Un Deg Un

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