Arts, Culture, Community & Commercial Practice
Corinne Lewis-Ward
Director & Founder
Corinne Lewis-Ward has worked within arts and culture for the last 19 years. Producing public artwork, artists in residence commissions, carrying out public engagement projects and exhibiting her work in solo and group exhibitions. In addition to this Corinne founded her own cultural commercial business Powder Butterfly in 2012. Powder Butterfly products find new homes locally and internationally and are representative of the arts, culture, heritage and of people and places in the UK. In 2020 Corinne decided to set up Creative Heritage Studios CiC to bring her diverse and extensive skills together. Her vision was to help build stronger communities through the combined benefits of cultural, commercial activities and social impact.
Overview of Skills & Experience
Corinne Lewis-Ward is a neurodiverse artist, designer, retail expert and social entrepreneur. Corinne relocated to the North East of England to study Contemporary Photographic Practice at Northumbria University Newcastle. Corinne started her career as an artist in 2005 (four years after she graduated) with a solo show in Saltwell Park Gateshead. Corinne then embarked on a varied and dynamic career in the arts and public engagement through schools, community groups and charitable organisations. Corinne has always been able to work with a wide variety of people, from young carers, clients with dementia, people who are battling addiction and students within the Jewish community in Gateshead. Having graduated with her Masters in Photography in 2008 from Sunderland University Corinne continued to work with a wide variety of clients while also raising her two children and establishing roots in Bensham in Gateshead where she has lived for the last 20 years.
Corinne’s work moved from standard photography into microscopy photography. This is where she embarked on residencies and commissions within the combined discipline of arts, science and medicine. This opened up a whole new world of creativity and public engagement.
Saltwell Park project - interviewing local residents and photography of flora and fauna in the park
Mitochondria project - Microscopy photography and public engagement with patients and scientists in a local shopping centre
Bringing Arts and Culture to the Retail and Corporate space
During this time Corinne was also commissioned to create some corporate gifts for a local university that represented their scientific research. Corinne was delighted to work on a range of products that combined her art practice with her product design skills.
Corinne launched her cultural commercial business Powder Butterfly in 2012. She decided that alongside her artwork she would like to start a retail business to diversify her income. Powder Butterfly evolved into a location-themed gift business that has given her the opportunity to learn the art of designing highly desirable retail products. This business has also given her invaluable insights into e-commerce, working with manufacturers, market research, and building a loyal customer base and it has helped her attract some wonderful corporate clients as well.
Corinne has been lucky enough to work with some wonderful corporate clients that have commissioned her to produce a wide variety of corporate gifts, awards and murals.
Corinne has worked with a variety of manufacturers including factories in The Potteries in Stoke on Trent. She is also committed to working with local suppliers to help boost the local economy and support multiple small businesses.
Powder Butterfly is an exciting and dynamic small business but during lockdown, Corinne began to think about what she would like to add to her creative career. She decided that she wanted to share her skills and expertise to help build more robust cultural communities, while also having a positive social impact.
Why set up a Community Interest Company?
Corinne set up Creative Heritage Studios CiC in 2020 and started work on creating a vision to share her extensive experience within the arts and culture sector. While examining her career to date it became apparent that Corinne also had experience in retail, working with manufacturers, sales, marketing, strategy and social impact.
This unique and varied lived experience has allowed Corinne to think about what the future of the cultural sector could look like. This is when the remit of Creative Heritage Studios CiC became more focused and innovative.
Corinne is an advocate for Neurodiverse thinking and applies this to the projects that she is part of. Unlocking and demonstrating the potential of the neurodiverse community that she is part of is one of the central themes of Creative Heritage Studios and she is passionate about what this community has to offer.
Through Corinne’s extensive and diverse network she has assembled a board of Directors that have a wide variety of skills and experience to help make her vision a reality. Corinne is excited to work with the talented and dynamic board that has been formed around the shared vision of Creative Heritage Studios.