southampton’s new arts complex
Arts Council England announced
last week that they will award Southampton grants totalling £5.75
million to complete a £14 million arts venue
within the City.
Due to open in 2008, Southampton’s New Arts Complex (SNAC,
a working title - a permanent name will be chosen in the next
few months) will bring together a diverse mix of art
forms, including visual, performing, film and video and Asian
arts in a dynamic new building, overlooking the City’s
East Park and Guildhall Square. Featuring two landmark towers,
the building will bring alive a cultural quarter in the city
centre, providing a breathtaking new visitor attraction.
The John Hansard Gallery, part of the University
of Southampton,
has been influential in the artworld, both nationally and internationally,
for 25 years, and is one of the leading partners of SNAC. The
gallery space will cover a significant proportion of the three
lower floors of the building, with the remaining space occupied
by the other arts organisations (Art Asia, City
Eye and The
Performing Arts Organisation), restaurants, bars and cafes.
A further eleven floors above will house luxury apartments.
Stephen Foster, who has been the Director of the Gallery for
18 years, said of the award: “The John Hansard
Gallery enjoys a fantastic reputation amongst the art world at an international
level. This project will give us the world class facilities
that such an important organisation deserves. But it will also
make sure that all of our facilities will be not only available,
but used extensively, by more and more people from the City
and the region. Working in partnership with other organisations
will bring ever wider audiences to all of us, and will create
the buzz at the heart of the City that Southampton has been
waiting for”.
Felicity Harvest, Executive Director of Arts
Council England, South East said: 'We are delighted to be making this capital
award of £5.75 million - which includes a total of £750,000
to Art Asia - that will help realise Southampton's long awaited
ambition to develop a cultural quarter of national and international
status. This heralds a new era for the city and we look forward
to working with Southampton City Council and key arts organisations
to bring this to fruition.'
Congratulating the University of Southampton's John
Hansard Gallery, Art Asia and City
Eye for their hard work with the
city council in making the bid, Felicity Harvest added: 'Without
the tenacity of the City Council and the support and imagination
of the city's magnificent arts organisations, we would not
be in a position to be making this announcement today.'
The University’s Secretary and Registrar, John Lauwerys,
commented: ‘This is excellent news for the arts and for
the people of Southampton, who will benefit enormously from
this exciting project in which the University is a key partner.
I am delighted that the John Hansard Gallery will be able to
move to a prime city centre location in the new complex – the
first time the University has had a base in the heart of the
city centre since its forerunner, the Hartley Institution,
moved from Below Bar to Highfield in 1919.
‘In its new location many more people will be able to
view the exciting exhibitions staged by the John Hansard
Gallery,
which is one of the top contemporary galleries in the UK.’
the partners
• Southampton City Council, which receives a grant of £5
million from Arts Council England for this project.
• The John Hansard Gallery, part of the University
of Southampton, is a public gallery of contemporary art. For 25
years the Gallery has continued to develop as a centre of excellence,
drawing a wide national audience to its vigorous programme
of exhibitions and events, bringing contemporary debate into
the public arena.
The John Hansard Gallery is a major funded client of Arts
Council England, is part of the University
of Southampton and
is a member of the Gallery Go consortium.
The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and
research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge
research and scholarship. The University has around 20,000
students and nearly 5000 staff.
• Art Asia is an inner city organisation that promotes
all Asian art forms and initiates the city’s annual Mela
festival. Art Asia received a grant of £0.75m for this
project.
• City Eye was established in 1987, provides training
and facilities in film and video production, and is the regional
agency for Screen South.
• The Performing Arts Organisation is the working name
for Southampton’s newest venue for a full range of live
performing arts, including theatre, cabaret, comedy, music
and a range of education and outreach projects.
funding
Further funding from Southampton City Council and
the University of Southampton will ensure
that funds are in place for the arts partners’ ambitions
for the scheme to be fully realised. With work due to start
on site early in 2006, a projected opening in mid-2008 will
provide the largest arts complex on the south coast, and significantly
develop Southampton’s aspiration for a cultural quarter
of national importance.
Funding has been provided by Southampton City Council, Arts
Council England, University of Southampton and SEEDA (South
East England Development Agency).
further information
For further information, please contact:
Nicky Balfour, Press Officer, John Hansard Gallery
Tel: 023 8059 4661 Fax: 023 8059 4192 Email: njb@soton.ac.uk
Updates about the project can be found at www.southampton.gov.uk/snac
