Dom > Nasze programy > Creative Communities > Residency Intensives > Pollinate & Create

Pollinate & Create

A look at our Pollinate & Create residency and the new Creative Health Associate Artists joining the libraries team.

In March 2026, we held a week-long intensive residency with local artists to explore the role of libraries as places at the intersection between environmental action, creativity and wellbeing.

Six artists were selected to explore the potential of community health interventions that connect with and are inspired by environmental advocacy.

Over the residency, the group challenged their own practice and ways of working, increasing environmental awareness and advocacy. The artists took part in talks and workshops with guest speakers, and also featured an away day with Suffolk Wildlife Trust at Carlton Marshes.

Following the success of the week, we are delighted to announce all six artists have become Creative Health Associate Artists for Suffolk Community Libraries. The six artists will continue to build on the development and delivery of Creative Health programmes, as well as partake in further training.

Meet the artists

Get to know the Pollinate & Create cohort.

Ellie Rodwell

Ellie is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice explores the emotional resonance of our natural world through landscape, horticulture and rurality. Endlessly interested by where we fit into wildness, Ellie gathers observations whilst walking or gardening, and responds through drawing, metal casting, installation and painting.

Recently she’s been exploring the intersection of sculpture and gardening, incorporating living plants as collaborators in a large commission for First Light Festival. Ellie has facilitated a variety of local programmes with charities, encouraging creativity to improve wellbeing and social connection with communities in Suffolk, often with a focus on natural space.

Henry Driver

Henry’s aim is to create projects which connect us to our environment, as well as combat the climate crisis by enabling responses to it. Coming from a farming family, Henry has witnessed the effects of climate change, as they ravage harvests. It was from experiencing this, that in 2019, he decided to create project which solely focus on the environment. 

Henry has shown across the world in over 40 countries. While in the UK, he’s shown at galleries such as Tate Liverpool, Tate Britain, Sainsbury Centre & Barbican. Recent commissions include Secrets of Soil for BBC Arts.

Maddie Exton

Maddie is an artist who cares deeply about class and place. Hailing from rural Suffolk, she is a first-generation university graduate from a working-class lineage. Whether it’s burning bible quotes into toast, interviewing a psychic medium, or building a Hollywood sign for coastal Suffolk, she’s interested in playful ways to engage with complex ideas.

Her work often starts with research or social engagement, evolving into participatory experiences that invite reflection and dialogue. Her art works have been exhibited in France, USA, London, her parent’s house and beyond.

Julia McLean

Julia (j.b.e. mclean) is a research-based artist living and working in East Suffolk. Their long-term project is open deep-mapping the fallout zone around Sizewell C nuclear power station, which is under construction. Their transdisciplinary practice uses walking in circles and repetition as a research methodology exploring circularity, time and endurance.

Circular research walks produce observational sound, film and still recordings whilst collecting litter and other littoral leftovers to create a speculative archive from which to generate work. A current focus is the folklore and mythology of ‘the zone’, informing a storytelling and world-making approach in the present.

Sarah Lewis

Sarah Lewis is a performer, teacher, choreographer and passionate community engager. Her practice brings together dance, participation, and creative health to create joyful, inclusive experiences rooted in embodiment, connection, and place. Sarah designs participatory movement experiences in community settings, libraries, schools, and outdoor environments that support wellbeing, creativity, and belonging.

With a zest for spreading joy through dance, Sarah has worked with international dance companies, refining a trauma-informed, inclusive approach to dance. As the co-director of Glass House Dance, she has spent the last 11 years lighting up Outdoor Arts Festivals nationwide with uplifting dance performances and experiences for all.

Lucy Wheeler

Lucy is a ceramicist, producer and facilitator working across creative health projects in hospitals, libraries and green spaces. Her practice invites people of all ages to connect with clay — exploring this natural material and its place within culture through collaborative, co-created processes. Collaborative actions, philosophy for communities’ methodology and performative approaches are used as working processes that support open-ended, participant-led engagement.

Lucy’s approach is person centred, prioritising sensitivity and flexibility to ensure projects are accessible, relevant and safe. She’s worked with a range of organisations, including CUH Arts, Kettle’s Yard, Creative Arts East and the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

Pollinate & Create is funded by Arts Council England and supported by Suffolk Artlink, Natural Habitat, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, The Culture Health & Wellbeing Alliance, and Green Light Trust.