LIBRARIES in Devon are taking part in Future Arts Centres’ (FAC) nationwide programme marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Led by FAC in partnership with Libraries Connected and supported by Arts Council England, Libraries Unlimited is one of 60 libraries and art centres taking part across the UK.

Our Freedom: Then and Now is a community-led arts initiative exploring creativity, connection, and local heritage.

It invites residents, artists, veterans, and underrepresented voices to reflect on what freedom means today, through exhibitions, performances, and installations.

Running from June to November 2025, the campaign launch featured Poet Laureate Simon Armitage reading his poem Freedom Road, specially commissioned for the project.

‘What does freedom mean to you? When do you feel most free?’ are the questions being explored in the project that Libraries Unlimited is running in Devon.

It focusses on three libraries, Newton Abbot among them.

The project honours the past and invites communities to explore what freedom means today in a meaningful, accessible, and creative way.

Artist Athena Jane Churchill is delivering the project in collaboration with Libraries Unlimited.

She is inviting participants in all three locations to explore the heritage of VE Day 80 years on through a series of workshops.

Newton Abbot: Creative activities with Wolborough Primary school and at Newton’s Place Museum, as well as with library well-being painting groups.

Artwork created on bunting inspired by the Town’s War Memorial the “Figure of Freedom”.

The project will culminate in a display in each location, showcasing the voices and artworks of participants and inviting the wider community to reflect on the evolving meaning of freedom.

Rae Hoole, Creative Communities Producer from Libraries Unlimited, said: ‘We are so proud to be chosen for this project, one of only 60 libraries and arts centres nationally, and the only library in the south west, it’s a huge honour.

‘The project serves as a celebration of libraries as inclusive spaces.

‘We really want to work with communities to think about what freedom means for them today and share the expression of how very often libraries themselves are places where people feel free to be accepted and can freely create in’.

The artwork created in this project can be seen as both an art and an archive of the freedoms we enjoy today — a joyful yet poignant symbol, a moment in time that captures a breadth of lived experience.

They will be brought together into one combined artwork in Exeter Library and can continue to be used by each community in future years, with a view to forming part of the 100th anniversary of VE Day in 2045.