19 September, 2024

New creative hub gives artists fresh canvas

Artists set to to thrive in main-street hub

A creative hub for 16 local artists is being set up in the historic Devonport Borough Council building on Victoria Rd.
The artists move into the upper storey of the building on 1 October, under the auspices of long-standing community arts facilitator the Depot.
Depot director Amy Saunders said the creation of the hub would not only provide security of studio space for the artists, but also “help promote Devonport as a creative destination” – something which had waned in recent years.
The hub, divided up into nine spaces, would include established artists and members of the Depot’s youth collective, Pigeonhole.
Opening a gallery downstairs in the building “was a long-term possibility”, Saunders said, but the first step was creating the hub on the first floor, which gave artists the chance to live and work locally.
“When I first joined the Depot, and met local artists, I asked them what [was] the most useful thing we could do to support them, and they all said we need more studio space,” Saunders said.
The artists moving into the hub are: Fiona Mackay, ceramics; Mickey Smith, photography and jewellery; Celia Walker, printmaker; Janet Mazenier, painter; Karen Rubado, weaver; Rose Evans, jeweller.And from the Pigeonhole collective: Ailsa Coulson, oil painting and ink/gouache illustration; Jack Valentine, oil painter; Bailey McNally, mixed media; Nathan Wilson, artist, writer and performer; Kiara Schaumkell, textile sculptures; Daniel Sisel, portraiture; Anoushka Coulter, painter; Farah Latif, material sculptor; Jaymin Patel, portrait painter.
Saunders said art and art spaces had proved successful in helping to rejuvenate town centres in England, something she hoped would be replicated in Devonport.