It’s set to be a one-stop-shop for people to find out more and get involved with local art across the city.
The Renewal Trust works with communities in Sneinton, St Ann’s and Mapperley, assisting them with areas like community connections, sporting programmes and creative projects. Their newest initiative will see a community-led creative hub pop up in the heart of Sneinton Market.
The hub will be home to a project called Place, which will run exciting art and culture projects. While these specific communities may be the driving force behind the project, the trust hope to encourage people from all over the city to get involved with the local arts scene.
As well as using the space to get stuck in to experimenting with and creating art, a community steering group will take the reins and develop briefs to commission artists, or get people involved with the organising of events and activities.
One of the first projects will see the installation of neon artwork at Sneinton Market, followed by running local activities leading up to Nottingham’s first Puppet Festival in March.
Suzannah Bedford, Creative Director at The Renewal Trust said: “Nottingham is home to all kinds of amazing art and culture, and Place will enable local people to not only get more involved, but to decide for themselves what kind of creative projects they’d like to see in their neighbourhoods.
“In a nutshell, this is about creating art and culture for the people, by the people.”
The initiative will be delivered over the next two years. As funding has come in the form of a hefty grant from Arts Council England, they have also teamed up with local leading arts organisations to ensure they’re offering a programme of the highest quality. An advisory panel, made up of folk from the Nottingham Contemporary, Surface Gallery, City Arts and more, will work alongside Place to support the programme.
The trust are keen for this project to reach as much of the community as possible, so will also offer to help support local artists and up-and-coming talent, together with students and volunteers keen to gain experience of managing and producing arts projects and events.
To find out more about Place and how to get involved, get down to 25 Sneinton Market for the free launch event on Thursday 25 January, 4.30pm-6.30pm. This event will also include the launch of a book celebrating the Sneinton Pride of Place exhibition which was held at the Caravan Gallery in early 2017.
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