Thursday Lates offer new ways to explore Pallant House Gallery

SussexWorld

An exciting series of Thursday Lates at Chichester’s Pallant House Gallery will ensure the warmest welcome for everyone with a wide range of talks and activities as we head towards spring.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Really lovely

00:06to speak to Sinara Davies of Pallant House Gallery, Head of Learning and Public Programmes

00:11there, and talking about a fabulous programme that you have with the Gallery, which is all

00:16about making sure there's maximum access to everyone that the Gallery is welcoming as

00:21it possibly can be. You've got a lovely programme of Thursday Lates coming up, and you've had

00:26one for January, you've got ones coming up in February, March and April. What's the idea

00:31of Thursday Lates then? And you're saying it's a different way of exploring, experiencing

00:36the Gallery, isn't it?

00:38Yeah, thank you, Phil. So what we're very much intending to do through this programme

00:44is to offer maximum opportunity for people, three and a half hours, five to eight-thirty

00:49on a Thursday, so people can come after work hours to enjoy the Galleries in a really informal,

00:55welcoming atmosphere. We have a bar open, we have the restaurant open. We also have

01:00lots of drop-in creative activities that wouldn't necessarily be on in the daytime if you came

01:04to see the exhibition. We've got life drawing going on in the Galleries, for example, where

01:09people can be inspired by the artworks around them and have a go at drawing with a fantastic

01:15artist, Wendy Barrett, who recently won the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year. She's

01:20a really wonderfully talented teacher and artist. So we have people like that involved

01:24who are incredibly inspiring, but also very relaxed and welcoming. Alongside that, you

01:29can also take part in our talks, which is a special season of talks, which is kind of

01:36ticketed separately, but as part of that, you also have free access to everything else

01:39going on in the Gallery. And each month is themed. So, for example, in February, we have

01:46a pattern and print themed night in response to our exhibition on pattern, which is drawn

01:53from our collection. We've got the wonderful Sarah Burns, who's a textile artist and printmaker

02:00based in Stenning, inspired by the South Downs, but also by global textiles. She's coming

02:04to give a fascinating talk on her practice. So that gives you an idea of how we're responding

02:09to the themes of exhibition and the activities we offer. But again, we've got other behind-the-scenes

02:14activity with our library and archive staff available to share collections that you may

02:20not ordinarily see in the library, a guided tour is on offer, a studio, a workshop as

02:26well. So there's lots of things you can do during that period.

02:30I guess there's probably still a kind of perception that galleries could be a little bit stiff

02:36and formal and don't speak, don't move, don't do this, don't do that, et cetera. But clearly

02:42there is an informality, which is part of the engagement of Palant House, isn't that?

02:48Absolutely. And we try and ensure that's part of everything we do, whichever audience we're

02:52working with. We have an extensive schools programme, we work very closely with our community

02:57programme, with many adults in the community with different needs. So we've got a very wide-ranging

03:03way of ensuring that we remain relevant to audiences, trying to open at a time that's

03:08convenient for people who have other busy working commitments and other personal commitments.

03:14So absolutely trying to do everything we can to make the gallery a comfortable space for people,

03:19where people want to be and want to spend time with people they care about. A wonderful cafe and

03:25kind of bar space downstairs in the summer.

03:27It's a place to meet people, obviously.

03:30Yeah, it's a place to meet people. We have a live music programme as well in the summer to

03:33accompany the other activities that we're offering.

03:36Fantastic. Well, it sounds lovely. The Thursday Lates coming up are February the 13th,

03:41March the 6th and April the 3rd. Really lovely to speak to you. Thank you.

03:46Thank you, Phil.

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