Reflecting Back on the Year

As we wrap up the year and look forward to a bit of rest, we thought we’d put out a final blog of 2025 (ridiculous how fast the year has gone, honestly) and just do a bit of reflection on how the year has been for us here at HQ. It’s a lengthy post but it’s worth a read, we promise. 

GROWING THE TEAM:

• One thing that has been really lovely this year is how we’ve expanded the team (and the family, which is being updated for the new year). It really feels like it’s been a year of growth as a team and individuals but also as we’ve teamed up with new people of all different talents.

• From graffiti artists, to animators and musicians, we’re so grateful to have so many awesome people who come together because they just want to share art and put out good things and make it accessible for everyone.

HD EVENTS:

• If you haven’t heard about them yet then let us tell you a little bit about our HD events. Something that exploded from a simple passing comment at the Smithfield “Oh it’d be great to have an open night for the artist” when we first put some artwork on display for them.

• We’ve had three HD events so far, each event an  evening of art, music, visual and good people. It’s an evening that makes art feel accessible, it takes away the ego, the pretentiousness and just brings people together (we hope we’ve succeeded in doing that anyway).

STOKE, EVERYDAY:

• An idea that stemmed from celebrating the city turning 100yrs old, has taken on a life of its own and is a photo project where a small team of us have photographed 100 different people within the city of Stoke-On-Trent. We've barely scratched the surface of the awesome people in the city but it’s such an exciting project and we’ve met so many incredible people along the way.

• The book hasn’t been released just yet but that's because we want to make sure it's right for you. It’s going to be a book that doesn't just sit on a coffee tablet collecting dust, it’ll get your attention and it’ll make you smile. You’ve got to keep an eye out, come 2026, for updates as it’ll be out soon!

BENCHNOTES:

• Expanding from the idea of celebrating Da Bomb (a 90’s zine), we wanted to bring it into the present without relying on nostalgia, so with Alex's blessing, under Bomb publishing to create a fresh zine through CSA

• The great thing is zine has no rules, they can be about whatever you want and we have proved just that; banding together with artists and colleagues, we had everything from a Fatboy Slim interview to stories of the Man of Fire and of course celebrating awesome artists in between.

WORKING WITH SCHOOLS:

• Recently we also had the pleasure of being able to work with a school to create a special celebration video, alongside a fun interactive zine for people to take away and hope to give them an insight into the incredible place we got to be a part of for a little while. 

• Working with an SEND school was something that truly affected everyone involved and we genuinely can’t wait to get more involved in schools utilizing our skills and creating one of a kind pieces of work for them, whether in video, zine or music form.

LOST FRIENDS:

We can’t write this post without also mentioning a couple of close friends that we unfortunately have lost this year, as they will always be a part of the CSA family. 

• David was a wise and quiet soul who spoke with purpose and created with intent. His artwork (incredibly distinctive) is beautiful and always holds so much more symbolism than you think, when you take your first look. He was a kind person who chose carefully who to speak to, and we were honoured to be a part of that group of people he trusted and we are grateful to know him as an artist and as a good friend.

• Keith was one of those people that we may not have spoken to properly in some time but the connection was always there; the love and the laughter. Keith was an incredibly kind and patient man, who was once known as the icon Bruce Forthright (and the International Supergroup Widgie). The band would get together to do a lot for charity, especially at Christmas time, letting loose and showing his unique creativity that we will always cherish, through music, charisma and bad jokes.

Thank you both for being in our lives and sharing your kindness and friendships with us, you both have made the world a better place, more than you'll ever now, so we hope you’re both having a good brew and a nice biccie on us.

There are so many other projects we've done this year, like the Archive project, been back to Spode as well as so many amazing people like the Morris family and the Electric Tentacle crew. However, we'd be here for days if we tried to list everything, so we hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about a few highlights from this year.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this and we hope you get to have a little break, whatever it is that you're up to. Whether you celebrate a holiday or not, we hope you stay safe, rest well and hope that your new year starts well and moves forwards in the same way.

See you next year with a fresh plan of chaos to take over the world, one art event at a time.

Team Centre Space! x