Create

Bob Richmond is an artist, organiser, and cultural instigator whose work sits at the intersection of making, place, and social imagination. Rooted in a belief that creativity is a civic act, his practice brings together design, craft, and collective learning as tools for building connection and agency. He is the driving force behind The Motor House, a former industrial site in North Yorkshire being reimagined as a community-led centre for education, making, and the arts.

Richmond’s approach is deeply influenced by the ethics of the Arts & Crafts Movement and by participatory traditions that value shared labour over individual authorship. Whether working with designers, local residents, or mental health practitioners, he is interested in how the act of making can restore dignity, foster collaboration, and generate forms of care that sit outside conventional institutional frameworks. His projects often unfold slowly, privileging process, conversation, and skill-sharing over spectacle.

Alongside his artistic work, Richmond is an experienced cultural producer, adept at translating visionary ideas into sustainable structures, including the development of The Motor House Arts CIC. Across all his work runs a consistent thread: a commitment to generosity, to place-based thinking, and to the idea that culture is something we build together, by hand, over time.

January 2026

Image: Clarissa Berning