In June, we partnered with Building Crafts College and our shared maker-in-residence, Ed Shamwana, to deliver two open days introducing young people to the college, its specialist courses, and pathways into further education through our heritage project, Time Capsule.

As part of London Craft Week, Alice Billing House welcomed ceramic artist and former Artist in Residence Beverley Sommerville back to the building for a week-long exhibition and participatory workshop exploring heritage, materiality, and collective memory through clay.

Tales in Tiles Community Mosaic

Tales in Tiles Community Mosaic - Press Release spring 2026

On Tuesday, 3 March, the first Tales in Tiles Community Mosaic Workshop took place at Unit 28, Stratford Market Village. The session offered local residents a chance to try mosaic making and explore the skills involved in creating larger-scale public artwork.

As part of Women’s History Month, a special community workshop was held at the historic Alice Billings House, celebrating the contributions of women who helped shape the local area. Delivered in collaboration with Eastside Community Heritage, the event brought together history, storytelling, and creativity to honour women’s voices across generations.

Led by Sonia of Newham Poetry Group, this poetry workshop invited participants to reflect on belonging—a simple word that holds survival, memory, and hope.

Based at Alice Billing House, we spoke with one of our studio desk holders, a poet, organiser, and founder of Newham Poetry Group, Sonia, about their practice and the community work that has shaped their journey.

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This spring, we are embarking on an ambitious community mosaic project with Tessa as the lead artist.

This spring, we are embarking on an ambitious community mosaic project with Tessa as the lead artist.

2025 marked our second year of operation, during which we continued to nurture our creative community and strengthen our ties with the wider Newham community through our Cultural Engagement Programme

Ed has been selected to design and create the Time Capsule, potentially using reclaimed materials from the North Block. As part of his residency, he will also lead a public workshop next year. Read more below.

How did you get here? What does a day in your life look like? How would you introduce yourself to someone from the future?

This Black History Month, we came together for a creative and inspiring fabrication workshop that celebrated storytelling, memory, and heritage through fashion.

UPADTE: Here we have the wonderful collection of ceramic tiles created during Made of Places, the tile-making workshops led by artist-in-residence Beverley Sommerville.

On 18 September, we invited guests to an evening celebrating the work created by artist-in-residence Sam Ikhuoria, studio holders Frames of Mind, and local residents for our Newham Heritage Month project—Inspector of Nuisances

On Saturday, 20 September 2025, Alice Billing House had its second Open Studios as part of the Open House Festival.

Ramaa Sharma was our Artist-in-residence for two weeks in July and August 2025 for the Time Capsule project and for South Asian Heritage Month. She is a mixed media artist and an AI consultant.

In July, a group of East London residents gathered to consider what heritage meant to them and what they would want to remember in a hundred years time for the purposes of the Time Capsule project.

The Collage & Conversation workshop was an exciting highlight of Sam’s residency. The session invited participants to explore the history of the building through collage-making and conversation, using the art technique of positive and negative spaces.