GROW PLYMOUTH’S FIRST YEAR - 2022!
Thanks to everyone who has come to GROW in our first year! We’ve had pop-up events which celebrated our studio holders and collaborators; explored what works in the space and imagined what GROW could become. When the British Art Show 9 (BAS9) launched in Plymouth on 7 Oct, we renamed our activities ‘DIY EXPERIMENTS’ which are detailed below. We will do more in 2023.
Since we opened our doors, we’ve had art exhibitions, community and student workshops discussing sustainability and architecture, community theatre, meet the artists, vintage shop, festive fair and even projected visuals onto the building itself for the opening of BAS9.
DIY EXPERIMENTS FOR BAS9
STUDIO PROJECTIONS
We started with ‘Studio Projections’ where on the opening evening of the British Art Show 9, we projected visuals onto the GROW building. Making use of our location next to The Box, opposite the Levinsky Gallery at the University of Plymouth and neighbours of the Mirror Gallery at Arts University Plymouth so people walking from space to space could witness projections coming from the inside of GROW out. Works included by artists: Steven Paige, Shiva King, Polly Ploviez, Jordanna Greaves and Future Meadows.
MEET THE ARTISTS - SHIVA KING, POLLY PLOUVIEZ AND LEAH JORDAN
Artists Shiva King, Leah Jordan and Polly Plouviez turned the entrance of Grow into a working studio at respective ‘meet the artists’ events. Leah and Polly gave painting and pottery demonstrations and Shiva explored found objects and discussed her passion for whittling wood.
WITNESS THE REHEARSAL PROCESS AND PRODUCTION - COMMUNITY THEATRE
'Everyman Recycled' is a 45 minute satirical reworking of the 16th century Morality Play for our dark times of Climate Crisis, written by Jenny and Paul Shryane. The play is based on the original Everyman’s journey to account for his irresponsible lifestyle. In this recycled version, it is Planet Earth that sends Everybody on a similar journey to account for their abuse of the earth’s natural resource. We hosted both a rehearsal and a performance.
WILD EYE VINTAGE
A selection hand-picked curated vintage fashion from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s was on sale at this two day pop-up shop by Wild Eye Vintage.
SPROUT - A SHOW BY THE SAPPHIRE BLUE COLLECTIVE
The ‘Sapphire Blue Collective’ is a group of recent MA graduates from Arts University Plymouth. Sprout was their debut show as a collective focusing on their shared values of support, growth and togetherness in response to the themes of the British Art Show 9.
FINDING SPACE, MAKING PLACE, PART OF ‘CLIMATE (RE)CONSIDERED
This exhibition showcased the outcomes of phase 1 of a project we’re working on with University of Plymouth and the Holy Cross Catholic Primary School exploring what COMFORT means to us and children? The research is in the context of multiple issues - notably climate change - which challenges our sense of comfort, and the relationship of the human body and the environment. This is part of a wider research project called ‘Climate (Re)Considered’ which included community workshops to discuss how the building could be used to communicate how we can all work towards net zero.
GROW STUDIOS FESTIVE POP UP
On Friday 23 Dec (the last day of the British Art Show 9), we hosted the GROW Studios Festive Pop-Up for locals to grab last minute gifts for loved ones, enjoy friendly conversation, mulled wine and mince pies!
