FOR ESSEX ART
Delivering expertise and knowledge to the people of Essex.
Thursday, 18 January 2007
Proposal for an Essex Gallery Basildon
Dear
Basildon has always had a thriving and flourishing arts community, but the visual arts in particular have perhaps shone through most of all. A good example of this is the jointly mounted exhibition by BAT [Basildon Arts Trust] and START [Support Through Art] at the Eastgate Shopping Centre last year, which attracted over 40,000 visitors during its six month limited run. This was a phenomenal attendance considering that it was the first major art exhibition to be held in Basildon during the new town’s relatively short history.
Over the years various groups have campaigned for an art gallery in Basildon and indeed for a county gallery in Essex to display the county’s indigenous art, but up to now finding a suitable site and a local authority with the vision to make this happen have proved to be the two of main obstacles to achieving this. Fortunately in Basildon we have a forward thinking Council, one that has been quick to see the value of the visual arts in particular -a Council who have voted in full council to support a major gallery in the town. They really do appreciate the cachet that a thriving cultural scene can bring to the vibrancy of a town like Basildon
Basildon Town Centre is about to experience a 21st century transformation to put the town where it belongs as a major destination in south Essex for business, shopping, leisure and culture -a place to enjoy town or country walks or just to relax in and see a show. Basildon also has some very significant 20th century art and architecture. The Trust’s art collection includes prints by Barbara Hepworth and Dame Elizabeth Frink RA, paintings by Sir Terry Frost RA, Ivon Hitchens, William Scott RA and Essex artists Ken Kiff RA and Richard Sorrell. The district contains a number of listed buildings including Brooke House, a fine example Brutalist architecture designed by Sir Basil Spence. Another fine example this time of Post-modernist architecture is The Basildon Swimming Pool, designed by local architect, Ken Cotton, who was also a founding member of the Basildon Arts Trust.
The Swimming Pool is due to be decommissioned in the very near future and we feel that a new use for it has to be found. This is such a vital part of Basildon’s built Heritage. We are therefore proposing to call a meeting at the Towngate Theatre on Wednesday 28 March 2007 at 7 pm to understand what local and regional people feel about creating such a visual art centre within Basildon’s Town Centre.
The Proposers of this meeting are interested in finding a lasting and permanent home for the Basildon Art Collection, a place where the artists of Essex can be given a high profile display of their work, and a place that will provide a large enough space to house many the national and international exhibitions that hitherto have by-passed out south Essex because we have nowhere suitable to mount them. This interest is shared by our partners BAT and START and we hope that you will share our vision by coming along to this meeting and sharing your views and thoughts with other interest groups and individuals from across Essex.
Yours sincerely
Vin Harrop
Chairman of the Trustees
The Foundation for Essex Arts/
Essex Architecture Centre
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Please detach and return to the address below
I am interested in a visual arts space for Essex. I would therefore like to attend the meeting to share my views and interests in helping Basildon to fulfil its ambition to provide such a space in the south Essex, Thames Gateway region
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Patrons: Vivien Heffernan Andrew Motion Richard Sorrell Mark Wallinger
THE FOUNDATION FOR ESSEX ARTS
(A voluntary, community-based, unincorporated charity)
Incorporating Essex Architecture Centre + Commission for 'The Essex Gallery'
15 Rosslyn Road, Billericay, Essex, CM12 9JN
Telephone/fax 44(0) 1277 630760
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