East Street Arts.

Very behind on my blog posts! This should have been posted last month to go with the things I had learnt from my travels with Uncle Clive. These are spaces found by the East Street Arts charity.

I'll add more info at a later date - I'm just lazy.

Copper Beech Gallery.

 A sweet and dainty looking barn.

This used to be The Copper Beech Gallery & Vintage Tea Room in Little Wymondley. It turns out the weekend before we tried to visit it had reopened in Hitichin, which we only found out when I was doing my presentation and someone said they had started their placement there.

Awkward.

The building looks inviting, even on a rainy day, however the insides are now dark and empty. We were disappointed when we got there; well I know I was. I had been looking forward to seeing what the lady at Letchworth called a ‘successful’ space and it seemed like we had wasted our time.

We had both looked the place up on Google, to find out where it was and if it would be open. Nowadays, we all know we do it, we never usually look past the first page if we think we have the info we need and because of this, we did not know about it moving. Obviously, it is our fault for not searching deep enough, although I feel it is partly the owners of CBG too. Maybe it should have been more publicised and signs put out in the area…

It had originally been there for many, many years and must have been popular to have stayed there that long. Situated slightly down a lane, under a little bridge on a farm, where there seemed to be hardly any traffic going past, it might as well have been out in the sticks.  Of course, if the place was still there, then maybe it would be a different story, I reckon the tearoom helped get the people in, but I shall never know.

I have definitely learnt again from our travels. If I get my own space, I will make sure that my online ‘footprint’ is kept up to date, especially if I had to move, so people will not waste their time!

Would this have happened to you too?

Specialised Trade.

Whilst on my travels a couple of weeks ago, I similarly learnt that specialising in a trade could be a good idea to go alongside owning a space (a plan of mine for the future – which might not come about). Framing could be a good choice, because at what point will no one what something framed? Exactly! I doubt that will happen.

Must also remember to make what you do obvious to passers-by, e.g. big windows or clear signs, and again, placement is key.

 

Empty Spaces.

Something we noticed during our walk around Letchworth was the number of empty spaces. It gave an eerie feel about the place, especially in the tucked away areas…

Although, it was good to see that, with collaboration from Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation and Digswell Art Trust, a space called Vision of Utopia was used as a pop up gallery with events and workshops combining local artists and the public. There were also spaces in The Arcade with tables that you can book for the collectors market on a Saturday, so if you have collectables you can try to sell them.

Clearly vacant stores reflect badly on any town, but these are both great ways to get people in to the town, and maybe they will visit the other shops nearby. I may have to look into how much it would cost to use a space and have a pop up exhibition or something, with a few friends, either while I am here or back in Suffolk. It would be good experience, however, we shall see.

Garden City Gallery.

You may remember at the beginning of the week I visited Letchworth and not only did we stop at the LAC; we popped in to a lesser-known space called Garden City Gallery. This space definitely helped when we discussed ideas about possible future career spaces and we discovered it is good to look up on places after you visit, it will help you gain insight of your experience.

We would not have known about the place if our friend had not told us of it, as it is a doorway situated between two shops, partially hidden by the ‘signage’ of the shoe shop next door. We later discovered that the woman who owns the gallery space also owns this shoe shop. 

Up the stairs, you will find three main spaces with different purposes. They are used to show work, you can rent a space for this purpose, even meetings, or you can attend workshops they put on. There is also a small art shop adjoining the first room on your right, which is reasonably priced, plus a small kitchen area.

It was mentioned that a downside of having the place is that mainly because of where it is placed, not many people notice it and go in. In reality, the space is a hobby. More networking and advertising is needed and we agreed after the visit, that someone could even be hired to do that. There are signs in front of the entrance advertising forthcoming workshops and that they sell art supplies as well, but these look outdated and cluttered.

With a few little effective changes, it could be made more fruitful. It was pointed out that a successful space was out in Wymondley, which of course we had to visit and find out for ourselves (coming in another post).

LAC Freya Purdue.

I visited Letchworth yesterday, with a friend, to look at some spaces and of course, we had to stop by the Letchworth Arts Centre! This was my second time visiting there, last time being when the 3^rd years had a show there and I was pleasantly surprised at the show now there.

Freya Purdue is exhibiting until the 15^th May, so there is still plenty of time to have a gander, or if you cannot make it, have a look at her website.

LAC is positioned above a pub called The Three Magnets and heading into the Arcade, it is the first door on your right, if you are approaching from Leys Avenue. You go up the stairs, or lift, and depending which way you turn, you end up either in the Foyer gallery space or in the café, which is also used as hanging space. You will then soon come to Main Gallery and be delighted with the amount of space there is.

I rather enjoyed Purdue’s paintings; it was a lovely show, however, my images of them definitely do not do them justice! I am going to have to brush up on my photo taking skills… I was more drawn to the ones with brighter colours and more outlined patterns (makes sense to me). The space was right for the larger paintings; they each had enough room to be viewed on their own. Although, I feel the lighting in places let some of them down. The one above is certainly one of my favourites, not because of the painting itself, but simply for what the shape reminds me of. You can see the elephant too, right?

I have got them on my brain.