This area has a lot of talent. It is incredible. We've said this for years. It also has a tremendous amount of kindness and soul. Something we've also talked a lot about. Recently we were blown away by both of these things simultaneously as Harry Saxon initiated a conversation amongst the local creative community about donating work to help the Exchange raise funds to recover from our break in. So we put out a shout out and received an overwhelming response with donations of work from almost 40 local artists in such a short space of time.
It is our firm belief that together we can achieve more than we are able to acting individually. That we will benefit more greatly for sharing resources than all creating our own empires. This is what underpins what we are building every day at the Exchange. The best things about it is this is our refreshed understanding that we are not on our own. We really are on this journey together. There's a creative community growing stronger by the day that want to help and support each other where they can. And what's more, it's working.
For those who give their time to the Exchange every week helping make it what it has become, this kindness has been profound. To know that other people want to see us back on top help rebuild morale at a crucial point, not simply dampening the impact of the break in but actually leaving us with a sense of excitement. Kirsty, a volunteer at the Exchange expressed that 'everyone was blown away by the show of support and love'.
All donated work was exhibited for exactly one week at the Exchange, in which time we were processing silent bids both in store and online. As bidding closed we had successfully raised over £1200 from sales of artwork, with all items selling. It has been truly incredible and will go a really long way to recovering from recent losses. Thanks you so much to everyone who came along, took part and donated work, you have left an incredible legacy here.
After getting a lot of feedback, people coming to see the work and the artists alike, we've realised the benefits of this were far wider than we anticipated. It was a breathtaking celebration of local talent, helping change perceptions and generate interest in local work. Offering seasonal promotion through the exhibition for local artists and their work led to additional sales of art work. It has been suggested several time now that we make this an annual thing, so let's see where this leads next.
Head over to the dedicated webpage to see the exhibits by clicking the image above.
Lets not forget December 10th in it's entirety. Alongside the auction The Exchange Band of Merry Makers were out in force leading a festive themed mono printing workshop - our regular monthly offer to provide a free artist led workshop for all ages and abilities. And for this instalment David of Bay View Computers was kind enough to let us use his venue for the day just a stones throw from our West Street Venue (with the all inspiring sea views) to run the workshop from - as anyone who has called in before will know that space and lack of it is an ever continuing issue for us.
In case you missed the action we are lucky to work alongside Bipolaroid Photography who captured these brilliant photos on the day.