Author: Luke

Discovering the next generation of talented music promoters in East Sussex.

APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

We are currently seeking eight Young Promoters and a Young Promoters Job Coach to help deliver the programme.

Find out more and apply here.

The De La Warr Pavilion is delighted to announce Young Promoters, a new initiative supported by Youth Music. This is a paid one-year programme to discover and empower eight emerging music promoters to develop their careers within the vibrant live music scene of coastal East Sussex, from Eastbourne to Rye.

The opportunity is open to all young people aged 18-25 from coastal East Sussex. By connecting talented emerging promoters with expert industry mentors, DLWP staff and extensive networks, we aim to empower them to fulfil their ambitions in the music industry, wider cultural and creative sector, and beyond.

Eight young participants will receive micro-grants to promote and deliver a series of gigs at local venues, supported by talks, masterclasses and mentoring from music industry professionals and DLWP’s Talent Accelerator programme.

The young promoters will develop skills for the music industry and beyond:

• Working autonomously to incubate creative ideas and lead decision making.
• Entrepreneurial skills around branding, advertising, marketing and digital.
• Essential skills for promoting and business.
• Communication skills, collaborating with artists, advertisers, and venues.
• Problem solving, confidence, adaptation and resilience.

Matt Griffiths, Youth Music CEO says: “It’s crucial we enable more young people to make, learn and earn in music, whatever their background or goal. That’s why we’re excited to invest in innovative organisations like the De La Warr Pavilion, who are leading the way with their dedication to diversifying music. It’s really inspiring to see their Young Promotors initiative removing barriers into the music industries for young people in coastal East Sussex, and hope it prompts others to take proactive steps that will equalise the sector.”

DLWP recognises that engagement with popular music is a key part of our region’s identity, from Bexhill and Eastbourne to Hastings and Rye. These towns all some of the UK’s 10% most deprived wards, and a low-income background can be a barrier to a career in music. This paid opportunity aims to mitigate this barrier to providing young people with financial support, venue access and training, alongside new opportunities to learn about marketing, ticketing, contracts, and funding.

The project will be managed by DLWP’s Head of Live Programming Ed Frith. Key delivery partners will be freelance music professionals Sam Halligan and Sally Grieg. Both have extensive experience at regional music organisations and venues. Other key delivery partners include Artswork and DLWP’s Talent Accelerator programme, supporting young people into creative careers in East Sussex.

Download the Press Release.

Supported through Youth Music’s Incubator Fund thanks to funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

ABOUT YOUTH MUSIC

We are Youth Music. We’re the UK’s leading young people’s music charity. And we believe that every young person should have the chance to make, learn and earn in music and wider creativity.

Yet our research shows that many can’t because of who they are, where they’re from or what they’re going through.

We leverage our insights, investment, and influence to build a national grassroots infrastructure that ensures the future of music is more inclusive, diverse, equitable and accessible.

Youth Music is a national charity funded thanks to the National Lottery via Arts Council England, players of People’s Postcode Lottery and support from partners, fundraisers and donors.

www.youthmusic.org.uk

Bexhill Jobs & Apprenticeships Fair, the annual jobs and skills event for the whole community, will be back at the De La Warr Pavilion on Friday 10 March.

The 2023 fair, in association with Southeastern, Bexhill College and Southern Housing, is set to be a bumper event with over 50 businesses and organisations actively recruiting into live job vacancies, apprenticeships, placements, graduate training schemes, skills development opportunities and courses. Plus there will be talks and workshops, a CV surgery and a new Creative Industries Zone showcasing the wealth of creative opportunities across the region.

Huw Merriman MP said:‘Bexhill Jobs & Apprenticeships Fair is a fantastic opportunity to explore the local jobs market and have genuine discussions with prospective employers about their current vacancies. With opportunities in Transport, Housing, Construction, Financial Services, Digital, Health & Social Care, Education, Manufacturing, Utilities, Hospitality, the Creative Industries and many more sectors, I would urge anyone in the area considering a new job or career or thinking about returning to work to come along on Friday 10 March.’

A not-for-profit community-led initiative, Bexhill Jobs & Apprenticeships Fair is organised by the De La Warr Pavilion, Huw Merriman MP, Bexhill College and Rother District Council with the support of Bexhill Chamber of Commerce. The event is designed to offer something for everyone, with opportunities for new entrants to the jobs market and the over 50s being a particular focus for 2023.

The fair is an important pillar of the area’s jobs and skills calendar and the 2023 event will be particularly special given the recent announcement of the award to Rother District Council of more than £19m from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to help create new jobs and bolster career progression in the area’s creative and cultural sectors, particularly for young people.

Stewart Drew, Director & CEO, De La Warr Pavilion, said: ‘We’re really excited to be once again hosting the Bexhill Jobs & Apprenticeships Fair. It’s always a welcoming and friendly event and with everything from jobs and apprenticeships to retraining opportunities and full and part-time courses, it really does offer something for everyone in the area, whatever your age or career stage.’

Bexhill Jobs & Apprenticeships Fair is on Friday 10 March at the De La Warr Pavilion. Explore the exhibitors and register in advance on our website or come along on the day between 10.30am and 3.30pm.

It’s National Apprenticeship Week, and to celebrate, we wanted to put a spotlight on just one of the apprentices that is helping to shape the Pavilion.

Join our Talent Accelerator Apprentice, Mehrin, as she shares her exciting week at the Pavilion and beyond. From assisting local artist Alexi Marshall to workshops with young people interested in creative careers, Mehrin has been busy exploring the opportunities in the creative industries.

See what Mehrin has been up to below:

Hi, my name is Mehrin. I graduated last year at Brighton university with a BA Designer Maker Degree. My practice is mainly textiles with themes of Islamic arts and South Asian Influenced textiles. My role at the De La Warr is- Talent Accelerator Apprentice.

On Monday, I went to Bexhill Academy with a local artist named Alexi Marshall. I was her workshop assistant; we had a group of year 10s and they were individually asked to make a set of 7 inspired tarot cards with a title for what they want for their future selves with the aim of creating a drawing that matches with that title. Next, with their drawings the year 10s created lino prints. The lino prints were very successful, and I had a great day assisting as I learned a lot from Alexi, and I definitely want to create more Lino prints in the future.

On Tuesday evening, Kim Byford and Stewart Drew joined other local businesses and organisations at East Sussex College Group’s Employer Networking Event hosted by Vice Principal, Donna Harfield, who gave an update on apprenticeships. It was great to meet other like-minded local business leaders, share experiences and celebrate how much the huge contribution an apprentice can make.

We look forward to getting started with the delivery of our Creative Venue Technician apprenticeship!

On Wednesday, Talent Accelerator ran a workshop for young people interested in careers in the Creative Industries which included ideas of creating a portfolio and CV that makes you stand out from the crowd. We downloaded the ERIC App which is a great way to explore opportunities across the Creative Industries including Apprenticeships.

Also on Wednesday I had a work from home day with a zoom meeting from Arts Work, my apprenticeship provider. We had to complete presentations for this zoom meeting talking about our workplaces history and core values, this was more to help our confidence in presenting and learning to being confident in roles. We also learnt about other business factors, such as – ‘how do business event assistances link to business success’, ‘what does the word culture mean to me and what does creativity mean to me’. We covered many different subjects, and I enjoyed learning about these elements in creativity and business.

After a Thursday morning of writing, myself and Kim went to Bexhill College to talk to a class about a studio that is available for young people at Beeching Road, I then created a survey for the students to complete, the main aim for this survey was to see what the students wanted from this space.

And finally, on Friday, I had some work to complete for Arts work and then myself and Kim were planning a workshop creative section for jobs and industry fair.

If you would like to speak to someone directly about apprenticeships in the creative industries, contact Kim Byford, Project Manager of Talent Accelerator on talentacc@dlwp.com.

Our acclaimed exhibition Zineb Sedira: Can’t You See the Sea Changing? has just closed. We hope you enjoyed visiting the exhibition throughout the autumn and festive season.

Londonist called it ‘an impressive installation of film and photography’, FRIEZE named it in their top five exhibitions to see in winter 2022, and FAD praised DLWP as ‘the perfect seaside setting for this show’. Now, we want to hear your thoughts!

Please complete our short survey about your experience of the exhibition. Your feedback will help us help us plan future events, exhibitions and understand what our audiences think. All data is anonymous.

If you complete the survey you can enter a prize draw to win one of two copies of Dreams Have No Titles (2022), a publication exploring Zineb Sedira’s work,.

Please CLICK HERE to complete the survey. Thank you!

WIN A BOOK FOR COMPLETING THE SURVEY

Once you have completed the survey, you can enter our prize draw! Contact specialpreview@dlwp.com with your name and email address for the chance to win one of two copies of Dreams Have No Titles (2022), a cross between a newspaper and a magazine charting the artistic journey of Zineb Sedira in the run-up to her presentation for the French Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale (2022).

The Prize Draw is administered by the De La Warr Pavilion. Prize draw winners will be picked on 30 January 2023 and will be contacted by the De La Warr Pavilion team via email shortly thereafter. Prizes are non-transferrable. One entry per person. You will be required to respond to receive your prize. Prizes can be collected from the Box Office or issued by post.

Image: Zineb Sedira, Can’t You See the Sea Changing?, 2022. De La Warr Pavilion, Installation view. Photo: Rob Harris.

Last Summer, the Pavilion’s young people’s group, The Blueprint Collective, collaborated with students from Bexhill College and RESOLVE Collective in order to create the ‘RESOLVE COLLECTIVE: LIDO’ exhibition that was on display in our Ground floor gallery from 28 May – 4 September. The exhibition was conceived as a leisure space for Bexhill, and local groups were invited to use the space for their own programmes as well as participating in a dynamic public programme curated by the young people and the team at the Pavilion. Aimee Staples, a member of The Blueprint Collective, recently wrote a blog detailing her experience throughout the process:

Hello, my name is Aimee. I am a member of The Blueprint Collective, a group of young people aged 16-24 who are the De La Warr Pavilion’s youth collective. This year we were incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to work collaboratively with RESOLVE Collective in a series of workshops to help create the exhibition LIDO, which was displayed in the Ground Floors Gallery from May to September 2022.

Going into the workshops we really did not know what to expect. In the first session with RESOLVE they gave us a task to draw on napkins; we had 30 seconds to create some sort of design. This feeling of not knowing what was coming next continued when one of the first big questions we were asked was “What is a rock?” Then soon followed by “What is a chair?”. To answer this, we created Venn diagrams about what made a chair and a rock, and what was not a ch  air or rock. Things such as size, or design affected what we argued. These debates turned into statements which we wrote down. We at the time had no idea how these would be used, but in the exhibition, they were turned into quotes that were on the walls for people to read.

On the next workshop we went on an audio walk. RESOLVE taught us a lot about mapping and different ways of mapping. They talked to us about what an audio walk is and discussed what it would include. They asked us to write down all the places of importance to us in Bexhill. At first, we struggled to think of anywhere, but after a couple of minutes of discussion, memories came back, and we were filling the page. We then drew and mapped out these places and created a direct route for us to walk. We then headed out and started at the very place where we were, the De La Warr Pavilion. From there we went to the fountains, to the Sovereign Light Café (and listened to the song of course), Egerton Park, the Library, and our favourite charity shop. Interestingly we learnt RESOLVE thought gen z did not listen to CD’s which we all love! While going around we were all sharing stories of why we love these places and what they mean to us, while being recorded by RESOLVE. These recordings were later put into the structures and played at staggered intervals in the exhibition. The feeling of being able to hear our voices come out of the structures was surreal.

The following workshop was my favorite one. We got to go out to Bexhill and forage items from the local area. We split into two teams and went off in different directions to see what we could find. All sorts of items were found, including half of a bed from which we used the bed frame and even a bag of hair extensions. I think the group’s favorite item was a more radio sign, featuring Tom, Lou, and Jack. The team I was on even went door knocking, we asked people if they had anything they were throwing away that we could have for an art project, and everyone was very generous. Once we finished collecting our parts, we headed back through the park with everything and back to the pavilion.

We then were invited in to help build the structures that were featured in the exhibition. We got to try a technique called Flint Knapping; the aim is to chip the flint to manipulate the material. Flint is a material prevalent in Bexhill, the walls that surround the train station are even adorned with it. These flints were used in the exhibition to look like the waves of the sea and the material has conations with rocks that lie on the beach.

Another session was looking into the architectural design and measurements of the objects we found. We took all our different objects, measured them, and used a ratio to scale the size down so we could sketch them. This helped us to understand the objects more as well as start to think about how they could fit together into one final piece.

For our final session with RESOLVE we gathered all the materials we had foraged and our architectural drawings. We considered the area and the Pavilion and decided to draw on Bexhill’s famed past association with motorcar racing. Using every item we had, we created a car. It was incredible to see objects as something different and learn to use tools to sculpt them into other forms. This final creation was fittingly made on the last day of the exhibition to drive us into the future!

Once the exhibition was opened, we ran two Pavilion Lates nights. One held by the students from Bexhill College, and one by us (The Blueprint Collective). Our one was called Beyond Bloom, and it was targeting young people to welcome them into the exhibition space. It was an evening of dreamy surrealness with some fun activities as well as live performances from Paris Blue and Loula. I even got to perform one of my own songs! It was fun, and special to be able to do it in the space we helped contribute to.

In conclusion, the work we did with RESOLVE was amazing. I think collectively as young people we all agree we have never had an opportunity like it and feel lucky and honored that we got to be part of such an incredible experience.

Read more about The Blueprint Collective and their work here

To find out more about how join the group, please email dee.haughney@dlwp.com

Two neuro-diverse young adults, Nat and Louis, gave local businesses a heart-warming insight into the vital role of supported employment at a seminar on Wednesday 12 October at the De La Warr Pavilion.

Each spoke enthusiastically about their work at Strive Café and Little Gate Farm, stressing how much it meant to them to be in paid employment and financially independent.

Hosted by Bexhill Chamber of Commerce, the Inclusive Employment seminar introduced local employers, particularly those facing recruitment challenges, to the untapped potential of a neurodiverse workforce.

Howard Martin, President, Bexhill Chamber of Commerce said: ‘The seminar was hugely informative, busted a lot of myths and really brought home the opportunity for local businesses of employing enthusiastic and skilled neuro-diverse young adults like Nat and Louis.’

At the seminar, Mary Briggs, Director of Strive Café, discussed how the café bridges the gap between college and employment, providing paid work for young people with learning disabilities and giving them the experience to go on and secure hospitality roles elsewhere. And Andrea Randall-Smith, CEO of Little Gate Farm, which finds paid jobs for neuro-diverse adults in a wide range of sectors, emphasised the care taken to match the right person to the right role and explained how job coaches provided by the charity smooth the experience for both the employee and employer.

With only 6% of people with learning disabilities in the UK currently in paid employment, Victoria Bevis, Legal Director of EMW Law LLP outlined the business case for inclusivity. While Stewart Drew, Director and CEO of the De La Warr Pavilion, impressed on the audience how employing two Little Gate Farm apprentices had been an enriching experience for the whole organisation and transformative in its approach to inclusivity.

Andrea Randall-Smith said: ‘This event means so much to local organisations like Strive Café and Little Gate and, most importantly, to those adults who need the paid employment. The impact of this type of work is huge – it reaches and supports locally but also impacts on a national level.’

The seminar photography was taken by Sam Kirimli, an award-winning photographer with autism whose work is exhibited and sold at Strive Café.

To find out more about the work of Little Gate Farm and Strive Cafe, explore www.littlegate.org.uk, www.strivecafe.org or pop into Strive Café on Sackville Road.

View a film about De La Warr Pavilion’s Little Gate Farm apprentices here.

We are excited to announce Fran Painter-Fleming as the first DLWP x Flatland Projects Curatorial Fellow.

The joint programme with Flatland Projects at Beeching Road Studios provides a six-month programme for an emerging curator  to develop skills in curating and arts management through mentorship and practical exhibitions experience.  The fellowship offers the opportunity to craft a programme that fits with the Fellow’s interests and  supports their professional development in the best possible way.

Fran Painter-Fleming is a curator, writer and researcher based in London and was selected out of a highly competitive process of over 60 candidates.

Ben Urban, Co-director of Flatland Projects says:

‘Fran demonstrated a significant commitment to immerse herself into the vibrant artistic ecology which is emerging in Bexhill. As an arts organisation in our first 10 years of presenting contemporary art in East Sussex we cannot wait to both share our experience with Fran and learn from the exciting perspective she brings to the fellowship!’

Fran’s curatorial research delves into the entanglements of social memory, geopolitics, ecology and myth and her practice is grounded in slower methods of curating, collaborating with artists or fields of research over extended periods of time.  Shifting between exhibition making, residencies and public programming, her curatorial approach is somewhat fluid to meet the demands of each proposal.

Recent projects have included Re-Rooting: Mapping 30 Years of Cubitt at Cubitt Artists, an archival exhibition which examined the precarity of artist run spaces in the contemporary; hosting a Monica Sjöö summer reading group series at Beaconsfield Gallery which unpicked topics such as cosmology, queer activism and transnational feminism, and most recently, curating PORTALS, a workshop series at Chisenhale Studios, where different practitioners untangled the porous relationship between speculative fiction, art, and ecology.

During her fellowship, Fran is eager to extend these slower working patterns, bringing a long form commission into fruition at Flatland Projects and devising ways to  embed and engage with local audiences in Bexhill.