Packed Lunch

18/08/2026

We're thrilled to announce the second artist shortlisted for the Small Blue Dot exhibition this month, co-produced by us and non-profit arts org :

'The Growth' by Mengya Li

"The Growth is a stop-motion film exploring how food carries culture and creates connections between people. Inspired by my experiences with different food traditions in London, I use milk and the symbolism of the mother’s breast as a metaphor for cultural nourishment. Colourful figures from different backgrounds come together through food, language and shared experiences, suggesting that culture, like nourishment, can come from many different sources."

Small Blue Dot opens at Espacio Gallery on 20 August with a private view at 6:30 pm, then runs daily 10:30 am – 6:30 pm through 25 August.

Finalist artist-filmmakers will feature in the main exhibition and will all be at the PV. We also look forward to celebrating the works of all shortlisted entries after the exhibition run.

We'd love to see you at the exhibition. You can book your tickets for the PV at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/small-blue-dot-art-exhibition-tickets-1994947181723?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwY2xjawTw7ulwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMVlZV2ZXampJbVRhVFpuelVzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeamN3zL8jytpIIv9f_9Ld6ocPHkcNbVR5XuTtaqtPaPhwew_mIoHyJO5bLik_aem_xACVpgTIQitkIZi59F0Dsw

14/08/2026

We're thrilled to announce the first artist shortlisted for the Small Blue Dot exhibition this month, co-produced by us and non-profit arts outfit : Erin Coppin & Dr. Jo Scott's filmpoem 'British Columbia Canada, 2021: We are surviving the vagaries of climate change'

This powerful collaboration brings together lived experience and artistic innovation. Erin's found-text poem – written from her perspective as a Canadian emigrant watching extreme weather devastate her home country from afar – is layered with Dr. Scott's looped vocals and manipulated landscapes to create something truly unsettling and unforgettable.

It's a work about climate precarity, distance and the formless threat we all feel but struggle to articulate.

Small Blue Dot opens at Espacio Gallery on 20 August with a private view at 6:30 pm, then runs daily 10:30 am – 6:30 pm through 25 August.

Finalist artist-filmmakers will feature in the main exhibition and will all be at the PV. We also look forward to celebrating the works of all shortlisted entries after the exhibition run.

We'd love to see you at the exhibition. You can book your tickets for the PV at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/small-blue-dot-art-exhibition-tickets-1994947181723?aff=oddtdtcreator

10/08/2026

We're excited to champion 'Earworm', a brilliant new work from ARiot Theatre – opening at Camden People's Theatre as part of Camden Fringe.

What happens when our desire for freedom collides with our need to belong?

"'Earworm' is a sharp, bittersweet anti-rom-com about q***r neuroses, heartbreak, and the pop songs we cling to survive. It follows a cabaret artist trapped in an emotional loop after a breakup he can't escape – think 'Abigail's Party' with a distinctly q***r twist."

We're proud to support the work of ARiot Theatre as we develop an exciting new collaboration together. If you love bold, honest theatre that speaks to real human experience, this one's for you.

Written & Directed by Gur Arie Piepskovitz | Dramaturgy by Avihud Tidhar| Featuring Avihud Tidhar, Brodie Bass, Waylon Jacobs and Reece Lewis

18th - 22nd August 2026 at Camden People's Theatre | 9 pm | 75 min.

🎭 Get tickets: https://camdenfringe.com/events/earworm/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAad-pAu2rnnud0anprkmCJLyPjIlYlzLaJzLLkGYPqSR4mO3lK9cfTVH1lfiEQ_aem_z71iC0BeFdVp8NZJp4ntWw

19/07/2026

🎬 TODAY IS THE DEADLINE! 🎬

Are you a filmmaker or moving-image artist? This is your last chance to submit to 'Small Blue Dot' – a brilliant new exhibition co-curated by Painting Progress and Packed Lunch Productions.

Submissions close TONIGHT at 11:59 pm – no late submissions accepted.

Open to anyone aged 18+

We are looking for emerging artists whose work responds to:
- Climate change and environmental transformation
- The relationship between people and nature
- Injustice and Inequality
- Access to resources and environmental responsibility
- The impact of human activity on ecosystems
- Care, repair, and regeneration
- The connections between local experiences and global systems

What we're looking for:
✨ Original films up to 10 minutes long
✨ MP4, MOV, or other agreed formats
✨ Work suitable for public exhibition

Submit here: https://pci.jotform.com/form/261195336783061

For more info about 'Small Blue Dot': https://www.paintingprogress.org.uk/submit-your-work

£10 per submission – and every penny goes directly to supporting emerging creatives and visual storytelling education through Packed Lunch Productions and Painting Progress.

If you know a filmmaker who should see this, share it with them now! ⏰

SUBMIT YOUR ARTInterested in showcasing your work in our Summer 2026 Exhibition? Exhibition: Small Blue Dot.Location: Espacio Gallery, 159 Bethnal Grn Rd, London E2 7DGExhibition Dates: 19th - 25th August 2026Free submission, please see below regarding fees if selected & commission.Deadline: 16th Ju...

06/07/2026

New Stories from Creative Voices

Newsletter - July 2026

https://www.packedlunch.org/campaigns/view-campaign/YdGe-6gFYY4q8SK7-ZZvgthDR3jGdOFaD3TSskV2gU1akLOmcAkpOSFTldgGNUmlI6Hcf8yPSSyoziEvjf3iHjh-xkUShpOy

West Norwood Library & Picturehouse | Emma Donaldson | Grocers' Hall

02/07/2026

A massive welcome to Ella Ogan, our latest artist-in-residence!

Ella is a visual artist and image maker working across drawing, soft sculpture, monoprinting and textile-based work.

Her practice explores the relationship between industrial and organic forms – bringing together the familiar with the unsettling through folk imagery, repetition and tactile material processes. She hand-stitches over foam structures, prints with block printing ink on glass plates and creates work that's genuinely thought-provoking, personal, resonant.

Having recently completed a residency in Berlin, Ella is using her time with us to continue that creative growth. This residency is an incubator – a space where she can focus, experiment and see where her work takes her. We're excited to support that journey and share it with you over the coming weeks.

Want to know more about Ella's practice? Visit her website: ellaogan.com

Want to know more about our residency programme and how to apply, visit ours: https://www.packedlunch.org/residencies

02/07/2026

Meet Emma Donaldson.

Emma is a self-taught textural abstract artist, life model and surrealist playwright who writes in Spanish (deliberately unintelligible to everyone, including Spanish speakers).

Her paintings are conversations between colour, form and restlessness. They've travelled from Leicestershire to Sheffield and all the way to Boston, USA. And now, they're in South London.

This is what we're about at Packed Lunch Productions: creating platforms for emerging makers, creatives, artists - visual storytellers, really - to reach new audiences and grow their practice.

Come see Emma's latest show, 'Trails of Colour Dissolve' West Norwood Library & Picturehouse . It's free. It's impactful. It's live until 19 September.

Sales proceeds go towards supporting the artist’s growth and funding public programmes in advancing and diversifying engagement in visual storytelling.

https://www.packedlunch.org/exhibitions

29/06/2026

Trails of Colour Dissolve – Emma Donaldson Exhibition Now Open

We're thrilled to announce the opening of 'Trails of Colour Dissolve', a new exhibition featuring the work of textural-abstract artist Emma Donaldson. This is Emma's first London show, on display at West Norwood Library & Picturehouse until 19th Sept.

Emma's paintings and mixed-media works explore colour, form and emotion. Sharp angles colliding with soft curves. Colours in conversation. Hidden faces that feel familiar yet indistinct.

Emma is a self-taught artist who's exhibited across the Midlands, UK and has work in university collections and the Museum of Bad Art in Boston, USA. This London show marks an important milestone in her creative journey.

Come and experience her work. All are welcome.

Exhibition Details:
📍 West Norwood Library and Picturehouse
📅 28 June – 19 September 2026
💷 Free entry
🔗 www.packedlunch.org/whatson-list/trails-of-colour-dissolve for online gallery and shop

Sales proceeds go towards supporting the artist’s growth and funding public programmes in advancing and diversifying engagement in visual storytelling.

“The exhibited works reflect assorted moods expressed through uninhibited breadth of palette. Faces are seen as familiar yet indistinct. Colours compete for attention whilst maintaining uneasy truce on the canvas. Sharp angles and soft curves collide or avoid. Restlessness seems ever close.” Emm...

26/06/2026

We're so happy to share this news!

We've just secured grant funding from Grocers' Hall Charity to launch Animating from Care – a bespoke fine-art animation learning programme for young people who've lived through the care system.

For care-experienced young people, the stories of life can be particularly intense and complex. Often, those stories go untold – and that carries real weight. Storytelling through moving-image making offers something powerful: a creative outlet for self-expression, a way to counter stigmas and a platform to be heard.

Through charcoal animation workshops, participants (ages 14–25) will:

- Develop creative communication skills and artistic confidence
- Build technical proficiency in animation and filmmaking
- Strengthen their wellbeing through self-expression and peer connection
- Create moving-image work that celebrates their voice and experiences

The asks:

We're looking for delivery partners – care and education providers, local authorities, adoption and foster agencies, charities working with care-experienced young people – to help us identify and support participants for our 3-day course in London (October 2026).

Also, f you work with care-experienced young people in other parts of the UK and would like to explore bringing this experience directly to your services, we'd love to hear from you. This is a truly mobile initiative designed to be delivered wherever is convenient for participants and service partners.

📧 Contact us: [email protected] |
🌐 Learn more: www.packedlunch.org/animating-from-care

With huge thanks to for making this possible.