How the idea for Belfast Community Plant Library came about after @karishmasworld and I (Christine) visited Hong Kong in 2024 to create a @belfastdesignwk design installation for the British Council Spark Festival.

When we were in Hong Kong we got a last minute invite to visit Alan Cheung in the beautiful @onebite.design studio and saw their Community Plant Library outside and instantly loved the idea of bringing something similar to Belfast.

As a follow on to our recent Grow Your Own Way project that was all about bringing designers and growers together to explore the potential of supporting residents in Belfast’s Botanic and Holylands areas to grow their own food within the city to improve their health and wellbeing.

We also thought the Plant Library was a great accessible, welcoming intervention that used plants to create new opportunities for interaction and improving wellbeing in the city and thought it would translate very well to Belfast.

We kept in touch and in 2025 Alan and his business partner Sarah Mui visited Belfast then later that year we worked together on our Islands of Design project for Irish Design Week, before finally in 2026 we have found the opportunity thanks to support from Belfast City Council to bring the project to Belfast at our next Design After Dark event during Culture Night on Friday 18th September where we will be at Bankmore Square from 4 - 10pm with lots of plant and design related activities including:

- See and interact with our plant library, bringing and taking away plants

- Share your plant stories and wishes and ideas for a greener Belfast

- Learn about how to care for and grow your own edible plants with our plant expert Jilly Dougan

- Learn how to make your own mini planters with Green: Remake

- Pick up a Belfast Plant Map and Zine, as well as some seeds and planting materials

And much more

This is a free drop-in event, just pop by and say hello!

Community Plant Library - Belfast Plant Stories

Exploring Belfast’s relationship with plant life and place through the plant stories of the local community. Plants in some shape or form are an important part of life for most people. Forming some of our earliest memories, helping the environment and positively impacting our health and wellbeing.

As part of the Community Plant Library project we have collected personal plant stories from people across Belfast to explore the different ways plants connect with our lives. On the run up to the event on Culture Night we will be sharing out some of these stories. Starting today by sharing the stories of some of the people from Belfast and why they love plants!

If you love plants let us know why?

Our latest roundup of funding and opportunities for NI Creatives.

01. Business Innovation Grant

BIG helps support sole traders, micro-businesses and SMEs in Northern Ireland to develop and bring their innovation activities to market with a grant of up to £20,000.

Closing date: 4th September, 12 noon

 

02.Wear Her Story

Applications are now open for Wear Her Story, a free cross-border creative programme from Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) and Glow NI that will help young women aged 16 to 25 explore fashion, heritage, wellbeing and emerging digital technologies.

Closing date: 11th September

 

03. Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Offering Visual Artist Residency Opportunity

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council is offering a new residency, based at Down Arts Centre in Downpatrick from September 26 to April 27, 2026.

The opportunity is open to a visual artist to provide dedicated time and space to develop their creative practice while engaging with audiences and communities across the district.

Closing date: 9th September

 

04. National Lottery Rural Engagement Arts Programme

You can apply for an award of between £500 and £10,000 for a project, which can last up to one year and can take place on any dates between 1 December 2026 and 30 November 2027.

Deadline: 24th September, 12noon

 

05. InvestNI Leadership and Capability

Develop your strategic leadership capability in order to take your business to new heights.

 

06. Creative Spark Residency Programme 2027

Creative Spark is pleased to offer three Artist-in-Residence opportunities designed to support artistic development, creative exchange, and engagement with our facilities and local community.

07. Creative Belfast Internship

The Belfast Buildings Trust, in partnership with leading cultural organisations, proudly presents the Creative Belfast Internship Programme- the second instalment of a six-month paid internship designed for young people aged 18-25 to gain meaningful experience within Belfast’s vibrant creative and cultural industries.

Deadline: 11th September 5pm

Full listings including links on our website blog

https://blickstudios.org/blog/

The sixth week of our @belfastdesignwk collab  Design Hothouse Residency with @rachelcowie_graphics and @beth__schmidt, this week working on finalising details with Blick resident Alex Synge @thefirst47 for the Design After Dark and Community Plant Library artwork to be ready to launch online in time for @culturenightbelfast on Friday 18th September. Then starting to think about how to exhibit the artwork for Culture Night.

We are excited to officially launch both projects and share Rachel and Beths beautiful artwork online later this week!

September is coming, the season of change. We have dedicated deskspaces available in our beautiful Hill St studios for creatives looking for a productive working space in the centre of Belfast`s Cathedral Quarter.
– £165 per calendar month
– All inclusive prices (rent, rates, utilities, broadband) no VAT
– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract
– 1 months rent required as a deposit
– Cathedral Quarter location
Email christine@blickstudios.org for more info or to arrange a viewing or visit our website for more info: https://blickstudios.org/locations/hill-street-belfast/

Week 5 of our new Design Hothouse Residency with Rachel and Beth, this week working on refinement and layout, the micro-adjustments that elevate the artwork from amateur to professional with @belfastdesignwk co-founder @karishmasworld on Tuesday at Queen’s University Students Union and starting to think about creating supporting assets and Checking layouts, colour ways and formatting with Blick Resident Molly Long to finish the week on Friday.

- - Meet The New Design Hothouse Resident: Beth Schmidt - -

In our latest Meet The Resident we get to know the second of our new Design Hothouse residents @beth__schmidt who is currently working as an architectural assistant @studioidir in East Belfast

Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and your creative work?

I work as an architectural assistant at Studio idir in East Belfast, where I contribute to a range of residential and placemaking projects. My work is driven by a passion for community-led design and an interest in re-evaluating food and waste systems, which was a continuous theme throughout my academic work. After graduating from Queen’s University Belfast in 2024, I spent time volunteering for various community-led projects across Europe, engaging in hands-on construction, food preparation, and permaculture farming. This allowed me to create meaningful change on an everyday scale, which I think can be difficult within architectural practice.

Can you tell us why you wanted to take part in the residency

I’m interested in the potential of design in reshaping our cities, which the residency encourages us to explore. The collaborative nature of the project was also important to me – I come from a background of architecture, which is often a very individualistic discipline. Buildings have historically been portrayed as the work and genius of one person, rather than reflecting the vast range of people involved in design and construction processes. I think collaboration enriches design and creates better results, and so I was interested in the opportunity to work with designers from other disciplines throughout the residency.

What would you like to achieve from this residency?

I’d like to explore design within circular economy principles, and create a body of work that is genuinely sustainable and has a positive contribution to the public. I’m also eager to gain experience and insight more generally in delivering the various events, branding, and physical exhibition that the residency links into. Lastly, I’d also like to become more confident in my ability to work within these areas going forward

The fourth week of our Design Hothouse Residency with @rachelcowie_graphics and @beth__schmidt , this week working on reviewing sketches and ideas for custom fonts, layouts, colours and pairing fonts with Blick resident Alex Synge @thefirst47 on Tuesday 11th August. Then a finance and budgeting workshop and second opinion on fonts and artwork direction with Blick Finance and Operations Manager Rosy on Friday.

We have one private 1 - 2 person studio available in our Cotton Court studios from September
– £295 per calendar month all inclusive (rent, rates, utilities, broadband) no VAT
– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract
– 1 months rent required as a deposit
– Industrial style building full of creative organisations
– Cathedral Quarter location opposite the Merchant hotel
– Email christine@blickstudios.org for more info or to arrange a viewing or visit the Cotton Court page of our website (link below and in profile): https://blickstudios.org/locations/cotton-court-belfast/

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann right on our doorstep in the Cathedral Quarter last week

- - Meet the new Design Hothouse Resident: Rachel Cowie - -

In our latest Meet The Resident we get to know one of our two new Design Hothouse residents multidisciplinary designer @rachelcowie_graphics

You can also read her interview on the blog on our website link in profile and below:

https://blickstudios.org/blog/meet-the-new-hothouse-resident-rachel-cowie/

Week 3 of our new @belfastdesignwk collab Design Hothouse Residency with @rachelcowie_graphics and @beth__schmidt , this week working on initial ideas and sketches, colour palettes and font pairings and a special inclusive design workshop with Blick resident inclusive designer Lorna McFall

We have one dedicated deskspace available in our Cotton Court shared creative coworking space:

– £130 per dedicated desk per calendar month all inclusive utilities, rates, broadand etc (No VAT)

– 7am – 10.30pm access

– Industrial style building full of creative organisations in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter

– Safe, well-lit Cathedral Quarter location opposite the Merchant hotel

– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract

– 1 months rent required as a deposit

– Email christine@blickstudios.org for more info or to arrange a viewing or visit the Cotton Court page of our website link in profile or below

https://blickstudios.org/locations/cotton-court-belfast/

Blick Creative Roundup

Our latest roundup of funding and opportunities for NI Creatives.

01. Irish Design Week 

Closing date: 10th August

 

02. Design Researchers in Residence

Closing date: 6th September

 

03. British Council Connections Through Culture 2026

Closing date: 12th August

 

04. CoSTAR Screen Lab: Spatial Audio in Virtual Production  

Closing date: 19th August

 

05. QEST Grants

Deadline: 13th August

 

06. National Lottery Support for Individual Artists Programme – Creative Progression Scheme

Deadline: 20th August

Full listings including links on our website:

https://blickstudios.org/blog/13970/

Design Hothouse Residency Week 2

Productive second week of our new Belfast Design Week collaborative Design Hothouse Residency. Starting with an interpreting the brief workshop on Monday morning with the brilliant David Woods from Bag of Bees Studio which was so good we forgot to take any photos. Then a city walk and exhibition site visit on Tuesday evening. Before finishing on Friday with a session on moodboarding, concept generation and ideation.

https://blickstudios.org/blog/design-hothouse-residency-week-2/

Some of my favourite things from this year`s @belfastdesignwk

https://blickstudios.org/blog/bdw26-my-best-bits/

Islands of Design Popup Exhibition

As part of Irish Design Week 17th – 21st November 2025 with Belfast Design Week we co-organised and co-curated a pop-up exhibition in Belfast School of Art featuring the work of 10 emerging designers working in different design disciplines.

Earlier this year we re-exhibited part of this exhibition in our Great Northern Street Studios just off the Lisburn Road.

Designers featured include:

Lauren Kelso - Illustrator

Matthew Talbot - Mixed Media & Experiential Designer

Kristen Robb - Regenerative Designer

Andrea Villaester - 3D Artist

You can also find more information on the project and the designers featured on our website: https://blickstudios.org/projects/islands-of-design/

Lovely first week of our new @belfastdesignwk  collaborative Design Hothouse Residency. Starting with welcoming our new residents Beth Schmidt @beth__schmidt and Rachel Cowie @rachelcowie_graphics and getting to know each other and sharing some initial information on the project . Then a session on working collaboratively identifying strengths and weaknesses, aspirations for the project, personal and shared values, and communications. Before finishing today with a session on discovery and strategy/ research, audience and competitor analysis and customer journey mapping.