Sam Pooley-Stride is a multidisciplinary artist working across assemblage, print, sculpture and painting. Her current work explores motherhood and the crone, reflecting on women’s experiences and the changing stages of life.
Following a career supporting young creatives in London’s advertising industry, Sam moved to Shrewsbury and returned to her own creative practice. She graduated from Birmingham School of Art in 2013, exhibiting her Boob Wallpaper project. An artist, curator and creative connector, she is also the founder of Swan Hill Studios, where she makes her work and supports a thriving community of artists.
Past exhibitions include, shows at The Shrewsbury Coffee House 2013-2022, the sell out Seas Of The Moon I (2020) which was cancelled after 1 hour due to the takeover of an illegal warehouse. Seas Of The Moon II at Salton Hall (2021), which included installations in the Long Barrow. You can find her work at Berwick Hall, Michelin-listed restaurant Docket, C Sons in Shrewsbury and many houses across Shropshire.
Her recent exhibitions in 2025 include Forage, a group show and All Roads Lead to Mother, alongside her daughter Daisy Pooley-Tolkien-Williams, in August, both at Swan Hill Studios and Tell Me What to Do at Jigsaw Store in The Shrewsbury Market Square.
This year has seen Sam working on commissions and preparing ‘The Empty Nest’, a new solo exhibition opening on 26 November 2026, just ahead of Open Studios. The exhibition continues her exploration of motherhood and the crone.
Visitors will have the chance to see the show, explore her working studio and get a glimpse into her eclectic creative mind through the materials, objects and ideas that shape her work.
