham Heritage Week 2026, in partnership with We Go Outside Too.
Make Your Mark is a participatory outdoor art experience that invites people to slow down, notice the landscape around them and explore creativity through walking, conversation and natural pigments. Combining outdoor exploration with collaborative making, the workshop encourages participants to connect with place, one another and the creative process.
Designed to be welcoming, reflective and accessible, the experience celebrates curiosity over perfection, inviting participants to engage at their own pace and discover that creativity can be found in the simple act of paying attention.
An invitation to …
Arrive Participants are welcomed into a calm and supportive space where they can settle, meet one another and become familiar with the materials. The session begins by letting go of expectations, creating permission to slow down, be present and approach the experience with curiosity.
Explore Together we take a gentle walk through the surrounding landscape, paying attention to colour, texture, light, sound and the small details that often go unnoticed. Conversation, quiet reflection and moments of observation invite participants to connect with both the environment and each other.
Make Returning from the walk, participants use raw canvas and natural pigments to translate their experience into marks, colour and gesture. Through playful experimentation, layering and making, each piece develops in its own way, reflecting a unique response to the landscape rather than a predetermined outcome.
Reflect The experience closes with time to pause, look back and share. Participants are invited to reflect on both the creative process and the time spent outdoors, celebrating the different ways each person has responded. Everyone leaves with their artwork as a reminder that creativity begins with paying attention.
