Green Pebble, the regional arts magazine, has a new website up and running, with a lively calendar of events and exhibitions to tempt you!
Just click here to go to the website and enjoy our region’s wonderful offerings.
Waveney and Blyth Arts are celebrating this September with sixteen short walks to encourage people to explore the Waveney and Blyth area and appreciate how much it has to offer. The schedule of walks runs daily from 3rd September to 18th September and include enjoyable creative activities. Locally, there is a circular walk at Burgh Castle (1.5 miles) with artist Katarzyna Coleman on the 15th September and another at Breydon Water (2.5 miles) with poet and bird-lover Matt Howard. The walks are free but you need to register in advance either on line at http://waba.mustarddev.co.uk
All the walks are very tempting, such as the walk from Beccles to Geldeston on 11th September, which includes musician John Ward who will be performing on the village green. A great walker who has the time might want to do them all! Brochures providing information about all the walks can be picked up from libraries and Tourist Information Centres or downloaded from the website, or you can phone on 0845 299 6456. The brochure gives the contact details of the local co-ordinator for each walk and provides information about length, with grading as to how easy or otherwise the walk is (Great Yarmouth and Waveney NHS has teamed up with Waveney and Blyth Arts to support the walks with trained staff).
Waveney and Blyth Arts are also holding a Two Valley Poetry Competition to run from 1st September – 31st October, inviting local poets to submit work that illustrates the life, landscape or history of the Blyth and Waveney River Valleys. Participants can submit up to five poems with the chance of winning first prize of £100. Entry details are on the website or can be picked up at the launch of the Walk the Waveney and Blyth Programme at the Seagull Theatre, Morton Road, Pakefield, NR33 0JH on 2nd September 2011, starting at 7.30 pm, tickets £6 booked at the Seagull Theatre online by clicking here or tel. 01502 589726.
It was good to bump into Mark Leech resting on a bench in the Great Yarmouth Library Community Garden this morning and to have a chance to look through his latest sketchbook that he happened to have with him.
Mark helps out as a volunteer in the Growing Together Community Garden where an amazing crop of vegetables has already been harvested this year – onions, garlic, herbs, mange tout, radishes, courgettes, French beans, broad beans, lettuces! There are fruit trees in the garden and lavender, attracting butterflies and bees. Caroline Fernandez is keen to welcome new -volunteers who would like to help in the garden and share in the harvest on Tuesday mornings, 10.00-12.00 hrs. She can be contacted on 01493 855441 or 07825281846 or by email at caroline.fernandez@norfolk.gov.uk.
Workshops to be held in the garden over the summer include fish painting, children’s summer gardening workshops, bite sized bats, bugs and birds workshops with Norfolk Wildlife Trust, autumn wildlife and gardening workshops, herbal first aid and sustainable gardening workshops. Contact Caroline for more details or keep an eye out for posters in the library.
As well as a keen gardener, Mark is very productive artist. He attends the Priory Gallery workshops run by the National Gallery and the Priory Art Group. He also participated in the Transitions project: to see the work he contributed to this project, click here.
This Orbit East Housing Development in Southtown Road, Great Yarmouth, was nominated for the Norfolk Association of Architects Awards by ISG Jackson, building contractor. The building incorporates sixteen flats and was completed in December 2010. It deservedly won a Highly Commended Award in the Residential, New Development Category. It was constructed on the site of a fine building last used as a restaurant which was destroyed in a fire and demolished several years earlier.
The site is opposite St. Mary’s Church and there was a good view of the church before new construction commenced.
St. Mary’s celebrated its 18oth anniversary in June this year. The foundation stone was laid in September 1839 on land donated by Lord Anson and the building was completed by the following summer for a total cost of £3,000. St. Mary’s is a distinctive church which sits nicely in its always beautifully maintained grounds. The architect Joseph Scoles was a Southtown man who also designed St. Mary’s, the Roman Catholic Church on Regent Road and St. Spyridon’s, the Greek Orthodox Church on St. Peter’s Road.
There was an earlier 13th century church dedicated to St. Mary in what was then Little Yarmouth in the County of Suffolk, now Southtown, but it fell into ruin after the parishes of Gorleston and Southtown were united 1511. The building materials were used in the seventh attempt to create a haven entrance which began in 1560. Stone from St. Mary’s and from the ruins of the Bachelor’s Aisle in the Parish Church was used to build breastworks to confine the channel. This final harbour entrance which has survived to this day was constructed under the supervision of a Dutchman, Joas Johnson. (See Yarmouth is an Ancient Town by Michael Boon and Frank Meeres, revised 1973, ISBN 0-9541163-1-7 or A History of Great Yarmouth by Frank Meers, 2007, ISBN 978-1-86077-457-7, for more information on the building of the havens or about the early settlement of Little Yarmouth.)
It is a great pleasure and good for morale to see that considerable care was taken to build a handsome block of apartments at the top of Southtown Road. The view through the gates of St. Mary’s Church shows attention to proportion and architectural detail that is much appreciated.
Interviews with 25 Great Yarmouth Artists
Conversations from the Edge is a research project undertaken by the sculptor Bridget Heriz which was supported by SeaChange Arts and funded through the Working Neighbourhood Fund. Transcripts from conversations with 25 artists from Great Yarmouth have been posted to the Transitions site linked to EastCoastNet, and can be accessed by clicking on the name of the artist in the list below.
Charcrit Boonsom, photographer
Janice Burgoyne, sculptor, workshops
Julia Cake, sculptor, workshops
Margaret Carver, RSM, SWA, landscape painter and Chair of Great Yarmouth and District Society of Artists
Bill Casey, photographer and member of Great Yarmouth and District Photographic Society
Ernie and Karen Childs, Great Yarmouth Potteries, workshops
Katarzyna Coleman, painter, printmaker, workshops
John Dashwood, painter, muralist and poet
Jankie Drummond, textile artist, community arts and carnival, workshops
Lorraine Finch, paper and photographic conservator, workshops
Kevin Griffiths, painter
Jane Hall, painter
Matthew Harrison, film-maker, community arts
Derek Jackson, photographer
John Kiki, painter
Julian Macey, RMS, painter, President of Great Yarmouth and District Society of Artists
Jason Parr, sculptor and poet, community arts
Emrys Parry, painter
Emily Payne, film-maker
Manuel Seixas, photographer, community arts
Bruer Tidman, painter
Jonathan Tooke, poet, writer and artist
Ian Walker, marine painter and Chair of Great Yarmouth Guild of Artists and Craftsmen
Nick Ward, RE, printmaker
Call for Artists. A great opportunity to exhibit your artwork in empty shop windows around Norwich City Centre.
ShopArt! has been showing artwork in empty shops windows since October 2010. Current exhibits are at 1, 3, 9, 11-13,15, 17 Westlegate, 99 Prince of Wales Road and 8-10 Upper King Street, also on Westlegate House tower and on Castle Meadow.
We are happy to announce that we are looking for another wave of artwork to help bring the city centre alive in the summer months.
Please see shopartnorwich.co.uk or the facebook page.
To apply, send a brief description of your work and of what you would do in an empty shop window along with two JPEG examples of your work to mailto://grace@norwichartscentre.co.uk
before Friday 10th June 2011.
Try Something New!
Israeli folk dance for beginners.
Tuesday 1st Feb from 10 to 12 am at The Priory Centre, Priory Plain, Great Yarmouth (between St Nicholas Church and Sainsbury’s)
No partner needed and all dances walked through first. Regular class to follow if numbers are sufficient. Tel Pam 01493 748830 to book a place or email to broadland.cd@tiscali.co.uk
Mardi Gras 2011
The 2011 King Street Mardi Gras took place on Tuesday 8th March from 4-6.00 pm. The event featured entertainment, food and customs with an international theme, both in the street and inside the event’s tented area on King Street. This is the second Mardi Gras event to be held on King Street: the weather was much kinder than in 2010 and there was a good crowd. The event is organised by SeaChange Arts to celebrate the international festival that is Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day .
The theme this year drew heavily on the notion of spring versus winter – represented throughout the event in the form of ‘Fatso’ and ‘Hempen’ – two characters from the Lithuanian culture who do battle to signify the changing of the seasons. “We introduced Fatso and Hempen at last year’s event,” explained SeaChange’s Chief Executive, Joe Mackintosh, “This year, we’re developing their role and they will be central to the afternoon’s activities.”
The roles of Fatso and Hempen were filled this year by performers from Générik Vapeur, a French street arts company who SeaChange Arts work closely with as part of a European partnership, called ZEPA. The partnership enabled SeaChange to bring the full Générik Vapeur Company to Yarmouth last year to showcase their legendary street show Bivouac as part of the Out There festival.
The Mardi Gras event is designed to bring communities and businesses from around the King Street area to work together. The area is earmarked as a new cultural quarter for the town, focused around the £8m redevelopment of St Georges Chapel into a multipurpose Arts Centre.
For further information on the event visit www.seachangearts.org.uk
(Information provided by SeaChange Arts)
The completed mural created by street artist Silent Hobo has now been installed in Great Yarmouth to decorate the hoardings around the St George’s Chapel development whilst work is currently under way to renovate the building. The mural was commissioned for the town through a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The mural depicts characters representing key points in Yarmouth’s heritage and cultural life, from the 17th Century, to the maritime and tourist heritage up to its focus in 1960s youth culture with the Mods and Rockers.
“My main idea for the piece was to represent the people through this period of history right up to the present day with elements of history passing by in the background” explained artist Silent Hobo.
“To manage such a large mural, I broke the periods of history into sections and I’d originally sketched out a design for approval and pretty much stuck with it. There are many misconceptions when it comes to spray painting, It can have a negative effect on an area, but it also can have a positive effect too when done with ideas and consideration.”
The mural also features a local man, Michael Blank, who is chairman of “Comeunity”, the local Neighbourhood Management organisation. Michael is also Treasurer of the Middlegate Community Association. He was nominated and won a public vote to feature in the mural in recognition of his work to improve the lives of people from South and Central Yarmouth.
St. George’s Chapel, 19.01.11
It is expected the decorative hoardings will stay in place around St Georges until major works are completed during its renovation into a multi-purpose arts centre. The development of St George’s is the Borough’s principle regeneration programme. The building is expected to be open to the public in early 2012.
To see a video of the mural with the artist at work, a time lapse animation can be viewed on the homepage of Seachange Arts website – www.seachangearts.org.uk
Information provided by SeaChange Arts.
The Room, an event inspired by the Later with Jools Holland show, is back at the Oceans Rooms in Gorleston after a two year break, with a one off night on Friday 4th Feb, 2011. Tickets £5 on the door, doors open 8.30 p.m., show starts 9.30 p.m. For more informatin go to http://www.theroomisback.co.uk
Stage 1 Buster James Bond, Stage 2 The Doggett Brothers, Stages 3 and 4 Rivers Llewelyn, The Lorebreakers, Miss Lisa Ambrose, Frost and Mudd and special guests, Dance DJ Underground.