Summertown Arts Community

23/09/2025

Book now!
Friday 26 September 7pm
Summertown URC

Debbie Bond and "Radiator" Rick: American blues singer, guitar player, and songwriter has been performing for decades in the Alabama backwoods and is now a regular on the Southern US and European club and festival circuit. Influenced by raw juke joint blues and the famed sounds of Muscle Shoals, Debbie's impressive story includes years of performing with traditional Alabama blues musicians, like Johnny Shines, Eddie Kirkland, Willie King, Shar Baby, Little Jimmy Reed and more. Immersion in Alabama roots music has deeply flavoured her guitar playing, soulful voice and original song writing, giving her a contemporary and original sound, with soul, blues, and jazz influences. Debbie's collaboration with British born keyboard and harmonica player “Radiator” Rick has added a swampy New Orleans edge to her sound.

http://www.debbiebond.com

A little bit of soul, some down home blues, clever lyrics, excellent musicians and angelic voice. That’s what you experience with Debbie Bond. A true original in every sense of the word. Maxwell Russell, Shoals Songwriter Showcase, Muscle Shoals (US)

This benefit gig will be to raise money to save Summertown Arts Community's arts centre. You can find out more at www.summertownarts.co.uk/save-sac

Tickets - £15 (Under 10s - Free)

Book in advance or on the door
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/debbie-bond-and-radiator-rick-summertown-arts-community-benefit-tickets-1669122904539

27/08/2025

Summertown United Reformed Church
Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7ED
Sunday 31st August 2025, 7.00pm in the Church
Victoria de Melo Piano Recital

Tickets via Eventbrite or on the door, cash or card; £15, children under 10 free
https://victoriademelo.eventbrite.co.uk/

29/07/2025

Thank you to everyone who came along to the URC in Summertown on Saturday, taking part and watching. It was wonderful to see so much creativity in action.

Dance, music, song, drawing, painting all improvised and connecting in the moment!

Photos Susie Crow

You can still support our fundraising efforts to save this building for the community and ongoing arts activity!

https://summertownarts.weebly.com/

21/07/2025

Fugitive Moments
A Celebration of Improvisation

A Summertown Arts Community and Oxford Improvisers initiative

Saturday 26th July 2025, 12.00-10.00pm
Summertown United Reformed Church,
Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7ED

Come and pop in to this arts hub at Summertown United Reformed Church throughout the day to enjoy a celebration of improvisation incorporating dance, art, music, film and poetry, workshops and shared performances - all featuring local and visiting artists.

Activities and performances include:

* Drawing Dance – watch dancers, musicians and visual artists in collaboration and join in the drawing (Hall)
* Automated Improvisation installation (Church)
* Free Dance intergenerational Workshop with Helen Edwards and live musicians (Hall)
* Have a go on the Recycled Gamelan in the garden…
* Feral Choir workshop with Phil Minton – explore your voice! (Church)
* Bring your instrument or your voice to join in with a Spontaneous Orchestra led by conductors. This will culminate in an ABBA Concerto… (Church)
* Enjoy performances including Twelve, Unseen People, Cows in a field, Evolution, Haiku improvisations, and more… (Hall and Church)
* Saturday Night at the Movies – film with improvised accompaniment (Church)

Workshops and activities are open to all, as participants or onlookers. For performances drop in and stay as long as you like.

Come to listen, watch, join in, experiment, experience… all welcome!

[email protected]
https://summertownarts.co.uk

10/06/2025

Fundrasing event in aid of Summertown Arts Community (Charity No. 1213117) which is fundraising in order to be able to make an offer to buy the premises so that they can continue to be used as a centre for arts activity in the community.

Creative Health: Opportunities and Challenges

Public lecture by Maria Grazia Turri

Thursday 12th June, 7.00pm
Tickets: £7.00 available on the door or at https://saccreativehealthtalk.eventbrite.co.uk

There are hundreds of thousands of community groups and organisations in the UK which engage participants in creative activities, whether these are music, art, dance, theatre and more. Creative Health is a fairly recent concept but already embedded in UK parliament and the World Health Organisation policy documents. Creative Health is about researching and implementing arts engagement for its benefits on health and wellbeing, ideally making it inclusive and accessible to all. Come to this thought-provoking presentation to learn about and discuss the principles of Creative Health, its benefits and challenges.

Maria Grazia Turri is a Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, and the co- director of the MSc Creative Arts and Mental Health. She worked as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in the NHS for 15 years and believes that the arts are essential to research, education and practice in mental health.

05/06/2025

We need your help! Please read about our fundraising campaign and share with your friends. We have until 28th July to save SAC

https://summertownarts.weebly.com/save-sac.html

There are also events taking place throughout June/July so come along and show your support and see what this wonderful building has to offer and why we need to save it for the community to use.

06/05/2025

Oxfordshire Artweeks is underway and URC Summertown is once again hosting the Annual Art Forum discussion - tonight Tue 6 May 6.30pm. More info and booking:

- Saba Qizibash, Artist -Celia Gotto, Psychoanalytical Psychotherapist -Francesca Busca, Artist -Julian Munby, Archeologist chaired by Jim White will discuss Can Art be Found? 294 Banbury Road, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7ED

14/04/2025

Read about forthcoming events taking place this month at the URC in Summertown and updates on our fundraising campaign too!

Events April 2025 Further interesting and entertaining events with drama, dance, music and poetry for the Easter month of April at Summertown United Reformed Church, not to be missed! Please come and...