Cultivate 2026

Cultivate@Courtyard 2026 Exhibition – Meet the Artists!

The Courtyard is pleased to announce the five emerging artists selected to work on the Cultivate@Courtyard 2026  visual arts project. This year’s theme is Twisted! Cultivate@Courtyard is our annual Visual Arts project for young emerging artists aged 16-25 in Herefordshire.

This year, five Cultivate Artists will be mentored by professional artist Dermot Clarke. They will work towards producing an exhibition at The Courtyard in the Summer of 2026. The artist who has best met the brief will be given a £1000 grant on the day of the exhibition. Here’s a little about each of them, and a look at some of their work…

Phoebe Goodfield

I am a 17-year-old girl from the Forest of Dean, and I am currently in my first year studying art at Hereford College of Arts.

My goal in art is to make people see another point of view on a subject, to do this I use humour. I really enjoy working in 3d as it allows me to make my work engaging and immersive.

I applied for cultivate to help push my abilities and prove to myself that I can do it, as my biggest critic is myself. My artwork will be based around the circus and how there is a darker side to it and I have based my research around life in the circus, interviewing people who were in it. I am incredibly privileged to have this opportunity and can’t wait to see what the other incredible artists around me make!

Lola Mallen-Wallace

I am a mixed media artist and a second-year art student at HCA. I thoroughly enjoy manipulating fabrics and pushing them to their limits. My artwork is often inspired by how light interacts with colour and different materials, which stemmed from my light photography.

In this year’s Cultivate I want to explore how perceptions are twisted in the modern day. Our lack of connections with one another is growing, and we turn to technology more and more to communicate, learn, and entertain.

My aim is for people to reconnect to the real world, to focus on what’s in front of them and take the time to focus and explore things for themselves.

The Courtyard has provided me with the opportunity to challenge my skills and work on a larger scale, whilst sharing my art and its purpose to a wider audience.

Mabel Tomkins 

I am a 16-year-old artist from Hereford currently studying my first year of a level 3 diploma in art and design at HCA. I love experimenting with many different mediums and styles but at the moment I’m particularly enjoying painting, printing and illustration.

I applied to cultivate for a challenge and to encourage myself to explore new perspectives and themes in passionate and braver ways.

My work as a whole has always been quite playful, colorful and bold or contrastingly, rather serious and realistic. This amazing opportunity gives me the chance to showcase a full range of my artistic capabilities and to share pieces of my own narratives through my style without worrying about financial boundaries.

My project for cultivate explores themes of belonging, resilience and purpose within the beautiful, intricate, and ‘twisted’ natural world.

I often find myself influenced by my feelings and my surroundings -I think it’s important to share moments and ideas as well as what the world looks like through your eyes now more than ever. Especially within the rise of generative ai ‘art’ it brings me so much joy to create from my own experiences and interests.

I’m really thankful for the opportunity to take part of cultivate amongst many talented artists and cannot wait to see how this project can help push me out of my comfort zone and into new prospects!

Izzie Strike

I am a multimedia artist, working predominantly with collage across both physical and digital formats. My work extends into screen prints, zines, and ceramic vessels, translating my layered imagery into tactile forms.

I am currently studying Visual Communications, which continues to inform and expand my approach to visual storytelling.

My work explores themes of misogyny and feminism, looking at both historical and contemporary representations of women. I draw influence from the 1950s, investigating how women were positioned within domestic roles and shaped by societal expectations.

Through my designs, I aim to challenge narratives of what a woman ‘should’ be, questioning how these perceptions have evolved and what still persists.

Danny Gabaldoni

I am a designer-maker and educator working across wood and metal to create objects, sculpture, and furniture. My practice is driven by a curiosity for materials and processes, with a strong emphasis on craftsmanship and making as a form of exploration to understand the world around us.

Alongside my studio work, I am a technical demonstrator and freelance designer, offering one-to-one tutorials that support others in developing their own creative and practical skills. I am particularly interested in sharing knowledge, using a wide range of processes to help students build confidence and understanding through making.

I studied Product and Furniture Design at Birmingham City University and was later a Designer in Residence at Christ’s Hospital in Horsham. My work continues to balance making, teaching, and collaboration, with a focus on material-led design and hands-on learning.

Cultivate will be in The Courtyard’s Gallery from Friday 12 June – Saturday 1 August 2026.