Turf Projects opens its Canny Valley show free on 31 October in the Whitgift Centre, with a pigeon tour of Wandle Park on 30 October and clay and family days.

Turf Projects, the artist-run space in the Whitgift Centre, opens its new exhibition Canny Valley on Halloween afternoon, Saturday 31 October, from 1pm to 4pm. Entry is free and open to all.

It is the centrepiece of five events the gallery has booked between now and 21 November, three of them free and two aimed at children aged six and over. The full list is on Turf’s events page.

Canny Valley Halloween Opening, Saturday 31 October

The gallery sets the show against the usual Halloween fare. “Halloween is usually a time for the UN-canny, the spooky, strange and unsettlingly familiar but not-quite-right,” its event page says. “‘Canny Valley’ instead celebrates the physically glitchy, messy & surreal creations that come from the human imagination.”

Turf lists the exhibiting artists as Holly Benians, Ada Bond, Kara Chin, NPD Fraser, Ana Kazaroff, Kenji Lim, Eun-Ha Paek and Andy Pomarico.

At the opening, visitors can “grab a slice of Canny Cake, see the show and capture your moment with the artworks through a light drawing activity.” Turf is also launching a series of artist-designed mystery boxes, each holding one of five miniature sculptural editions by Holly Graham, Ana Kazaroff, Hetain Patel, Nicolaas van de Lande or Lucía Scarselletta, at £45 each.

Booking is through the event page, and Turf asks visitors to tell it about any access needs when they book.

Interviewing Pigeons: No comment, Friday 30 October

The day before the opening, the half-term Family Art Fun Day leaves the gallery for Wandle Park. It runs from 11am to 1pm, is free and suits children aged six and over. Families meet at the Wandle Park Bandstand, Cornwall Road, CR0 3RD.

Poster for Interviewing Pigeons: No comment, showing a Wandle Park map sign with the bandstand marked as the meeting place and a pigeon perched on top, Friday 30 October, 11am to 1pm
The Interviewing Pigeons poster, with the Wandle Park bandstand marked as the meeting place. Image: supplied by Turf Projects

Turf describes it as “a wandering tour through Wandle Park, exploring Poppy Ash’s ‘Pigeons of Croydon’ posters, talking to actual pigeons and, hopefully, understanding them better.” The posters are the latest poster trail commissioned by Turf’s Fungus Press.

The session is led by Michael Crowe, Turf’s facilitator in residence, who runs the children’s creative writing project Spaghetti Club. According to the event page, children will “conduct magical interviews, learn dance choreographies made by these glorious birds and consider the unique individuals they could be.”

Illustration of two young pigeons huddled in a nest of blue twigs and leaves on an orange background
Two young pigeons in a nest, an illustration from the Interviewing Pigeons event page. Image: supplied by Turf Projects

Ceramics Workshop: Canny Clay, Saturday 7 November

The one paid event is a two-and-a-half-hour clay session from 11.30am to 2pm, led by Jenny Camp. Tickets are £45, or £30 for Turf ceramics members. Participants “sculpt your own canny creation inspired by the weird and wonderful ceramic sculptures included in our current exhibition,” using coil building.

Poster for Canny Clay showing a glossy pink twisted ceramic sculpture with the words Canny Clay
The Canny Clay workshop poster. Image: supplied by Turf Projects

Turf glazes and fires the pieces, and the price covers that. They must be collected between Saturday 12 December and Saturday 19 December, Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm; the workshop page says pieces not collected by 19 December will be disposed of or sold.

All ticket money goes to what Turf calls its Permaculture campaign for a permanent home. “Turf is currently facing displacement by an impending Westfield development,” the gallery says, “so every clay creation made for your home helps us get one step closer to a new home for art in Croydon.”

The imagination of your imagination, Saturday 14 November

Michael Crowe returns for a second free Family Art Fun Day, this time at the gallery, from 2pm to 4pm for children aged six and over. Turf’s billing for it is a string of questions: “What’s inside your imagination? And in that cloud, what’s in that? And in that little droplet, what’s in that?”

Red poster for The imagination of your imagination, a free Spag Club children's workshop for ages 6 and up, with three stacked pictures numbered one to three
The poster for The imagination of your imagination. Image: supplied by Turf Projects

The event page promises paper, pens and plasticine: “Sculpt your dreams, draw you waking up, write the sound of your inner voice!” It is a writing, drawing and sculpting workshop inspired by Canny Valley.

Artist Brunch with Ana Kazaroff, Saturday 21 November

Turf holds four artist brunches a year, which it describes as “an opportunity to get feedback on your creative work from other artists, while digesting food and ideas in a supportive environment.” The November session runs from 11am to 1pm with Canny Valley exhibitor Ana Kazaroff, who will curate the brunch menu, alongside Turf co-director Rosie Crane Eckmire.

Pink poster for Artist Brunch with Ana Kazaroff, showing an easel-like wooden board covered with drawings
The Artist Brunch with Ana Kazaroff poster. Image: supplied by Turf Projects

Turf lists the brunch as free, but places are limited to eight, with three artists sharing work, and there is no drop-in. The brunch page asks for dietary needs seven days ahead so the food can be ordered, and says participants can show work only once a year.

What it means for you

  • Half-term with children: the pigeon tour on Friday 30 October (11am to 1pm, Wandle Park bandstand) is free for ages six and over.
  • Halloween afternoon: the Canny Valley opening on Saturday 31 October (1pm to 4pm) is free, with cake.
  • Making something for Christmas: Canny Clay on 7 November costs £45 and the piece comes back fired in December.
  • Artists wanting feedback: book early for the 21 November brunch; there are eight places.

Everything except the pigeon tour is at Turf Projects, 46-47 Trinity Court, Whitgift Centre, Croydon CR0 1UQ. Book through turf-projects.com/events.