Chapeau! A change to Creative in Colchester

Thursday 7 June
7.30pm til late
@ Chapeau (location TBC)
Members & Guests Free, Non-Members £10 donation
RSVP

We’re shaking things up a bit and for one month we’re taking our monthly Creative in Colchester Meetup out on Tour.  

The next meet up will be moved to Thursday 7th June and will be hosted at the opening of an exciting new community space called Chapeau!. A collaboration between Mike Polom, bike mechanic Richard Evans and local charity Re~cycle, Bikes to Africa.

The event will also coincide with The Halfords Tour Series, a national cycle race that transforms the town centre into a race track for one evening.

Chapeau! will be a bike shop come coffee house, selling vintage bicycles, parts and fair-trade coffee, offering exclusive memberships, and hosting bicycle repairs, maintenance classes, evening social events and organising local rides.

Here at 15 Queen Street we are all about supporting local creative businesses and individuals and celebrating new talent in the town.

Expect the usual format with drinks, live music and DJ, chat and inspirational Bike themed talks from speakers from across the country. Whether you are a bike lover, creative or both, come join our evening meetup with others like you, and become part of our burgeoning community.

Breakfast Club: Artist Food/Studio Exchange & Camera Obscura

     

The project is based around the ideal notion of a humane exchange and through personal and humane exchanges that we build more wholesome and genuine communities. Conni would like to document her time with anyone who wishes to participate through photography, writing and possibly recordings, but is also happy to negotiate how this is done. Please contact Conni by email if you would like to get involved.

We also met Jacqueline Mellor who told us about an exciting project setting up in the Minories garden today. We dropped in to take this snap. Jacqueline is setting up a camera obscura. We won’t say more than that for now but can confirm it works. It’s a truly magical experience.

If you would like more information please contact Jacqueline by email.

Don’t forget our Breakfast Club will be the first Thursday next month. Come along to meet our members, find out more about the project and enjoy breakfast with us.

Member Showcase: Matt Keeling

We are proud to announce our latest resident member is Matt Keeling - a graphic artist/illustrator based in Brightlingsea. Matt was a flexible member before he signed up for permanent space. Popping when he could to come use our building to host desk. He took to plunge to own a dedicated space here at our hub, based right in the centre of Colchester.

We grabbed Matt for a quick Q & A to discover more about the local creative, what he thinks of us, the town and those ever important tips.

What do you do? How did you get to where you are now?
It’s quite difficult to label what I do, but the closet term would probably be ‘Graphic Artist/Illustrator’ with most of my work being in High Street Clothing/Fashion creating graphics across Kidswear and Menswear garments. I’ve been working as an freelance illustrator for around 14 years and have found my way to this point by taking the opportunities as they have crossed my path from visualising for a packaging design agency to editorial illustrations for poker magazines and many other projects in between. I also create digital paintings and collages which I sell through The Paper Shed online gallery.

What surprises have made you smile along the way?
I always have to laugh at the fact I work in ‘Fashion’ If someone had told me that when I was at college I’d have run a mile but to be honest I love it and the work I do in this field is great fun!

What do you think 15 Queen Street can do for people like you living near the town?
15 Queen St is a great environment to mix with other professional creatives, giving invaluable feedback on your work and working within a setup like this you can’t help but pick up the buzz, it’s very inspiring. With the stream of speakers and creative people doing talks at the regular events, you’re exposed to things you wouldn’t normally seek out, so 15 Queen St diversifies the base from which you develop each project.

Do you have an tips for people embarking on a career with the Creative Industries?
The best tip has to be work hard, but also take the knocks in your stride, they keep coming regularly, even after 14 years!

Give us a sneaky peek of what you are working on right now.
I’m working towards an Exhibition at the Coach House Coffee Shop in Brightlingsea through April, a series of artwork based on Birds of Prey and their Prey. Also a large Supermarket and a High St store, both Boys clothing. Which keeps me out of trouble!

Thanks for the interview Matt. Glad to have you as a part of the building and look forward to helping you settle in!

Transforming Spaces @firstsite

Saturday 17 March, 9.30am – 5.15pm
firstsite, Lewis Gardens, CO1 1JH

£32.40 incl. VAT, lunch and two refreshment breaks.

A great event hitting Colchester in March. Slack Space in partnership with firstsite are hosting a regional conference on the use and transformation of empty shops and disused spaces. The event will look at the current spaces and combine an interactive focus on case studies and success stories with practical advice and contextual understanding.

This event is suitable for artists, community groups, arts and regeneration professional as well as landlords and developers.

Partner Profiles

Slack Space is one of the premier ‘empty shop’ organisations in the UK and has been successfully putting art and performance into empty shops for over two and a half years.

firstsite is a contemporary visual arts organisation based in Colchester with a mission to make contemporary art relevant to everyone.

Artside is a CoExist project featuring two weeks of art and interventions in Southend High Street. Artists work directly with venues to create site-led work.

TAP is housed in a converted waterworks. Currently, it houses CoExist Galleries and Studios, The White Bus, MEET, Solug and Open Arts.

We are Bedford is a community collective. The group put on the Castle Quay Weekender in March 2011, an arts festival in seven empty shops, and run various other successful community events.

Meanwhile Space is led by the Development Trusts Association as part of the Advancing Assets programme, with support from the Department of Communities and Local Government.

Empty Shops Network is the national network for organisations and individuals working in empty shops and other disused spaces.

3Space offers a brokerage service between landlords / developers with empty space and charities or other organisations wishing to use that space.

There are 50 spaces free available. To apply please download the booking form here and return to firstsite, Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester CO1 1JH or email.  

Deadline date to apply for a free space is Wednesday 15th February.

For more information and outline of the day visit the firstsite website.

Tickets can be collected from firstsite or posted for a £1 fee. The Box Office for this event will close on Thursday 8 March 2012.

Writing classes in Thorpe-Le-Soken

Local writer Jenni Chante is setting up some Creative Writing classes in Thorpe-le-Soken. We thought we would pass the info around to all you Colchester writers. If any of you are interested Jenni may run some classes based here too.

The price will be £3 per one hour class, and it’ll be tailored for beginners who aren’t quite sure where to start, or who might know what they want to do but don’t have the confidence to make the leap.

I’m thinking we could meet up at a cafe or something, and just have a relaxed but structured discussion on topics such as how to set a scene, developing characters, creating dialogue, how to edit your work, what to avoid, etc. If anyone is interested in this, please do get in touch.

For more info please email her or call 07904605386.

Member Showcase: Erin Summers

Meet Erin Summers, a local writer and flexi member who has signed up to run the Colchester Philosophy Group here every first Friday of the month.

Join her here on Friday 3rd February for the first meetup. There’s no philosophical experience required, just come meet like minded creatives and explore world philosophy. We asked Erin a few questions so you can all learn more about the creative souls based here in Colchester.

Tell us a bit about your journey and where you are today.
Well I identify wholly as a writer so in truth my journey started began around the age of five.  As soon as I realised I could make linguistic magic appear on paper using only my ABCs I became power hungry.  As I got older I began to use writing as a means to explore ideas within a safe and contained space, i.e. a piece of paper. 

In 2001, I moved from St. Louis to England, finally settling in Colchester.  I began to write for other people and to blog regularly and gradually I became more confident that I did indeed have something worthwhile to offer potential readers.  It was always very important to me that I not become a vanity writer; in this digital age of blogging and micro-blogging everyone has a voice - which is as it should be.  But I felt that unless my words carried a weight heavier than just a pretty rhythm I should abstain from publishing them rather than arbitrarily add to the din that we all live under.  It took a long time for my book to prove its right to live to me but now I feel as if writing it was a bit like childbirth; I was really just the vehicle that a stronger force used to get into the arena.  Also I will need to forget how much of a pain in the a**e it’s been before I agree to do another. 

During the last several years I have gained some recognition for my writing, but simultaneously I’ve become more incompetent in nearly every other practical application in my life, thanks to a little brain hemorrhage.  (Tends to slow one down a bit).  The upside to being bedridden was that I finally had the time to write the book I’d been waiting for. I’m about halfway through its final revision and it feels like the last length of a marathon. I really just want to get it over with! It should be published mid-2012.

I’m also beginning to run monthly philosophy meetings here at Queen Street. Each month we’ll focus and discuss one aspect or another that falls under the great umbrella, Philosophy. I believe that philosophy should be accessible to everyone and intimidate no one.  In taking the time to consider some of the great (and infinitesimal) ideas and questions philosophers have asked for centuries we can better understand how to shape our present and future. So I hope to see you there! 

What do you think of our membership hub and Colchester’s growing Cultural Quarter? 
I love, love, love 15 Queen Street.  I initially discovered it through the brilliant Colchester Circle Magazine whose office is located in the building.  I’ve been overwhelmed by the great sense of community there is at Queen Street, and how warm the welcome has been to a new member. Every time I come away from Queen Street I’ve got some new idea or activity to pursue; as a writer who works very long and solitary hours this has been invaluable to me. Value for money I’d have to say paying for my membership might very well be the best £15 I’ve spent in the ten years I’ve lived on this fair isle. 

Colchester is a brilliant town. I see so much potential here in addition to those things that are already thriving. It actually reminds me a lot of my home town, St. Louis so I’d like to start a campaign to get them twinned. Colchester is an open-minded, friendly town with lots of variety, so there’s always plenty here to play off of and use. 

Encouraging Colchester’s awesome sense of community and growth in its cultural hub to flourish has to be the way forward.   

Give us a sneaky peak of what you are working on right now.
Oooh rotten question to ask me!!  I’m notoriously bad at talking about my book.  I did make a serious effort to find a few sentences I could give here but it’s over 116,000 words so not terribly easy to scan.  I’ll tell you this, it’s called The Lemay Leveller and even though I can’t tell you (or me!) what it’s about, I really, really hope people enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  And that does count as a sneak peak because I’ve never announced the title until two sentences ago!  I plan on hibernating as soon as I chuck it out into the world.  Or paying someone to speak for me. 

Thank you Erin. Your support means a lot. We plan to continue expanding, growing and improving our community. It’s support from creatives like you that keep us going. This cultural quarter can only get better.

Colchester Chronicle

We caught up with the publisher behind the new Hyperlocal blog for Britain’s Oldest Recorded Town. The Colchester Chronicle.

We asked Jason Cobb what it’s about, what his aims are, and what lies ahead.

Share your comments via the Chronic’s twitter, facebook and of course the blog itself.

Bookbinding I: Notebook, journal, diary - you decide!