Women Welders

Women Welders is a photography series created by Bristol artist Ellie Shipman for Charting Change, one of three major Public Art Commissions for the University of Bristol’s wider public art programme, 2024 – 2026.

Women Welders is a series of portraits of East Bristol women over 60 who welded crowns and sculptures celebrating and acknowledging the hidden labour of women during a workshop Ellie Shipman co-hosted with artist Jack Stiling and metalworkers Lottie Smith and Annie Chapter from WTF – Women Teaching Fabrication.

Barton Hill History Group introduced the workshop through sharing stories of women welders who worked locally at Lysaghts’ Ironworks during WWII, with a poem by resident Nic Colton about his mother Eunice, who was one such welder at 18 years old.

The group then created metal crowns as odes to a local industrial heritage activist; a seamstress mother on her journey from the Caribbean to England as part of the Windrush Generation; the hidden labour of volunteers; and family love.

The portraits by Shipman are direct, unflinching, confident and playful – the group had bonded throughout the day, gaining confidence welding and plasma cutting, and were proud of their creations and the stories they told.

These photos were featured on A0 poster frames installed in Barton Hill over Summer 2025.