Contains Art Evaluation Report 2020

Final evaluation, January 2020
7. moving into east quay
As we end our 2019 season,
we are delighted that the
East Quay scheme has now
started on site. In early 2019,
we heard we were successful
with a major bid to the Coastal
Communities Fund for £5.0m
towards a capital cost for
phase 1 of around £6.0m, with
grants also committed from
funders including the Esmee
Fairbairn Foundation, Magnox
Socio-Economic Fund and
the Coastal Revival Fund.
In October 2019, we learnt
we had also been successful
with a Small Capital Grants
application to Arts Council
England for £389,000, taking
the total secured to £6.0m and
enabling us to get on site.
Predictably, the impact
of Brexit and some
unanticipated engineering
challenges mean we still have
a capital fundraising aspiration
of around £450,000 which we
hope to secure in the coming
months, but we are confident
of our ability to now deliver
the build.
During this year, in which are
on site at East Quay, we will
operate through outreach
work and artforms that are
not necessarily based in a
traditional gallery setting,
in particular commissioning
artists to work with the
community into the lead up
to the opening show which
will have community of place
as its focus (working title,
More Together Than Alone).
Following his initial work with
us in 2019, we are intending to
work with Neville Gabie to cocurate
this exhibition framed
around a piece of socially
engaged practice.
Alongside this activity, we
are now working to secure
the gallery programme for
the first two-three years
of East Quay, alongside a
comprehensive audience
development strategy, as set
out in our updated Audience
Development Plan. The
focus is on exhibitions and
commissions within three core
themes that speak to our place
and our audiences. These
are: identity and belonging,
community and place and
climate and change.
Throughout this coming year
we continue to develop our
educational partnerships
with local schools, deliver
studiodigital and build
our regional presence and
partnerships. In particular, we
are looking to really boost
our educational work in
recognition of the evidence
of cultural capital in positively
affecting social mobility
outcomes for young people.
We are also looking to boost
our heritage-based work,
following the huge success
of our Wansbrough project
in 2017/18, and have recently
been awarded a substantial
Heritage Lottery Fund Grant
for a cultural-heritage project
that will focus on performance
artforms as a mechanism
of heritage engagement -
theatre, music, folksongs,
costume, spoken word.
We will continue to need
grant funding support for
our artistic programme and
educational initiatives in
the lead up to opening of
East Quay, and anticipate
submitting a project grant
application in the next two
months to enable delivery, and
in particular to commission
artists for the early exhibitions
in the new gallery. Moving
forward, we intend to apply to
become a National Portfolio
Organisation when the next
round opens this Autumn,
and have firm ambitions to
become one of the most
imaginative, challenging placeand
community-based arts
organisations in the UK.
46