Fern Bricks 1

For BCB 2021, Sarah Fraser and Joanne Mills collaborated with Portland Inn Project CIC (PIP) artist Anna Francis to create The Fern Brick; gardenware for Portland Street and beyond.  PIP is a creative arts project for a community in Stoke-On-Trent that aims to achieve community cohesion, economic, social and cultural development.

During the challenges of 2020, as all of us got used to staying closer to home, people began to take much more of an interest in outdoor spaces. In the Portland Street Area, this means terraced house back yards became more important than ever. Some neighbours began to grow plants for the first time. To celebrate this, and in recognition that we all have dark corners in our outdoor spaces, a special Fern Brick was designed, to encourage shade-loving plants into people’s yards, and to increase the green credentials of the neighbourhood.

The bricks have been made with the Portland Street community on local green space where, in the 1870’s, there was a brick factory.

Fern bricks are currently being further developed to become the next product for the PIP social enterprise. A permanent installation of the bricks within a bench on the community green is being created to showcase the improved design.