| Welcome to the December 2024 edition of the Kirkgate Quarter Chronicle.
A very different newsletter this month, as Gloria, Bob and all the volunteers have worked so hard bringing you their articles over the last twelve months we wanted to give them a festive break.
We can’t quite believe how fast 2024 has gone by! So many events, exhibitions, projects, improvements, new volunteers and new members of staff. Once the madness of Christmas shopping and socialising settles down it’s the time of year to be putting your feet up and looking back over the last twelve months. What was your Kirkgate Arts highlight? The office team share theirs below.
Did you know that 2025 will be the 30th year the Kirkgate Centre has been open as an arts and heritage venue? There are plans in the pipeline for some birthday celebrations throughout the year, so keep an eye out for those events appearing on the website. We’ve already got some gems to share with you in the next Chronicle, looking back over those 30 years…
Next time you visit do take a look at the panel outside, this was produced by the Civic Trust, without whom the centre simply wouldn’t exist! There are photographs and information about the history of the building, and the birth of Kirkgate Arts. |
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Katy’s favourite…
I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying many shows at The Kirkgate since I joined the team, all equally brilliant! But I’d like to give a shout out to the film programming group and say that my highlight was the film ‘Kneecap’. I have a terrible attention span so it takes a lot for me to sit through a film but as an avid fan of their music already I jumped at the chance to come and see this film! Not for the faint of heart, but definitely a great choice by the group who continually programme a diverse array of films – thank you! |
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| “With its rambunctious spirit, running jokes about ketamine, and a prominently displayed pair of pallid buttocks daubed with bluntly anti-British sentiment, the fictionalised origin story of real-life Irish-language rap group Kneecap (who play themselves) probably won’t be for everyone. But the combination of the profane and the political, the riotous humour and punchy editing makes for one of the more energising viewing experiences of the year, and possibly one of the funniest.” Wendy Ide – The Guardian |
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Helen’s favourite…
It’s hard to pick just one highlight from this year! Some of my favourites were the events we ran alongside the Offcomers Exhibition this summer. There were two family storytelling events with Jessie McMeekin and poet and writer Emma McGordon gave a reading of some of her writing. |
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| Jessie and Emma (pictured) both create work that explores West Cumbrian identity, and they really got to the heart of what we wanted to achieve with the exhibition and the wider In My Shoes heritage project which it was a part of. And they are both captivating performers!
It’s a privilege to be able to showcase such talented West Cumbrian artists, and bring the arts and heritage together in our work at The Kirkgate. |
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Katie’s favourite…
My highlight of 2024 has to be Rob Heron and the Teapad Orchestra, who were here in August performing on the Kirkgate stage. I first met Rob on the open mic and festival circuit around Cumbria when he was a teenager (a very talented and well respected songwriter by the age of 16), so it’s just brilliant to see his career going from strength to strength- touring with a full band, and a foot stomping superb sound!
I hope we get to have them back again soon, what a great night! |
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| Rob and the band recently released their 5th studio album ‘Feet First’, they describe their sound as ‘gleefully trampling over genre boundaries, chucking Rockabilly, Blues, Country, Swing, Soul and more into their musical gumbo, but always sounding mostly just like themselves’.
Definitely worth a listen, and a real treat to see live. |
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Emma’s favourite…
I was very impressed by ‘Steel’ which toured with our Kirkgate Arts Out West venues earlier this year. It’s a theatre show commissioned and produced by Theatre by the Lake and directed by the theatre’s Artistic Director, Liz Stevenson. Set in Workington and inspired by the experiences of writer, Lee Mattinson, the work covers themes of post-industrial decline, LGBTQ+ identity, and the struggles of a community through difficult times. |
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| The play itself is powerful and thought provoking, as well as hilarious! As members of my family worked in the steel industry in Workington this was a particularly moving story for me. It’s quite an adventure! With the two main characters desparate to find the missing documentation which will ensure they inherit their rightful fortune…
We’re welcoming the show to the Kirkgate Centre, The Globe Hall Ireby and The Gather in Ennerdale in 2025 so do come along and enjoy it! |
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ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!
We’ve been incredibly fortunate with funding applications for capital investment this year. This money enables us to complete improvement works around the centre, not only to improve the experience of everyone using the building, but to make us more energy efficient, something that was not on the minds of Victorian architects!
Looking back on photographs from just a few years ago it’s clear that our time, effort and funding investment has made all the difference! |
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| The exhibition hanging system was installed some time ago now, to give us much greater flexibility in our displays, both for our own exhibitions and for private hire events wanting to make use of them. We think it looks much better than the chunky noticeboards, and the simple system enables us to use every bit of wall space. The improvements to the lighting in the room (with our 30 fully positionable LED spotlights) provide the perfect finishing touch to the space. |
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| Then we have the admin office! Formerly (and affectionately…) known as ‘The Broomcupboard’, this space has been completely transformed. We now have an office to be proud of! Our paperwork no longer looms precariously on shelves over our managers desk, and is all securely, and tidily, locked away in a filing cupboard. If only we could train our operations manager in the art of a tidy space… |
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| I’m sorry! I promise to tidy up in time for the new year!- Katie |
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| Adjacent to the admin office upstairs our accessible WC is now plumbed in, and will be ready for use in 2025. No more waiting for the lift to pop to the loo during a film or performance upstairs.
No disrespect to the lift, which is now looking (and functioning) much better than previously!
Another funding success enabled us to purchase some fantastic quality sound equipment to use in our Egremont Room bar. Thanks to the Lakes to the Sea panel we are also offering a three week course built around using the kit.
‘An Introduction To Live Sound Engineering’ is now bookable on our website. Ably led by experienced sound engineer Kevin Farish assisted by Peter Tandy (two of our dedicated tech volunteers) the course runs over three weeks, and aims to provide participants with the skills and knowledge required to safely set up and operate sound equipment in a live event setting.
Places are free but numbers limited, so do book if you would like to take part in this course, or pass the information on to any budding sound engineers, or performers who would like to gain a better undertanding of the technical equipment. Who knows where it may lead!
The course is already proving popular so do be sure to book. We’re hoping to continue our educational offerings, using our equipment to encourage anyone interested in the more technical aspects of performance. Keep an eye out for more opportunities with us in 2025. |
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IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THE BIG STUFF…
We’re delighted to have secured the funding to make all these improvements possible, but of course filling the centre with activity all year round, as well as bringing performances into rural venues with Kirkgate Arts Out West, is the core of our work. To enable us to do this we need to keep the bills paid and the centre ready for you- our wonderful audience!
The financial support we receive on a regular basis is what keeps the organisation going day to day, so next time you’re visiting why not pop and get a glass of wine or an ice cream before the show? Or drop a few pennies in a donation box. Every donation, however big or small, is enormously appreciated.
An easy way to show your support is to become a ‘Friend of Kirkgate Arts & Heritage’. This scheme benefits you too- with exclusive events, additional newsletters, and you can book with confidence- as ‘Friends’ are entitled to refunds on tickets for events they find they can no longer attend.
For more information click here. |
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| 2024 has been a challenging year for arts organisations, who have enjoyed a combination of increasing costs (particularly lighting and heating costs) and reducing availability of funding. Despite this, we have continued to put on 400+ events at the Kirkgate Centre and in community centres all over Cumbria, including the recent Brewing in Cockermouth exhibition which was very well received. All of our events are made possible by our dedicated group of approximately 100 Volunteers. The contribution of our Volunteers to the cultural life of Cumbria was recognised this year in the form of the King’s Award for Volunteers, a civic honour equivalent to an MBE, so congratulations to all of you out there who give up your time to help the Kirkgate.
Whilst money is always short in the charitable arts and culture sector, our central team led by our Chief Executive, Emma Heys, has had a series of successful applications, enabling us to run various cultural events and to repair, maintain and upgrade the Kirkgate Centre. Our never-finished mission to make the Centre into a modern, green, energy-efficient facility continues!
We are looking forward to 2025, when we will be bringing you a varied programme of events, together with a bit of a celebration: Kirkgate Arts and Heritage will be thirty years old and we will be using this anniversary as an excuse for some parties, to which you will all be invited.
A very Happy Christmas from all of us at the Kirkgate and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year and into 2025.
Rob Higgins
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Kirkgate Arts & Heritage |
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