News

A non-profit arts organisation is launching a commercial contemporary gallery next month in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, with support from Arts Council England and Birmingham City Council.

Stryx Gallery will be a new venture from Stryx, a female-led arts residency, studios and exhibition space in Digbeth.

The organisation's co-directors, Anna Katarzyna Domejko and Karolina Korupczynska, say the new space will allow people to invest in affordable art while supporting emerging and mid-career artists.

The initial exhibition, opening on 13 April, will feature 10 artists from the West Midlands, with prices of art works ranging from £30 to £1,000.
 

A library in Somerset with a specialist performing arts section offering music and drama resources to the public faces closure as the local council looks to save money.

Yeovil Library has more than 40,000 items in its collection, including manuscripts, musicals and plays, and is described as a “unique asset” by Performing Arts Library Outreach Officer Natalie Snelson. 

"We're really lucky to have a performing arts library in Somerset as we are the only one in the county," she said.

Somerset Council is considering closing the library as it revises all of its service areas to save money following "extraordinary financial pressures".

Federica Smith-Roberts, Executive Member for Communities, Housing and Culture, said: "The potential closure of this service would reduce access to, and participation in, the performing arts across Somerset - but we are some way from this point.

"Libraries play a hugely important role in our communities and, before taking any decision, we would talk to the Department for Culture Media and Sport and would also consult the public.”
 

A new multi-purpose arts venue in Worcester has been given the green light by council planners.

The BBC reports that Worcester City Council’s planning committee unanimously granted permission for the full redesign and internal refurbishment of the Scala and Corn Exchange buildings to create three multi-use spaces.

The Stage will host live performances, comedy and gigs, The Screen will host films, including independent film festivals, immersive events, dance and workshops and The Box will be a space for digital experiences.

The city council's Managing Director, David Blake, said the new venue would "attract new audiences and allow creative communities to thrive".
 

English Heritage is trialling the use of visible body-worn cameras on its staff at four locations in an attempt to discourage antisocial behaviour and crime.

Used at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, Tilbury Fort in Essex, Kenwood House in north London and Marble Hill in south London, English Heritage says that footage is being recorded "on the basis of our legitimate interest in deterring and detecting crime".

"Experience of these cameras has shown that they are useful at helping defuse confrontational situations and provide a reliable version of events, which can help us to clarify any dispute or serve as evidence in the event it is believed a crime has been committed."

The move follows the recent publication of research commissioned by Historic England and the National Police Chiefs' Council that examined heritage and cultural property crime in England.

The report highlighted problems, including the theft of historic lead and stone, burglaries targeting cultural objects, unlawful metal detecting, and the removal of artefacts from protected wreck sites. It also found issues with antisocial behaviour, including arson, vandalism, and graffiti, recommending a "more effective prevention and active enforcement of heritage crime".
 

St John’s Cambridge is to abolish its mixed-voice choir, with the redundancy of it Director of Music, Graham Walker, the college has announced.

The choir, St John's Voices will close at the end of this academic year in June 2024.

The Master of the college Heather Hancock, a former civil servant, has taken the decision following the inclusion of girl choristers and female altos in the main college choir, which was previously all male.

The move has provoked widespread outrage on X/Twitter, in particular as it now means women have nowhere to sing. 

An open letter from the choir has been sent to the college council and a petition set up to save the choir, both of which have been signed by high profile industry figures, including conductor Marin Alsop, musician and broacaster Gareth Malone and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rt. Rev. Dr Rowan Williams.

It says: "We are devastated by this decision, which we believe is a fundamentally regressive move for the College, the choral community in Cambridge, and the wider arts provision for women in the UK.

"We are calling upon you, the College leadership, to revoke this decision and to allow St John’s Voices to continue singing Evensong under Graham’s directorship... Disbanding the choir will dramatically reduce the opportunity for College students to engage in quality music and worship in their own chapel, it will cut the number of female students who sing in the chapel from 15 to 1, and it will significantly diminish the presence of St John’s in the Cambridge choral scene."

TR2, the workshop base for Theatre Royal Plymouth, is struggling to find staff to construct sets because of a skills shortage.

The Head of TR2 Brendan Cusack told the BBC that the Covid pandemic had taken its toll, with people with the right skills moving to other jobs post-lockdown such as in film, TV or the building trade.

"When lockdown happened a lot of people went over to other areas," he said. "Film and TV in this country now is absolutely massive. A lot of people went across to those areas and transferred into the building trade too.

"Finding the right level skill in carpentry and steel fabrication, even before starting to think about scenic art and prop making, is now quite tricky."