Category: Holding Time Events | Exhibitions, Workshops & Creative Health

Discover Holding Time exhibitions, creative workshops, talks and events exploring motherhood, breastfeeding, maternal wellbeing and the power of art in health.

Holding Time at Liverpool University Hospitals: Art, Breastfeeding and Maternal Wellbeing

The Holding Time Project brought photographic portraits, animations and mothers’ stories to Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in a major exhibition programme running from November 2023 to February 2026. Developed by artist Lisa Creagh with mothers from Cheshire and Merseyside and supported by Improving Me, the exhibition celebrated the diversity of breastfeeding experiences while challenging stigma and promoting maternal wellbeing. Touring the Royal Liverpool, Aintree and Broadgreen hospitals, the project connected creative health, public art and NHS breastfeeding policy.

Bradford Podcast | Creativity and Wellbeing Week

The Bradford Podcast amplifies mothers’ diverse voices on breastfeeding, adoption, milk donation, birth trauma, and cultural traditions—part of Holding Time’s wider Creative Health programme in Bradford.

The Holding Time Chair: Celebrating Motherhood in Bradford’s Bowling Park

The Holding Time Chair was unveiled in Bowling Park, Bradford, during Baby Week 2024. Created by sculptor Dan Jones in collaboration with artist Lisa Creagh and Better Place Bradford, the monumental 4.5-tonne Lincolnshire stone sculpture celebrates motherhood, breastfeeding and the importance of rest and care. Inspired by ancient maternal figurines, the artwork provides a welcoming place for families to pause, connect with nature and discover Bradford mothers’ stories through an integrated QR code.

Holding Time at Halton Family Hubs: Celebrating Mothers’ Voices

The Holding Time Project brought photography, poetry and creative health workshops to Halton Family Hubs across Runcorn and Widnes. Featuring breastfeeding portraits across seven venues, writing workshops led by Rachel New and an audio tour at Norton Priory’s walled garden, the programme created opportunities for mothers to share their experiences of breastfeeding and motherhood. Developed with Halton Family Hubs and Improving Me, the project celebrates mothers’ voices and explores how creative practice can support maternal wellbeing.

Motherspeak: Holding Time Storytelling and Singing at Manchester Art Gallery

Singing Mamas joined with the Holding Time Project Manchester mothers to create a warm afternoon of storytelling and chorus for the end of the writing workshops at Manchester Art Gallery.

Motherspeak at Kala Sangam Arts Centre

Motherspeak brought the voices of Bradford mothers to Kala Sangam Arts Centre through a moving live performance of poetry and personal stories. Developed through creative writing workshops led by Rachel New as part of the Holding Time Project, the event explored breastfeeding, birth trauma and maternal wellbeing. Through storytelling, mothers transformed deeply personal experiences into powerful expressions of resilience, connection and shared understanding.

The Ecology of Care | Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool 2022

At Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, The Ecology of Care explored themes of motherhood, care, and connection through art, photography, and music—highlighting community, resilience, and maternal wellbeing.

Measuring Impact

Researchers at Wolverhampton University are gathering data on Holding Time’s impact on the community online and offline through surveys about breastfeeding attitudes

In this BLOG post Dr Lisa J. Orchard, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing at the University of Wolverhampton, introduces their innovative study, designed to measure the impact of the Holding Time Project on viewers. Please add your data to the survey!

Holding Time at MC Gallery, Wolverhampton: Art, Breastfeeding and Social Change

The Holding Time Project exhibited at MC Gallery in Wolverhampton from July to September 2022, presenting photographic portraits, stop-motion animations and mothers’ stories exploring breastfeeding and maternal experience. Alongside the exhibition, researchers from the University of Wolverhampton investigated how art could influence public attitudes towards breastfeeding. The exhibition marked an important stage in Holding Time’s development as a collaborative creative health project combining artistic practice, lived experience and academic research.

Let Mothers Be Well: Maternal Wellbeing at Open Eye Gallery

Let Mothers Be Well reflects on Holding Time’s Maternal Wellbeing Afternoon at Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool. The event combined breastfeeding storytelling workshops, a marketplace of maternity and family services, the Holding Time exhibition, peer-support discussion, live harp and a Singing Mamas workshop, creating a model for creative, social and community-based maternal wellbeing support.

Holding Time Launch at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool

The Holding Time Project launched in Cheshire and Merseyside at Liverpool’s Open Eye Gallery on 19 November 2021, as part of Baby Week. Supported by WHAM, the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Women’s and Children’s Partnership, the event brought together photography, mothers’ interviews, poetry and creative health research. Led by artist Lisa Creagh, Holding Time explored the cultural, emotional and practical barriers to breastfeeding while celebrating the diversity of mothers’ experiences across the region.

Holding Time at Arcadia Gallery: Coventry City of Breastfeeding

In June 2021, the Holding Time Project presented an exhibition of photographic portraits and animations at Arcadia Gallery in Coventry’s City Arcade. Created by artist Lisa Creagh in collaboration with local breastfeeding mothers, the exhibition celebrated the diversity of maternal experiences while challenging cultural stereotypes and stigma surrounding breastfeeding. The exhibition formed part of Coventry City of Breastfeeding, a city-wide programme combining photography, storytelling, film and public engagement.

Coventry Daze: Holding Time and Coventry City of Breastfeeding 2021

In Coventry Daze, Lisa Creagh reflects on creating Holding Time’s Coventry project during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mothers from diverse backgrounds took part in Zoom interviews, storytelling workshops, portrait sessions and exhibitions, resulting in writing, animated portraits, films and permanent hospital artworks. The project celebrated breastfeeding while exploring cultural, structural and emotional barriers.

Fabrica Gallery Installation

Fabrica Gallery hosted Holding Time’s first multi-screen installation—mothers’ voices, animation, and music exploring breastfeeding, culture and time.