Trellis: knowledge exchange between researchers, artists and communities

Trellis is a multistage art commissioning programme that aims to bring together artists, UCL researchers and local east London communities to co-create work together.

The programme began in 2018, when the first cohort of artists and researchers came together at a matchmaking event. Since then, we worked with over a hundred artists and researchers, and many local community individuals and organisations through a process which has so far led to 21 commissions in four exhibitions. 

Trellis is part of a wider scheme of cultural and community engagement work happening around the new UCL East campus, which aims to build a culture of mutual benefit, collaboration and exchange between UCL staff and students and our local communities.

The next cohort of Trellis commissions, Trellis 5, has been annouced! Read the news story to find out more.

Trellis is a multistage programme to support UCL researcher and east London artists to collaborate and exchange knowledge. For each iteration of Trellis, the stages are:

1. Supported mixer/matchmaking: we invite groups of artists and researchers to facilitated networking sessions, where they share their areas of interest and knowledge.
2. Stage 1 - Initial funding of £1,500: 10 groups or partnerships who met at the networking are funded for around 2 months to support the artists time to develop the relationship and their ideas for a collaborative commission.
3. Stage 2 - Commission of £15,000: five groups are funded for around 8 months to create an art commission. This must be a co-creation between at least one artist, at least one UCL researcher and an east London community.
4. Exhibition of work: all commissions come together to exhibit their work, with accompanying activities and celebrations.
    

Trellis 5 - A Place of Our Making 

The most recent iteration of Trellis saw five groups of artists, researchers and east London residents come together to explore how we could live easier, happier lives. 

From our changing neighbourhoods to navigating healthcare; accessible spaces, to how we say hello; the partnerships explored how collaborative thinking could improve lives in east London. 

"A Place of Our Making: A multisensory exhibition about east London" shared the findings of these innovative collaborations with a series of unexpected exhibits and events in March and April 2025. Visitors were invited to smell a bagel brick, shake the hand of a 7ft puppet, and join the conversation. 

"A Place of Our Making" was curated by Rachael Harlow, and held at our Marshgate Building on the UCL East Campus.

Trellis 4 - Field Works

Between July 2023 and March 2024, six groups of artists, researchers and east London communities worked together to create art which resulted in the Field Works exhibition at Hoxton Hall.

Honest and uncomfortable, Field Works probed at the premise that the urban environment is a ready sphere for inequality. But what does this mean? Through their work together, the groups began to develop methodologies that work towards an ultimately optimistic reading of the city. They found humour and tenderness in human connection. 

Field Works was curated by Rosie Murdoch and we partnered with Hoxton Hall as host for the exhibition.

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Trellis 3: embedding our methodology

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Six collaborative projects worked together in 2021-22. While the initial matchmaking took place online due to the ongoing pandemic, the teams were able to work collaboratively together in person for much of the time.

The six projects involved a wide range of different subjects and also community groups. Trellis 3 allowed us to explore and confirm our methodology for the programme.

The artists, researchers and communities involved in these projects exhibited their work at the Art Pavilion in Mile End in April 2022. More information can be found on the Trellis 3 exhibition website.

Trellis 2: facing global challenges

Trellis 2 brought together 80+ artists and researchers, and expanded on Trellis 1 by involving research from all disciplines and placing a greater emphasis on involving communities in the co-create of artwork.

Although heavily affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the five projects that were commissioned went above and beyond to achieve great results in collaboration with their community partners.

The online exhibition in March 2021 was a new format for the Trellis team, but worked well to showcase the projects.

Visit the Trellis 2 Festival website to find out more about the five collaborations. 

Trellis 1: the beginnings

Trellis 1 began in December 2018 when UCL invited a group of artists and researchers from disciplines linked to EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) priority areas to a matchmaking event. You can read more about this event on our Public Engagement blog. 

In this first year, we focused on the relationships between artists and researchers, and community involvement was lower.
The final four commissions were exhibited at the Last Drop Café at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

You can find out more information about the commissioned project on this page.