There’s something wild happening at Manchester’s specialist family arts destination Z-arts this May.  Families across Manchester are set to be excited and enlivened by the magical natural world which will inspire imaginations of all ages with wonderful crochet creatures created by leading North-West artist.  Mandy Beck McKim will transform the Z-arts gallery into an environment filled with knitted and crocheted forests, coral reefs and glowing jellyfish.

Sea creatures, lizards and frogs are everywhere, but alongside the fish and seahorses who entertain the children, there are educational messages about environmental issues for both the grown-ups and children alike.

Z-arts, Manchester’s only children’s and family arts venue, will be launching the exhibition with a private view on the 20th May 6-8pm with specialist Amphibian Conservationist from Manchester Museum, Andrew Gray.  Andrew will be sharing his experience, expertise and interest in these wonderful creatures and visitors will be able to get up close and personal with the live amphibians from Manchester Museum to learn more about some of nature’s finest, including frogs, lizards and snakes.

To coincide with the exhibition there will be a series of creative learning workshops for all ages.  From the 26-29 May, 10am-12pm there will be a chance to work alongside Mandy and learn how to create puppets and bring creatures to life through drama, storytelling and puppetry.

Speaking to Z-arts about the upcoming exhibition Mandy said “I am so excited to bring my textile installation to Z-arts with a visual spectacle for children to explore and interact with. The response online to the exhibition has been incredible, with a huge amount of interest of schools and the public. Z-arts is a brilliant platform to showcase my educational and environmental exhibition as they have such strong links with creative learning partners in Manchester and across the North West.”


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