Re:Box, the Island’s smallest art gallery on Lind Street in Ryde is featuring work from Liz Cooke, best known for her large-scale festival flags.
Inside the classic phone box are swaths of fabric that mimic the colourful bespoke curtains Liz created for DepARTment, Ryde’s arts centre on Cross Street.
Re:Box co-founder, Zoe Barker, explained
“Liz’s work would look amazing in Re:Box anytime, but as DepARTment prepares to celebrate its first anniversary, we knew now was the ideal moment for Liz to think inside the box.”
A kinetic, contemporary look
Liz was commissioned by Shademakers UK, the carnival company behind DepARTment, to create the work that fills the upper storey windows of the former Elizabeth Pack Department Store, giving it a kinetic, contemporary look both inside and out.
Liz’s work has also appeared at Rhythmtree, Ventnor Fringe, Greenpeace events, Mutiny Festival in Chichester, Cross the Tracks in London and other popular music festivals and events across the country.
Considering the planet
The flags are designed and made by Liz in her off-grid, solar-powered workshop on the Island.
Moving towards a zero-waste policy, she repairs flag sets and upcycles them into new designs once they are past their best, which additionally creates new colour-ways and tones in the designs.
The cut-outs and scraps from each new flag set are used as details in other designs, made into fringe bunting, or used in various craft projects. No fabric is wasted or binned.
Anmarie Bowler, Re:Box co-founder, said,
“Liz’s creative ethos suits our repurposed phone box perfectly.
“And what better way to ring in the first glorious year at DepARTment than by waving their flags in celebration?”
Birthday bash
DepARTment is marking its one-year anniversary with a Big Birthday Bash on Friday 13th March 2026.
For tickets visit the website.
And see more of Liz’s work on her website and on Instagram (@lizcookeflags)
About Re:Box
Re:Box is Ryde’s smallest art gallery sited in a classic Kiosk No.6 red phone box on Lind Street. Through BT’s ‘Adopt a Kiosk’ initiative, Ryde Town Council purchased the box for £1, turning it over to Anmarie Bowler and Zoe Barker, a pair of local artists determined to give the decommissioned piece of street furniture a new lease of life.
Lit from the inside, when night falls Re:Box transforms into a lightbox that creates the impression of glowing stained glass. Re:Box is funded in part by Ryde Town Council.
If you create interesting work and want to ‘think inside the box,’ contact Re: Box at [email protected] or on Facebook at ReBoxRyde.
