Bostin News
Sharing stories of Black Country creativity
Bostin News shines a light on the amazing artists, makers, writers and everyday creatives who are shaping life in the Black Country
Created in partnership with Fused, Bostin News shines a light on the amazing artists, makers, writers and everyday creatives who are shaping life in the Black Country. Across three editions, we’ve explored how art connects us to place, to each other, and to the power of imagination..
Zine 1: Homegrown
Our first edition, Homegrown, celebrates creativity rooted in local pride and everyday experience. It features artists whose work begins on their own doorstep; from photographer Tom Hicks’ poetic images of shopfronts and signage in Black Country Type, to Claire Buckerfield’s bold tape artworks inspired by Wolverhampton’s overlooked buildings.
Textile artist Odette Campbell explores identity and architecture through rhythmic bargello stitch, while Gurdip Gill brings Fibbersley Nature Reserve to life through his striking bird photography. We also celebrate Emma Purshouse and the Walsall Writers Group, who are using poetry and storytelling to grow creative confidence and connect people through nature.
Together, these artists show that creativity doesn’t have to start in galleries, it grows right here, in our communities.
Zine 2: Everyday Radical
The second zine looks at the quiet power of everyday creativity to transform how we live, think and connect. Everyday Radical introduces artists whose work invites us to slow down, pay attention and rediscover a sense of wonder.
Amy Campbell of The Parakeet Studio reimagines Sandwell’s public spaces through play and co-design with children. Helen Garbett’s Limpetarium in Dudley turns curiosity into art, revealing how the smallest of creatures can tell big stories about care and ecology.
Kanj Nicholas’s debut children’s book Imagine If We Could Fly celebrates imagination, courage and cultural identity, while Daniella Turbin’s walking-based art practice transforms the simple act of moving through the landscape into creative meditation.
We also meet Jacky Fellows, the artist behind Print Fest Wolverhampton, whose passion for printmaking has sparked a new annual event bringing artists and audiences together across the city.
Zine 3: Creativity in Community
Our third edition, Creativity in Community, explores what happens when people take the lead and creativity becomes a shared act.
From Bag Lord’s humorous and hopeful protest art to the Juneau Projects residency with whg residents in Walsall, this issue celebrates collective creativity and collaboration.
We meet Natasha Stoianovska, whose vivid, surreal paintings explore trauma and resilience following her journey from Ukraine to Wolverhampton, and photographer Graham Stubbs, whose We Are Wolverhampton project captures the city’s spirit through its people.
And we spotlight artist Tereza Bušková, whose project Mothers Without Hands brings women together through ritual, costume and collective making. A powerful reminder of art’s ability to heal, protect and connect.
Across all three zines, one message runs through: art belongs to everyone. Whether it’s stitched, painted, printed, photographed or spoken, creativity helps us imagine better futures, celebrate where we live, and strengthen the ties that make our communities thrive.
Because whatever the question — the answer is art.
