Tag: Chatteris

A Spring Celebration – How We Lit Up the Town Together

Light Up The Town brought communities together across Fenland and West Suffolk, transforming local towns with stunning light projection art during early 2025. Collaborating with SDNA Moving Image and community groups, the project illuminated historic buildings with artworks made by local residents, bringing people together during the transition from winter to spring.

“It brought all ages together. This was especially appreciated by those who suffer with the dark nights. Spring is now in the air! Thank you for brightening up our town.“
– Rev.d Canon Wendy Thomson | Vicar, Chatteris Church of St. Peter & St. Paul

We saw over 1,500 of you visit the light shows that lit up buildings in Chatteris, March, Wisbech, Whittlesey, Brandon, Mildenhall, and Newmarket in early 2025.

West Suffolk Light Shows

The West Suffolk leg of the project featured three captivating evenings:

• Brandon came alive on Tuesday, 25th February at the Town Council’s Old School House on Market Hill
• Mildenhall was beautifully illuminated on Wednesday, 26th February at St. Mary’s Church
• Newmarket concluded the West Suffolk shows on Thursday, 27th February at St. Mary’s Church

Fenland Light Celebrations

The Fenland towns followed with their own spectacular light displays:

• Wisbech kicked off on Monday, 3rd March at Museum Square
• March hosted its event on Wednesday, 5th March at the Town Hall
• Chatteris shone brightly on Thursday, 6th March at the Church of St Peter & St Paul
• Whittlesey concluded the series on Friday, 7th March at Saint Mary’s Church

“I didn’t know that music and light could be so overwhelming to make you feel better. It’s so healing.”
– Attendee

How was the artwork made? 

The artwork was developed in 4 stages: collecting images from local gardening groups, workshops with community groups collaging these images, SDNA animating the artworks with projection mapping software and presentation of the artworks projected onto local landmarks at the Light Shows. The artworks celebrated the work of the gardeners, the creativity of the workshop participants and the transition from winter to spring.

“using our images made it so personal and we instantly connected to it” 
– Laura, Newmarket Community Nature Reserve

We would like to thank community groups: Brandon Circle, Mildenhall Teen Chill, Newmarket Art Group, Wisbech Recovery Cafe, Cromwell and Neale Wade Academies and Whittlesey brownies and girl guides for creating the artworks for their towns.

Gardening groups Brandon in Bloom, Brandon Town Keepers, Mildenhall in Bloom, Newmarket Community Nature Reserve and Fenland In Bloom kindly supplied images of their hard work for the workshops.

How was the community involved?

• Decision Making: Community voices shaped the project from the start. MarketPlace Arts ran two community panels to select the artists SDNA for this project. The community panelists represented each of the seven towns involved in the decision making process for this project. 
• Collaboration: MarketPlace Arts worked with SDNA to run creative workshops with community groups in every town. We worked with local gardening groups to source images and plant names which served as inspiration and material for collages created by local community groups in the workshops. 
• Artwork Creation: SDNA used the artworks made by community members, animating them and projecting them onto local buildings for the Light Shows.
• Local Support: Local venues hosted the events and provided refreshments, helping to create a warm, welcoming space for neighbours to gather and celebrate together.
• Volunteering: Our Light Shows couldn’t happen without the support of local volunteers! Want to get involved? We’re always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help bring future events to life – get in touch and be part of something special in your town.

We would like to thank the community spaces kindly hosting the light shows: Brandon Town Council, St Mary’s Church Mildenhall, St Mary’s Church Newmarket, Wisbech & Fenland Museum, March Town Hall, St Mary’s Church Whittlesey and Church of St Peter & St Paul, Chatteris.

Who are SDNA?

SDNA is a creative studio founded in 2010 by Valentina Floris and Ben Foot. They specialise in producing distinctive digital artworks and interactive experiences for a range of settings, involving people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds in the creative process. They animate galleries and public spaces with bold and imaginative displays to engage and inspire new and diverse audiences in fresh and exciting ways.

You can visit their website here.

“For the first time in our 800-year history, the church was beautifully illuminated with stunning projected lighting displays.“
– Richard, Mildenhall

Why did MarketPlace Arts commission SDNA?

MarketPlace Arts is part of the Creative People and Places programme, funded by Arts Council England and the National Lottery. We support communities in creating cultural activity where they live, producing festivals, installations, workshops, theatre, and more throughout the year.

Every project is co-created with local communities to ensure it’s meaningful and relevant. For this project, we ran two community panels made up of representatives from all seven towns to select the lead artist.

“Being part of the community panel gave me some insight into the process of developing a community art project. I felt that my perspective was valued. Being involved in the panel pushed me to consider my future career in the creative industries and helped me in my studies by giving me information and experience.”
-Yve, Community Panellist