Our Words, Our Walls
Our Words, Our Walls offers FREE poetry and visual art workshops for young people in North Solihull, empowering participants to co-create a series of vibrant public murals across their local area.
Working in partnership with professional poets, artists and youth organisations, the project delivers inclusive poetry and art workshops designed to support self-expression, creativity and confidence. Through these sessions, young people will collaborate to design and create five large-scale community murals, alongside a printed and digital community zine, transforming familiar local spaces into bold, meaningful landmarks.
Rooted in the creativity already present across North Solihull, the project centres young people whose voices are too often overlooked in cultural spaces. By bringing poetry and art directly into the communities where young people live and gather, Our Words, Our Walls creates opportunities for creative ownership, confidence, belonging, and lasting local impact.
Meet the Creatives
Supported by Arts Council England and The Art Society, Katie Holtom and Emily Holtom are leading on a new Solihull-based project
Producer
Katie Holtom
Katie is a creative producer based in Solihull, and working across the Midlands. She specialises in delivering projects with, by and for local communities, children and young people, ensuring accessibility and inclusion are at the heart of everything she does.
Her portfolio includes a diverse range of projects and events from outdoor festivals to school initiatives and local artist networks. She has been the Development Coordinator for Solihull CEP for 4 years, and works as resident producer for Culture Solihull, on behalf of Solihull MBC.
Assistant Producer
Emily Holtom
Emily is a freelance literary producer, part-time Programme Manager at Writing West Midlands, and co-producer of this year's Birmingham Literature Festival (2026). Her practice is rooted in the West Midlands literary sector, where her work often centres around supporting both established authors and emerging young writers to develop their voices.
In her creative work, Emily is best known for creating pop-up poetry on demand on a vintage typewriter. Following a six-month poetry residency in Knowle in 2025, she and her typewriter will appear at festivals across the UK in 2026
