A Pearl for the People?
HELEN MURPHY & NICK PELLING ask what the Hastings Contemporary is doing for the people of Hastings.
The shiny black box of the Hastings Contemporary that graces The Stade in Old Town might be beautifully designed, but does it actually provide much for the people of this town? We went along to meet the Director of Programmes, Leah Cross, to ask the pressing Pythonian question: what has the Hastings Contemporary ever done for us? Leah is a charismatic and persuasive young woman who exudes a sense of mission. She informed us that the gallery is determined to offer something for “all age groups” for the town, within what they call the ‘Pearls of the Sea’ programme. This diverse programme is a constantly evolving portfolio of playful activity sessions, art classes and creative workshops. It should be stressed that the workshops are often led by local artists; indeed the gallery is very keen to build up its list of local artists who might like to offer their skills.
A FISHY WORLD
Given the location of the gallery, among the black fishing huts, it’s perhaps not surprising that the various workshops on offer have been given fishy names. The sessions on the second Wednesday of every month, for example, are for the so-called ‘sprats’. These are for babies, up to 18 months, which seek to help the little ones explore their sensory responses. Parents are shrewdly warned that, “It could get messy.” The very attempt to regard babies as proto-artists seemed quite something to us.
Toddlers, up to four years, have their own one-hour session on the second Saturday of every month. Leah relished the fact that toddler artists can be quite anarchic; the gallery is very happy to allow mess and chaos to accompany creativity. Indeed, Leah told us about a particular episode of toddler mayhem – it involved the slow destruction of a cardboard submarine – with a big smile on her face.
There are also classes for 5-10 year-olds known as ‘brill’, and one for young artists aged 11-16. Perhaps sensibly, the teenagers – given their propensity for disapproval of all adult ideas – are not given a fishy name.
FINDING THE FREE SPIRIT
A key aspect of the gallery’s programme is ‘Family Day’, every Thursday in the school holidays, in which parents can share the creative experience with their children. Last October the gallery put on the ‘Big Draw’ workshop which prompted children to interact with drawings by Quentin Blake. The aim and, to some extent, the achievement, was to get children drawing and colouring in Blake’s free-spirited fashion.
Leah was keen to point out that all the classes and Family Days are carefully constructed to tie in with whatever exhibitions are currently on. For example, the current exhibition by Roland Hicks, The Fourth Wall – which features his slightly eccentric barrier-like structures – will be the inspiration for a forthcoming Family Day when children and older family members will be encouraged to make their own 3D assemblages out of found objects and everyday bits and pieces that might not normally be seen as art materials.
SMASH INTO COLOUR
Occasionally, Leah allows, the workshops can get pretty noisy. She remembers one printing class in which children were allowed to borrow stones from the beach and use them to smash plants into calico cloth. The pigments explode from the greenery but, of course, the sound and sights of kids smashing stones down again and again was a bit disconcerting for bewildered visitors.
The gallery also has an out-reach programme involving making links with local schools. This often entails going into schools to work with and, with luck, inspire the children. But, schools also bring groups in: one local school is apparently bringing in a GCSE group to film a dance piece in the big gallery.
SIP AND DRAW LIFE
For older members of the Hastings’ community, there are all sorts of adult classes. There are the enticing ‘Sip and Draw’ life drawing classes when a little bit of wine or beer might help to remove inhibitions or fear of failure. Other options include skills-based classes, such as still-life painting, but also art history classes. Again, the aim is to find connections with Hastings and the seafront surrounding the gallery; art inspired by the beach, real and imagined.
The seafront location is very important to the gallery. They have links with the local fishing community and have used that world as an inspiration for workshops. And they are hoping to work with the RNLI to help the venerable institution with its bicentenary celebrations on the beach this year
UNDERFUNDED
A criticism often leveled at the gallery is that all these offerings have to be paid for, and that certainly cannot be denied. The Towner Gallery in Eastbourne and the De La Warr Pavilion, by contrast, regularly have free exhibitions and access. However, the gallery’s Communication Officer, Sophia McNab, pointed us to figures that show that the Hastings Contemporary does not receive anywhere near the amount of Arts Council funding as their south coast artsy cousins. In fact, the Towner has about three times the amount of funding as the Contemporary and the De La Warr receives about four times as much. Not for the first time in matters south eastern, Hastings finds itself the poor relation.
Nevertheless, the gallery tries very hard to keep prices down and offers multiple concessions, particularly for locals. For example, the people of Hastings and St Leonards can get into the gallery at half price (£5) and all under 18s are free. There are also concessions for the disabled, carers, unemployed, students and, in the future, the gallery hopes to help children who receive free school meals attend workshops and get a meal for free.
A FLEDGLING RELATIONSHIP
What Leah makes particularly clear is that the gallery is constantly evolving its community programme. The whole ‘Pearls of the Sea’ cycle of events is only in its second year and as Leah says, it is still “at a fledgling stage”. The gallery is trying very hard to find out what works and doesn’t work for the people of Hastings. They spend a lot of time surveying the opinions of those that attend anything at the gallery. They are, in effect, attempting to strengthen their relationship with the citizens of this creative town.
It is a relationship that is very important to the gallery. For example, the gallery depends upon a roster of about 50 volunteers to help out and most of them are locals. Overall, we had the impression that the gallery is finding a new way forward which is built upon the idea of getting closer to the local community. As Leah said, quite forcibly, the aim is to be “not just in Hastings but for Hastings”. It will be quite a challenge but, undoubtedly, the small devoted team that run the gallery are moving things in the right direction.
The Pearls of the Sea is the name of the Youth and Schools programme only.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply