Creative Crawley have a new space in unit 79/80 in County Mall Shopping Centre. They are about to launch their Spring programme and we caught up with founder Louise Blackwell, community producer Becky Jones and head of learning and production Sam Evans to find about the new space and what's going on during the Spring programme
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00:00Hi, I'm Becky, Community Producer for Creative Crawley and we're here today in County Mall
00:07Shopping Centre at Unit 7980 which is a new temporary creative pop-up space that we are
00:13opening at the end of next week with our partners Audio Active and Theatre Centre.
00:19And shall we take a look inside?
00:20Yeah, let's go for it, follow me.
00:22Creative Crawley is an arts charity and we became a charity in 2021 and we exist to support
00:28creative people and to bring high quality, exciting arts activity to the town.
00:34So we support local creative professionals but also people who want to just give art
00:39a go and who are kind of hobbyists and we are hoping that by the work that we do we
00:45sort of raise the profile of the town and also make people feel a bit better and happier
00:50and more confident and basically have a good time.
00:53So here we come, so welcome, welcome.
00:57So this is sort of bare bones of what the opening space of the space will look like.
01:03We'll have this set up in a way more cosy way so we'll have tables, we'll have chairs
01:08that people can sit on and even though this is going to be a creative space it will be
01:12a place that you can just come and have your lunch and hang out.
01:15We don't want it to feel like you can't come in here if you're not coming to see the art
01:19or coming to see the exhibitions or the shows.
01:21Well I grew up here so I sort of know it, I know it pretty well and I left when I was
01:2618 to go to university and then I worked in the Horth bar and kind of got really, there
01:32was an amazing man who was running the Horth then who now runs Settle as well, it's Alastair
01:36Spaulding and he programmed loads of really exciting stuff in the studio like dance pieces
01:40by Matthew Bourne and eventually motion pictures and forced entertainment and so I think he
01:45had a real hand in the taste that I kind of have.
01:50But I left Crawley and now it's amazing to be back and to think my parents still live
01:55here and you know I'm still a Crawley girl but to think about the town as a sort of canvas
02:00in a way and really I, in terms of like what's lacking or what, there's loads of things that
02:07exist here, there's loads of really amazing kind of community groups that are using arts
02:11and culture in different ways but there is very, there's a lack of a cultural infrastructure
02:16for people who want to have a creative career or who are artists and creatives already,
02:23there's no way for them to work here really, there's the Horth you know and that's a very
02:27brilliant and particular type of thing but if you're an architect or a fashion designer
02:33like where do you go? You go elsewhere to London or Brighton so one of the things that
02:38we're doing as well as this space that you're in today is that we're launching a new creative
02:43maker space in West Green with Theatre Centre and that is about a place where resident artists
02:51make their work so we're trying to kind of do both so this space is all about presentation
02:57and audience engagement and coming along and seeing stuff and also if you're a creative
03:02you can hire out the space but the West Green space is much more kind of about the creative
03:08professions and doing the job.
03:11We've also got here, which is a lovely feature, we've got a projector and a projection screen
03:17so we're calling this the window gallery so in here we're going to be putting out commissions
03:21for artists to submit work or to come up with new ideas for work that can be displayed in
03:26that window which is really really exciting.
03:29So if people are walking around Crawley to Town Centre, the neighbourhoods, what will
03:34they see that Creative Crawley have done?
03:37Well there's a few murals, so last year we commissioned five different murals in the
03:43town in partnership with the Crawley Town Centre BID which you know I think it's extraordinarily
03:47bad that they don't exist anymore just to say that.
03:50They have been massive supporters of arts and culture in the town but also with Crawley
03:54Borough Council we've worked in partnership and so in Bewbridge in the tunnels there's
03:58a really bright and glorious mural that's by an African artist called Oluwafemi Babalola
04:05and people have told us that they feel much safer using that space now, it's much brighter
04:09and there is not, I mean I feel like touching wood but there's no graffiti on any of the
04:14murals that we've put up and they've been there for a year, people really love this
04:18town and respect art when it happens.
04:21So yes you can see the murals, there's one on Kingsgate, there's one on Broadfield
04:25Community Centre, there's one on the hospital and the newest one is emerging on Manor Royal
04:33and that is about to be finished so that's really exciting, you heard it first here.
04:37How exciting!
04:39That's really exciting, so we work really closely with Steve and the team at Manor
04:42Royal Beards and so hopefully, and the thing about what we do is that we do it all in partnership
04:47with local residents so we don't just kind of go oh we think this is a really great idea
04:51let's put a mural up.
04:52We work over a long period of time to find out what people are interested in, what people
04:56care about and then build the kind of results based on that and this space and the one in
05:03West Green, that's come from five years of consultation with local creatives about
05:08what they think is missing in this town and it's a test, we've only got this until
05:13the end of June mainly because that's when our project fund runs out so we're testing
05:20it so we really, really want people to use it because if people have told us that they
05:25really need stuff like this and now it's the time to kind of like really show that
05:30we do because if we can prove that it's needed and used and useful for people then
05:37hopefully there can be some future for it.
05:40Here is kind of where audiences will come in, this is like our welcome area so we'll
05:45have on the notice board any sort of creative things that are going on which is really great
05:49so our welcome team will be working here.
05:51This is a lovely feature, this was actually made by an artist called Kerith Ogden who
05:58does a lot of the lanterns for Glow Wild at Wakehurst and she made this for us last summer
06:05for our Around the Lake Festival at Hillgate Park and so it's a lantern and Crawley people
06:10you will recognise this, this is the bandstand in Memorial Gardens so it was an ode to that.
06:16And how can people get involved with Creative Crawley?
06:18You have volunteers as well?
06:19Yes absolutely and we've got paid jobs so we have a whole, we've just recruited for
06:23a whole new welcome team who are like the front of house team here and there's a group
06:29of people called Playmakers who are the ones, I mean really they're our bosses, they're
06:33the ones that tell us what they think should happen in the town and that's a voluntary
06:37position.
06:38We have a group of community connectors who changes every three months so we pay people
06:42to kind of really help us get into different communities that we might not be reaching
06:47so there's all sorts of ways and really you can come and just hang out here when we're
06:51open, you don't have to, it's all free so we're trying to kind of, lots of arts and
06:56culture is very inaccessible because it's very expensive or it's in places where you
07:02can't go on public transport or you know we're in the heart of this glorious palace
07:08of shopping and you can come in here and you don't have to buy anything, you can just
07:12hang out in the foyer and have your lunch and hopefully feel comfortable and you know
07:16if you want to see some of the exhibitions and take part great but you won't, you don't
07:20have to, it's hopefully a place where people can come and take part and we're working
07:26We're working here in partnership with Audio Active who are a youth music company, really
07:31brilliant and they're running their workshops, there's a sound booth, recording studios
07:36and so hopefully lots of young people will come here too so yeah it's a really exciting
07:42moment, I hope everyone grasps it with both hands and takes part.
07:48So welcome into this, one of the first spaces, this is called the Long Gallery which you
07:54can't see, it's very long and the idea of the design of this is that we will always
07:59have something that's exhibited in here that audiences can see it from the window
08:04so like if they're like oh I don't know if I want to go in there or I don't know
08:08what's going on in there, they can look in the window and be like oh what is that?
08:12That will pull them in.
08:14Yeah really exciting and I'm particularly excited about this spring programme because
08:18there's such a diversity of different artists and different projects so our first talk about
08:23a dance spectacle, so it's a dance show by Rekhart and Rosenberg who we've previously
08:29worked with to present work here in Crawley in Memorial Gardens back in 2022 and they
08:35are bringing their dance show Supernormal Extra Natural which is this incredible spectacle.
08:41It's not going to be actually taking place in the unit, it's going to be just outside
08:45so right as you look down from the upper mall in County Mall and you look down, that's
08:50where it will be and the dancers will be on the escalators and moving around and basically
08:55what it is, I would say it's very similar to like a flash mob, it will just spring up.
09:01There will be these professional performers in amazing costumes alongside a company of
09:05up to 20 local people across West Sussex and Surrey who will be in the show as well performing
09:11with the professional company so it's a really beautiful piece of work that involves
09:17local people and the way that audiences experience it, they basically wear headphones so it's
09:22a headphone piece so you put your headphones on and you stand and you watch this story
09:28unfold. I don't want to give too much away but it's definitely not to be missed and
09:33yeah, must come along. It's on Friday and then there's two shows on Saturday and Sunday
09:38next weekend so that's the 28th to the 30th of March which is brilliant.
09:43So it goes all the way down and we've got a lovely bit of scaff here that artists can
09:49use if they want to display stuff on there but we're going to have an exhibition in
09:53this space to start with called Making the Invisible Visible which is by an artist called
09:57Eric McLennan and he's worked with four different community groups to basically talk
10:03about connection and personal objects and the stories around that so it's going to
10:07display some of their objects, recordings of their stories and transcripts to really
10:12bring home the extraordinary ordinariness of the everyday so that's going to be a
10:16really exciting exhibition in here.
10:18And then another piece that we are presenting is an exhibition by visual artists Leap Then
10:25Look and they are bringing an exhibition called Play, Interact, Explore and if you're
10:31like me, I go to art galleries sometimes and I step over that line and the light goes off
10:36and the buzzer starts going and you're like, oh no, what have I done? And it makes you
10:40feel really uneasy, a little bit embarrassing. This piece of work, this exhibition is the
10:45antithesis of that so it is the complete opposite. You can touch it, you can play with it, you
10:50can pick things up, you can experiment and it's meant to be sort of removing that barrier
10:54of when you sometimes go to art galleries and you're not allowed to touch things and
10:57part of the human experience is being able to feel things and being able to really get
11:01into it and this artwork is exactly that.
11:04And what's really special about it is that Leap Then Look have worked with different
11:08communities across the UK. So they've worked with children and young people, they've
11:12worked with families and they've worked with adults with learning disabilities to
11:15actually develop elements that are in the exhibition, including they've worked with
11:19people here in Crawley. So last year they did four workshops with Dimensions Outreach
11:25Freeway who support adults with learning disabilities. We had a fabulous group, big
11:30shout out to Graham and Tiff who are the support workers there and the whole group.
11:35They helped Leap Then Look experiment and come up with a new piece for the exhibition
11:39which will be here in County Mall. So the exhibition will run throughout the whole space
11:44so it's really spaced out and really taking over with colour and excitement.
11:50So I'm really looking forward to that.
11:54So then we come down. Throughout the space there's lots of different zones and it's
12:00been designed in a way that it's a flexible performance space so it can suit different
12:03needs. So whether it's an exhibition, whether it's a performance, we've got moveable
12:08tees we're calling them that we can zone in different places so that's really exciting.
12:13We've got shows, we've got exhibitions and we've got workshops but those three
12:17in particular they have been thought about and we're presenting them because they
12:21really connect with the people in this town and sort of picking up on the themes that
12:25we really have been told by residents that they want to see more of here and that's
12:29a real big importance to us that we are really helping to raise the ambition of what's
12:34possible here that actually Crawley is a really creative town and there are creative
12:38people here and if we can do that and really help people to recognise and realise that
12:43and feel part of something then we try and do that the best we can with the artists
12:47that we work with.
12:48Yeah and how amazing is it to have the space to do all this programming.
12:51Yeah exactly. You know that's been a big challenge you know when you are an arts
12:55organisation that doesn't have a building and you are making work or presenting work
13:00in pop-up spaces and quite temporary people don't know where to find you so this is
13:04a real luxury that for the next three months people can come here and they can meet us
13:09and they can be like wow okay we understand a bit more about what's going on here
13:13so very exciting.
13:15Brilliant.
13:16And then we come down.
13:17Obviously a greenhouse.
13:18A greenhouse! One of our favourite features.
13:21The reason this came to be is because we kind of wanted to just spark a little glimpse
13:28at how we can actually use different spaces. It doesn't always have to just be in a
13:32room with tables and chairs but actually why not? Why can't we do something in a
13:36greenhouse? So we can use this in a multitude of ways. We are doing a fashion show in April
13:42and the designers might be using it to put some of the garments in there after the show
13:47and people can just go in there and have a chill time. There's a breakout space so
13:52it can be used in different ways. So it's just a funky way of thinking about how we
13:56use space.
13:57So for quite some time we've realised that there's been a need for some sort of space
14:03for creative activity to happen. We've lived quite a nomadic lifestyle for the last
14:07sort of four years doing events in spaces like community centres or in the shoe shops
14:13on the high street maybe. And we got the opportunity to come and have a pop-up space
14:19in County Mall for six months, a six month lease here. And yeah, present some work
14:25made by people of the town, performed by people of the town and further afield,
14:30like international artists as well. So it's really exciting.
14:33And again that's moveable so we can move that wherever we need it to go.
14:37Wow. It's massive isn't it?
14:39It really is. So we come right down to the end of the unit and it sort of curls
14:45into, and this is our performance space.
14:48So we work quite closely with a long-term collaborator, designer and production manager
14:54who we sort of fed a few ideas of what it is we need as an organisation and what we've
15:00learnt from the needs of the town and the people. And he came back with some incredible
15:05designs that got us really excited. And we went through a process of taking some things
15:10out, adding a few things in and we've ended up with a space that is super flexible
15:15and available for many different events, activities, different configurations.
15:23We could have a performance that takes up the whole space or we could have a really
15:29small intimate performance in one of our little zone areas. So yeah, really flexible
15:34What's one of the most exciting parts of this project is that a lot of the stuff
15:40we have got is repurposed or second-hand. So we're giving life to old theatre shows
15:47that some of us have worked on years ago and we're using those bits of set again.
15:51We've found really great bargains on eBay for things like The Trust.
15:56We've had some really great support from collaborators who've been really generous
16:02with their discounted offers on hire kit. So yeah, we've worked really hard to make
16:08sure we get the best value for money for us and for the people who use the space.
16:14So here, again, similar to the rest of the unit, everything's been designed so that
16:19it's flexible. We've got it in an end-on position at the moment because it's like
16:23a 60-seat theatre. But this flooring can come up, the seating can move. We've obviously
16:29got all the amazing rigging so we can have lighting and projectors and the sound.
16:33It's kitted out in a way that's really fit for purpose. But again, it's flexible
16:37to be able to move certain parts of it.
16:40Excellent. How excited are you about seeing people use the space next week?
16:44Yeah, really excited. I've been working on this project in Crawley now for four years
16:49and it sort of feels like we're coming to the head of something and from there we'd
16:54like to see something grow, something come out of it. Whoever might come through the
16:59doors, it could be the start of a journey for them that sort of takes them on another
17:03creative journey and yeah, hopefully more to come.