Be involved

mike — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 14:06:40 +0000

Get involved at Un Deg Un – Wrexham’s New Pop Up Art Space

A new pop up Arts Centre will be opening in two weeks’ time in the former JJB Sports Shop in Wrexham. Called ‘Un Deg Un’ (‘eleven’ in Welsh, as it’s situated at 11 Regent Street), the space has exhibition and event space, space for artists studios and will be a great town-centre meeting place where you can pop in for a coffee, and make use of the social space.

The centre is there for the use of everyone within Wrexham’s Creative Community, and as well as being a useable space, there’s lots of opportunities to get involved in the action, and help shape the future of the project.
These opportunities include:

Renting a Studio Space

From next week (week commencing 15th July) we’ll have 5 Studio Spaces ready to go. These spaces are rentable from around £15 per week (with 4 weeks deposit), but as we’re working hard towards the opening, if you’d be prepared to lend a hand helping us out, then the first month will be free!

Get Involved with the management and running of the centre

There are limited opportunities to get on board to experience and support the running of a large scale community arts project. This is a perfect chance for those who want to get involved in arts management as a career to get some real hands on experience.

Galleries

There are multiple opportunities to exhibit within the space, which can easily contain small private or group exhibitions right through to large scale shows.

Social Space

If you’re looking to get together with friends, clients or just have a group discussion about your next piece of collaborative art work, then we have a great social space. Refreshments are available on-site for a donation so just come in, relax and make yourself at home!

Meeting, Practice & Rehearsal Space

All types of groups, whether it be a band or a choir, a drama group or a knitting circle need a place to meet, or rehearse. Maybe Un Deg Un could be that place for you?

Invigilate

If you have a few hours a month to spare and would like to get involved join our team of Invigilators. Great for those who enjoy interacting with the public, and helping out with the day to day running of the centre, which is so important to allow everything else to work smoothly.

Events

We’re looking to establish a programme of events running from September so if you have an arts or music related event in mind that would suit an unusual venue, then this could be your chance. We’re happy to work within anyone who has a good idea, so tell us what you’re thinking and we could help support the set-up of your event.
So does any of that sound like it’s for you? We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to work with, who can gain experience in various roles, from invigilation to management experience; people who want to hold events; or just people that are keen to get involved with a new and unique initiative.

Anyone interested, please let us know: contact@thisproject.co.uk

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Un Deg Un

mike — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 12:36:51 +0000

POP UP ARTS CENTRE TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO THE HIGH STREET

Artists, Musicians and Performers from across the UK are set to revitalise Wrexham Town Centre, through the opening of an innovative new arts centre in the heart of the town.

‘Un-Deg-Un’ will breathe new life into the site of the former JJB Sports Store in the centre of Wrexham. Transformed into an arts centre, and open to all, it will play host to exhibitions, performances, projects and workshops by artists and musicians from all over the UK as well as providing studio space for local artists. The non-for-profit venture is a collaboration between the local creative organisation THIS Project, and East Street Arts, a contemporary arts organisation based in Leeds with a national reputation for transforming empty retail spaces.
Wrexham has a rich vein of cultural activity and this pop-up project is about making this activity visible to the public to change their perception of the town, raise awareness of the arts and local arts events, and to engage a wider section of the community in arts activities.

Dave Gray, owner of The Foundry, Wrexham’s creative industries hub, and the joint project manager for ‘Un Deg Un’ feels this is a real opportunity to bring the town centre back to life. Speaking about the project, he said “the aim is to establish a community hub in the heart of Wrexham featuring the best of local music, art, culture and creativity. The advantages to pop up spaces have been seen throughout the UK. The temporary, yet impactful nature of these projects carry benefits to landlords as an alternative to leaving properties empty; instead of having unused voids in the middle of town centres these properties can be temporarily repurposed for communities and can make a positive economic impact on the towns where they exist; and they are invaluable to the creative communities they serve.”

THIS Project, which works with Wrexham County Borough Council and is supported by the Arts Council Of Wales, are also working on an ongoing community garden project in the town centre and have worked with Oriel Wrecsam to deliver the innovative ‘Reimagine Wrexham’ exhibition last year, but this represents a new vision for the team as they hope to collaborate with a diverse mix of groups, organisations and businesses in the town.

Over the past year, since launching in January 2012, they have built up some important relationships and partnerships in the area. One of the most important of these has been with the staff and students of the North Wales School of Art & Design, who will be working with the team over the coming weeks to install the first exhibition which will showcase the best of this year’s degree show and celebrate the town’s creative young talent.

The team behind the redevelopment of the store would like to hear from members of the public who might like to donate furniture or arts equipment to the project; from people who might like to get involved as volunteers to help run the centre; or from individual artists and creative groups who might like to use the space. Speaking about the importance of volunteers to the project, Dave said, “we acknowledge that the success of the project will be in using the space to benefit the wider creative community of the town and we’re hoping to get as many people and interested groups involved as possible.”

The centre is currently being revitalised and set to open to the public on Saturday 27th July. There will be a private launch held on Thursday, 25th July, and anyone who would like to attend should contact the team through their website.

To find out more, you can go to the THIS Project website, www.thisproject.co.uk to find out more or email contact@thisproject.co.uk

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Un Deg Un