This week saw the long-awaited launch of Department, a vision that began in 2019 to transform a Grade 2 listed former Isle of Wight department store into a cultural arts centre in the heart of Ryde.
Huge congratulations go to Sharon George, Paul McLaren and the entire Shademakers team, who have driven this project forward, with the vital support of funders such as Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England, The Architectural Heritage Fund, as well as Isle of Wight council and Ryde Town Council.
Simon Cadle from Turner Works, the lead architects on the project, gave an inspiring speech about his involvement and thanks were expressed to the many local organisations who helped make this happen, including Crown Park Builders, ERMC, Modh Design and many more.
Artist-led from start to finish
Phil Gibby, South West area director for Arts Council England, highlighted at the launch how unusual it is for capital projects, such as Department, to be led by artists from start to finish. He praised the realisation of the vision while emphasising that there aren’t many places in the UK with such a critical mass of creatives as on the Isle of Wight.
Sharon’s tenacity and energy in driving forward the vision, along with Paul’s artistic direction has resulted in the reuse of an important historic building for future generations.
A place for all
The building’s design invites people to walk in from the street to explore the exhibitions on the ground floor, visit the cafe on the first floor, enjoy performances in the barn or take part in workshops in the Stitch Department.
Alternatively, just use the indoor pavement as a short-cut to get from Cross Street to the car park behind.
Huge sacrifices
The Shademakers team have encountered enormous sacrifices to make this happen, not for their benefit, but for Ryde and the entire Isle of Wight.
Do please show your support by visiting, buying something from the gift shop, buying tickets to one of the many workshops or performances and sharing news with your friends and family of this great new cultural centre.
Unpacking Department
With the building now open to the public you can marvel at the explosive exhibition on the ground floor by artists Teresa Grimaldi, Tracy Mikich and Sean Turner.
Department Unpacked – the culmination of months of research into the building’s uses over the past 150 years – weaves together the many threads that form the history of this prominent building.
The playful interactive nature of the exhibition invites you put yourself in the shoes of characters who once worked in the building, from the innovative hairdresser, George Hopgood, to the wedding dresser, Elizabeth Barrow.
Or take a spin on the Box People, the result of a photography project led by Julian Winslow, with young people at Network Ryde, who used haberdashery from the Packs’ archive to create three spinnable totems.
Dress up and have your photo taken in the bridal booth, or wonder at the 20 foot tall whale shark, created by Paul McLaren, that hangs in the newly created atrium.
Unpacked newspaper
Whilst there, make sure you pick up a copy of the Unpacked paper which celebrates the rich and varied history of 29-30 Cross Street.
Produced and edited by Tracy Mikich, with design and layout by Lindsay Robertson, this 16-page special is the perfect accompaniment to the exhibition, delving beneath the surface to discover the inspiration for the many elements of Unpacked.
It’s also a chance to learn about the history — from hammer to hemline — of this important building.
Packs’ People
Also featured on the ground floor of Department is the Packs’ People oral history project, produced and designed by myself and Simon through our sister company, Meeja.
A fascinating insight behind the scenes of one of the Island’s most iconic retail businesses during the golden age of department stores, listen to the interviews with people who worked or shopped at Packs, as well as a member of the family and even one of the runway models from the infamous fashion shows.
The interviews were edited into more than 150 snippets, which are being piped through the speakers around the building, as well as being hand-stitched into the wedding dress created by Amber Rose from Stitch Department, and her merry band of community stitchers.
You can see the culmination of countless embroidery workshops in Department’s window, alongside a neon sign which reads, “We don’t sell dresses, we dress ladies”: A famous quote from Mrs Barrow.
As well as being able to hear the full length interviews and snippets on the Packs’ People website, along with 200 historic photographs, you can access the website on a plinth on the ground floor of Department, alongside portraits of those who took part.
Support the shows
This Saturday (15th March) sees the first of several performances of Re:Tell, a brand new series of verbatim plays by Joe Plumb of Horsebox Theatre.
Snippets from the Packs’ People oral histories project have provided the backbone of the plays which tell the stories of five characters who either shopped or worked at Packs through its many incarnations: Pack and Culliford, Packs and Elizabeth Pack.
If you can’t make the opening night, worry not, it will be repeated every Saturday until 12th April, so there’s plenty of time to book your tickets for this or any of the other shows.
Let’s begin!
Although the story so far has been five years in the making, this is really just the start of something
Check out Department’s website for more information and look out for our interview with Phil Gibby, Arts Council England’s Area Director for the South West.
