Trash to Art
Hands-on workshops turning the city's leftovers into large, shared artworks. More than 50 workshops so far.
Cuttlefish ink was used to write and draw for centuries. We’re named after it. We make stories too, out of what the city leaves behind
Cuttle CIC is a participatory art company based in Leicester, telling the stories of what gets left behind: materials, places and people.
We make art with communities, not for them. Workshops, installations, performance and live art become ways for people to tell their own stories about where they live and what matters to them.
Sustainability runs through all of it. The city's leftovers, from bottle caps to forgotten corners and overlooked voices, are where our stories start.
- Participatory artEveryone in the room is a maker, and the finished work belongs to all of them.
- StorytellingEvery project starts by listening: to people, to places, to what has been forgotten.
- SustainabilityCircular thinking in every story, and in what we make it from.
50+workshops delivered
500+people taking part
17SDG panels in Many Hands One Art
How a story gets made
- GatherPeople, places, and whatever the city has left lying around.
- ListenMemories, neighbourhoods, the things nobody asked about before.
- MakeTogether, in workshops, installations and performance.
- TellOne shared story, made by many hands, back out in public.
Every icon is a person, a home, a school, a street. Together they make one story.
Ways we tell a story
Different stories need different tools. Keep scrolling to flip through the ones we reach for most.
Story mapping
Communities map their own city: what they remember, what has changed, what has been lost.
Performance and live art
Stories told with bodies, objects and audiences, on stage and in public space.
Carbon Literacy and training
Climate learning for teams and organisations, made practical and human.
From the workshops
Real hands, real stories. Drag the photos around, or tap one to see it full size.
Projects
Active commissions, finished programmes, and what is coming next.
Our City Our Stories
A suspended recycled paper pulp map of Leicester, made with homeless community participants across four workshops. Commissioned for the Samworth Gallery, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
See the project
Many Hands One Art
A city-wide participatory programme across community venues, building 17 panels, one for each of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Together they assemble into a single mural for a world record attempt at DMU.
Volunteer
Trash to Art Workshop (Pilot)
Community workshops turning discarded materials into sculpture and installation, with 500+ participants across 19 workshops. Shown at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, Two Queens Gallery, Haymarket, Curve Theatre, LCB Depot and Soft Touch Arts. Featured on BBC Radio Leicester, and Highly Commended at the DMU SDG Awards 2025.
Carbon Literacy Refresher
A one-hour online session helping previous Carbon Literacy learners revisit key concepts, catch up on the latest climate considerations for organisations, and recommit to practical action.
Book training for your teamWhat we're building
Reference works, awards, fellowships and networks for artists working with what gets left behind. Scroll (or swipe) to move along.
In development
The Leicester Materials Library
A digital reference archive of Leicester's recoverable waste streams. Not a scrap store and not a supplier: it records what a material does, who holds it, and how to reach them.
Launch January 2027In development
Trash to Art: A Methodology
The published manual for our signature method, drawn from 50+ workshops with 500+ participants, with the Materials Library as its working case study.
Publishing January 2027Launching January 2027
The Cuttle Award for Circular Art
An annual prize for an emerging Midlands artist working with waste or reclaimed material: a cash prize, certificate, and a platform in our programme.
Nominations open autumn 2026In planning
The Cuttle Fellowship
One emerging artist a year named Cuttle Fellow: mentoring in participatory, materials-led practice plus a paid delivery slot in our programme.
First Fellow named 2027Open now
Midlands Circular Artists Network
For artists, makers and facilitators across the Midlands working with waste: a shared directory, a quarterly bulletin, and a scattered field finding itself.
Join the networkIn planning
Leicester Recycled Art Day
One day a year when Leicester makes art from what it throws away, with venues across the city hosting open activity and a shared count of materials diverted.
Date and partners to be announcedWant the full detail on each one?
Read about our initiativesThe people behind Cuttle
Chubby Daniels
Founder and Director
Chubby is a creative producer, participatory artist and storyteller. He trained as a civil engineer and holds an MSc in Architecture and Sustainability from De Montfort University.
He founded Cuttle to make art with communities, bringing an engineer's eye for structure to the stories people tell about their city, and to what it leaves behind.
- Crucible Impact Award 2026
- Arts Council England Global Talent
- Carbon Literacy certified
- AssocMCIWM
- ISEP member
- Founder, Midlands Circular Artists Network
The Residue Symposium
Creativity at the End of Things
0days
00hours
00minutes
- Dates
- Tuesday 13 to Thursday 15 January 2027
- Entry
- Free
- Days 1 and 2
- DMU Innovation Centre, Leicester
- Day 3
- LCB Depot, Leicester
A three-day circular economy gathering bringing together artists, organisations and policymakers to rethink waste, materials and creative reuse. We expect 400 to 500 people.
Register your interestGot a story that needs telling?
Commission a project, book a workshop or training, partner with us, or just say hello. We usually reply within 2 working days.
- info@cuttlecic.com
- 07899 834432
- Instagram: @cuttlecic
- Studio A2.12, LCB Depot, 31 Rutland Street, Leicester LE1 1RE