Ipswich Arts Centre

General information

Imagining a new Ipswich Arts Centre

Our aim is to transform St Clement church into a vibrant, diverse cutting edge arts centre bringing it back to life as a community resource; as a vibrant and beautiful space that should be recognised and acknowledged in its own right; as a building that has an important role to play in Ipswich's current and projected cultural development as a twenty first century town.

Our aim is to establish an arts centre that is able to host a range of diverse creative events. Far from being elitist and exclusive St Clement's will be established from the outset as a venue purposively designed to be inclusive. That is, it will be established as a venue that will host events that will reach out and be attractive to the wide and diverse communities that live and work in Suffolk. It is also envisaged that the venue will be constituted as a hub through which a diverse range of arts organisations and art promoters can operate. Our aim is to establish a culturally diverse, ecumenical space that is not dominated by one group but can host a range of diverse groups and organisations. It will be established as a place where creativity is encouraged and supported and where people are invited to come together in a space that welcomes everyone. Here they would also intersect with the wider artistic and cultural community who will also be invited to use the space.

Overall, the aim will be to create a vibrant culture that will enrich the social life of the town more generally. Ipswich Arts Centre will be established as a mid sized arts venue, one capable of hosting a diverse range of events and touring companies. It is envisioned that it would be used for diverse cultural purposes including music but a range of other performing arts as well. Considered as a music venue it would be able to host a range of established (to less established bands) but also more traditional music forms such as choral music, opera and classical music. As a performance specie it can be used to stage theatrical performances, comedy, film, dance and fashion shows. It could also be used to host a range of cutting edge contemporary art performances by international and nationally acclaimed artists.

Ipswich Arts Centre would also be able to be used as an exhibition space for artists and photographers and it is anticipated that resident artists would be invited to use the space. If, as we propose, a cafe / bar facility is established then the church would also be used during daylight hours as a social space by students, the creative communities and teaching staff from the educational quarter.

Ipswich Arts Centre could be integrated into the many arts festivals that Ipswich hosts including the Spill festival, IpArt, Pulse, the annual maritime festival. New arts and musical organisations could also utilise its space as a rehearsal venue. As a venue it could also be used for hosting markets and vintage fairs. Given its past as a church it could also be used as a space where civil marriages are conducted.

In short Ipswich Arts Centre would become an inclusive ecumenical space that could be productively used by a host of different communities for a host of diverse cultural purposes. Such a creative intersection would bring together the University with the town, and town and university with Ipswich's vibrant artistic and cultural communities and all to the benefit of the wider residential communities in the region.