Our thanks to Ian Whitmore, Arts Manager at Quay Arts Centre, for sharing with readers his reflection of the past year and hopes for 2025. Ed
Reflecting on a year of visual arts and engagement at Quay Arts.
Quay Arts 2024 programme was rich, full, and personally rewarding, with positive engagements with all, including families and schools alongside regular users.
Headline exhibitions
Headline exhibitions, such as Shademakers ‘Ad Astra‘, gave visitors the chance to get close to dazzling large scale Carnival costumes, whilst London Group’s ‘111 Not Out’ (the group’s first on the Island in their 112 year history) featured work by almost 50 members.
Artists including Laura Hathaway and Kathy Williams presented solo exhibitions using glass, acrylic, paper and paint, which they augmented with free participatory workshops and performances exploring mark making, drawing and colour.
Interactive art
Arts group Leap Then Look’s highly enjoyable, tactile and well visited ‘Play Interact Explore’ summer show, brought wearable sculptures, movable objects, refractors, lights and modelling materials into our West gallery, turning the space into a free-interactive-multi-generational-fun-play-factory.
We tried new things, creating a pop-up reading room (in collaboration with Lord Louis Library) containing artist-made books, with books about artists and art.
Film and storytelling
We joined hands with the British Film Institute to host film screenings as part of Into Film Festival and hosted the IW Story Festival over three days, blending theatre performances with talks and creative activities for families and children and partnered Brave Island to host the 2024 Young Artist Award displaying work by over 40 emerging artists.
Bespoke creative learning opportunities
With support from Arts Council England, we continued to engage with schools and colleges, providing children and young people bespoke creative learning opportunities and delivered activities off-site, including at Ventnor Fringe‘s Family Fringe.
We bridge the New year with Steve Baxter’s LIVING | ROOM exhibition featuring intriguing and thought-provoking, large scale sculptures and the vibrant maximalist Winter wonder ‘Hibernal’ created by K S Doodles and the children of Queensgate Foundation Primary.
Time to latibulize until 2025!
Highlights
Snapshots:
- 27 exhibitions
- 200 exhibitors
- 20,000 gallery visitors
- 300+ participatory workshops
