Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Not so Dark Satanic Mill

A few days ago, I went on a site visit to the old hosiery mill that is going to become the vibrant centre for many small creative businesses.
I mentioned a while back that I'd become a member of the steering group involved in putting the plan together and making sure it works. What started out as an excuse to drag myself away from the drawing board for a while has turned into quite an adventure.

The venture is really exciting. We're going to have an art gallery, studios and workshops for a wide range of creative processes. There will be rehearsal rooms and recording studios in the lower ground floor, a stylish cafe vibe on the floor above, performance space for intimate little gigs and a place where the resident artists, and those from the Hinckley and Bosworth area, will be able to offer their work for sale. There's also going to be a space to hold workshops for stuff like community art, teaching sessions or group events.
In addition to providing the space for fledgling and established artists to do their thing, there's going to be all the technology and business support to help everyone make a real go of building their passion into a successful business.
At the moment, it looks like it'll take a couple of years to get the place into shape, but I'll keep you updated as things move along.

The photographs show the outside of the building, the space with the folks in hi-vis jackets is the size of the gallery and the other image is the area that will become individual studio workspaces.

All very exciting.

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