A celebration of local cultural icon Arthur Berry

“There is almost nothing that is ugly and boring.” Arthur Berry, 1988

Arthur Berry is one of the most famous artist from the Potteries of the 20th century (1930's to 1994).

From a working-class potteries background, he is known as a poet, artist, playwright and broadcaster, writing plays for the stage, publishing volumes of poetry and performing on BBC radio, including on the Christmas day broadcast!

His original poetry, writings and art works were rooted in the local culture of North Staffordshire. Known for his ability to capture the vanishing lives and landscapes of the industrial world of the post war Potteries, Berry’s obsession with the ‘cocoon of bricks’ of his Burslem birthplace led his art to be fiercely local: he claimed that ‘everything I have ever drawn, every house, every man, every face has its roots in those few streets’. The same can be said for Berry’s plays, written for the Victoria Theatre & the New Vic, in Potteries’ dialect and peopled with a cast of farcical & grotesque characters. His work depicted aspects of 20th Century working class lives that is rarely written about.

2025 marks the 100th anniversary of Arthur Berry’s birth. To celebrate this local cultural icon, a programme of events will take place across the year sharing all aspects of his work – from paintings to poems; updated adaptations of his writing, previously unseen photography and footage, and opportunities to engage in creative activity to bring Arthur’s legacy to life in your own way.

The industrial landscape that Arthur Berry painted and wrote about has changed significantly since he produced his work. Arthur Berry: 100 will celebrate a special period of the history of Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire shine a light on this local historical-figure, claiming his place in our culture and collective memory.