Firstsite boosts local value in bid to regain NPO status
New director has met community groups to help create a programme relevant to local people, as gallery seeks to alleviate Arts Council England’s concerns
Firstsite gallery in Colchester has been through some tough times since it opened in 2011, but its director, Sally Shaw, says the institution is getting back on track. It is exploring themes relating to social justice and politics to maintain relevance to local audiences, as it seeks to regain its national portfolio organisation (NPO) status from Arts Council England (ACE).
The gallery was placed under special measures by ACE in 2015, meaning it lost its NPO status for 2015 to 2018. At the time, the arts council said it had “continuing concerns” over the gallery’s ability to remain sustainable. Firstsite’s then director Matthew Rowe highlighted a significant deficit and said the gallery was “chronically understaffed”.
Relevant programming
Since being appointed in April 2016, Shaw says she has met with stakeholders and community groups to help construct a relevant programme, in part to alleviate ACE’s concerns.
In February, the gallery’s cafe hosted a pop-up restaurant staffed by refugees working with Refugee Action Colchester. The event accompanied an exhibition by Dagenham-born artist Gee Vaucher, with about 2,000 people attending.
“Things like that have started to say to me there’s an obvious interest in politics and social wellbeing in the region,” says Shaw. “I see my main task as to understand what the local and regional interest is for a gallery like ours. What purpose can it perform in the community and what impact can it have beyond the art world?”
The gallery, which has its ACE funding of just over £800,000 confirmed on an annual basis, applied to become an NPO in January and will hear if it has been successful next month.
If Firstsite is approved as an NPO, its funding will be guaranteed until 2022.
Local visitors
Shaw says she hopes to attract local visitors with an exhibition by Chinese artist Zhang Enli, which opened in March and features a site-specific painting along the length of the gallery’s distinctive 140m-long curving wall.
“There’s a small but incredibly strong Chinese community in Colchester,” she says. “And there’s also a historic link with various regions in China through Essex County Council, which also supports us. It’s a cultural step to connect the gallery and its residents through a broader conversation about internationalism and international conversations and agendas.”
Firstsite will also host Wang Wen, deputy director of China’s Yantai Art Museum, for two months from July.
Shaw says the gallery will focus on exhibitions of locally, nationally and internationally celebrated artists, including one on documentary photographer Ed Gold and artist Lubaina Himid.
“Colchester’s history is very international and has been for many centuries,” she says.
“Historically speaking, at Firstsite there have been some excellent exhibitions, but not really the right stuff for here,” she says, explaining why the gallery was placed under special measures.
“[That] was to say, this needs to be addressed. We need to rethink how this gallery works with its immediate audiences and responds to what they want to see, but in a way that’s still imaginative and internationally significant.”
Shaw says in 2015, prior to her arrival, the gallery’s management worked with the Plus Tate network to devise a programme that would rebuild trust with audiences.
The gallery was placed under special measures by ACE in 2015, meaning it lost its NPO status for 2015 to 2018. At the time, the arts council said it had “continuing concerns” over the gallery’s ability to remain sustainable. Firstsite’s then director Matthew Rowe highlighted a significant deficit and said the gallery was “chronically understaffed”.
Relevant programming
Since being appointed in April 2016, Shaw says she has met with stakeholders and community groups to help construct a relevant programme, in part to alleviate ACE’s concerns.
In February, the gallery’s cafe hosted a pop-up restaurant staffed by refugees working with Refugee Action Colchester. The event accompanied an exhibition by Dagenham-born artist Gee Vaucher, with about 2,000 people attending.
“Things like that have started to say to me there’s an obvious interest in politics and social wellbeing in the region,” says Shaw. “I see my main task as to understand what the local and regional interest is for a gallery like ours. What purpose can it perform in the community and what impact can it have beyond the art world?”
The gallery, which has its ACE funding of just over £800,000 confirmed on an annual basis, applied to become an NPO in January and will hear if it has been successful next month.
If Firstsite is approved as an NPO, its funding will be guaranteed until 2022.
Local visitors
Shaw says she hopes to attract local visitors with an exhibition by Chinese artist Zhang Enli, which opened in March and features a site-specific painting along the length of the gallery’s distinctive 140m-long curving wall.
“There’s a small but incredibly strong Chinese community in Colchester,” she says. “And there’s also a historic link with various regions in China through Essex County Council, which also supports us. It’s a cultural step to connect the gallery and its residents through a broader conversation about internationalism and international conversations and agendas.”
Firstsite will also host Wang Wen, deputy director of China’s Yantai Art Museum, for two months from July.
Shaw says the gallery will focus on exhibitions of locally, nationally and internationally celebrated artists, including one on documentary photographer Ed Gold and artist Lubaina Himid.
“Colchester’s history is very international and has been for many centuries,” she says.
“Historically speaking, at Firstsite there have been some excellent exhibitions, but not really the right stuff for here,” she says, explaining why the gallery was placed under special measures.
“[That] was to say, this needs to be addressed. We need to rethink how this gallery works with its immediate audiences and responds to what they want to see, but in a way that’s still imaginative and internationally significant.”
Shaw says in 2015, prior to her arrival, the gallery’s management worked with the Plus Tate network to devise a programme that would rebuild trust with audiences.