South Devon Arts Centre
South Devon Arts Centre
SOUTH DEVON ARTS CENTRE has won an £80,000 grant from Arts Council England just ten months after first opening its doors in Totnes.
The grant, which has been awarded the Arts Council’s Lottery-funded Grants For The Arts programme, will result in a major expansion of the centre’s programme and will help fund a new South Devon Fringe festival, which will host more than 30 theatre, poetry and film events and workshops across ten days from 9 to 18 October 2014.
“This is an incredible acknowledgement from the Arts Council,” said David Parsley, chairman of South Devon Arts Centre. “We walked into a derelict industrial unit a year ago today and began an intensive seven-week transformation on the building into the first large venue in Totnes.
“In the ten months since we opened we’ve hosted more than 250 bands, theatre companies, comedians, poets, film nights and local community groups. It’s been tremendously hard work and to receive this massive vote of confidence from Arts Council England is wonderful news. We’re hugely thankful to them.
“The grant means we can expand our programme to include more of everything, including a great deal more theatre. We’re also able to reveal details of the first ever South Devon Fringe, a festival to celebrate new work from a whole host of local and UK-based theatre companies, filmmakers and poets. We’re already putting together a fantastic programme for the Fringe, which will bring some of the UK’s best new talent to south Devon for ten days in October.”
The centre is also set to play host to many well known names from the music world this year with 2 Tone legends The Beat performing on 25 April, The God Of Hellfire himself Arthur Brown appearing on 10 May, 90s pop legends Dodgy playing all their hits such as “Good Enough” and “Staying Out For The Summer” on 22 May. Also coming up this year, as part of the centre’s Legends Programme, are Beverley Craven, China Crisis, Toyah, The Wurzels and the Kast Off Kinks, a band made up of genuine Kinks members.
“It’s great to have so many major artists coming to south Devon,” added Mr Parsley. “We are all about bringing the best of the best to the area. Our aim is to entertain local people with many familiar names as well as introducing the community to new artists. At our heart, we will always be committed to supporting new work from local, national and international artists, and that’s why the vast majority of our programme will continue to bring great new bands, theatre companies, filmmakers and poets to the centre. We’re also going to be able to open up to more community groups wishing to use the venue for all kinds of events and we would love to hear from anyone with any great ideas for the space.”
South Devon Arts Centre first opened its doors on 31 May last year, and has provided 11 part-time jobs to local people. The support of the Arts Council will also result in two more roles being created. The group is currently advertising for a Marketing & Audience Development Officer, and a Venue & Training Manager. Anyone wishing to apply for the positions can find full details at www.southdevonarts.co.uk.