This September, as part of Heritage Open Days, residents of Halton are being encouraged to stop, look up, and see their surroundings in a whole new light.

Look Up Halton – You're Beautiful is a new community campaign inviting people across Runcorn, Widnes, Daresbury, Hale Village and beyond to share photos, sketches, and artworks of the hidden details that make our borough unique – the Art-itecture of Halton.

From the intricate patterns on a bridge to colourful stained-glass windows, historic street signs, murals, or even nature hides – the campaign aims to capture the highlights and hidden gems that often go unnoticed in daily life.

Residents can get involved in two simple ways:

• 📸 Take a picture or create a sketch/artwork and share it on social media using the hashtags #LookUpHalton and #HaltonHighlights.
• 🎨 Drop off physical artwork at Runcorn Library for inclusion in the community gallery.

All contributions will be brought together into a living gallery of Halton, with the collection inspiring a new window artwork at Halton Library, designed to showcase the borough in a way it has never been seen before.

Cllr Laura Bevan, Halton, said: “Halton is full of beauty, history, and creativity, sometimes in the most unexpected places. Look Up Halton is about celebrating those small details that give our borough its character and pride. We can't wait to see the community's creativity shine and to share in this new vision of Halton.”

The campaign runs from now until 15th.September 2025 with the final artwork which will be created during Heritage Open Days (12th - 21st September 2025) by Colette Whittington,

Collette is a visual artist with extensive experience leading community and heritage projects locally and across the country. She works with museums, galleries, libraries, hospitals and grassroots organisations to co-create artistic outcomes. Her public artworks are largely illustrative, combining elements of printmaking, drawing and collage, often using archive materials and oral histories to inform the work.

Collette added “I'm driven by storytelling, narratives and 'a sense of place'; where we live and who we are. Having close ties to Halton I'm very excited to be working alongside local folk to make art works that reflect the perspectives, memories, testimonies and folklore of the people who call Runcorn and Widnes their home”.

For more information and to take part, visithalton.co.uk or follow @VisitHalton on social media.