Guest 644- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,214
This seems to have rather slipped under the radar. The upper floor of the Charlton Centre has been opened up as an art gallery containing studios, exhibitions, displays and ultimately work for sale. Access is at the rear of the Centre by the car park, one needs to find the toilets and head up the stairs there. It can't be accessed from the stairs in the min hall of the Centre which are still closed off.
Best of luck to these artists, it's good to see someone creatively investing in Dover even if ultimately turns out to be only temporarily.
Details can be found here (you'll need to copy and paste the link):
http://whitenave.co.uk/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1It's a good idea, but why is it seemingly being kept secret, bar perfunctory mentions in the local rags?
I know it's probably not helped by the appalling design of the Charlton Centre (bring on the wrecking balls, soon, please!), but if we've going to attempt to instill a bit of the artsy De Haan factor into Dover then should everyone be making more of a song and dance about it?
Regards,
Andy
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
i saw a poster saying that it would be opening today.
i could not work out where it actually was.
it certainly sounds like a refreshing idea, good luck to it.
I will check it out at the weekend - it's a lovely idea, wish it had been better publicised, but that's nothing new, is it?
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
i had to laugh at phils post.
the obstacle course that had to be encountered to see these piccies!!
andy made reference to the de haan factor in folky stone.
lovely to have a millionaire benefactor.
got me thinking, i wonder what bruce wayne is doing nowadays.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
I attended the launch on Monday evening and there were quite a few arty people there.
The rooms (for want of a better word) were a reasonable size and very bright; I was quite amazed that it hadn't taken off as a shopping centre upstairs as it is quite large and the walkways are quite wide.
I have been talking to the local manager there about the (open) shops joining the loyalty scheme and I promote them as widely as I can.
They will need all the marketing and promotion they can get, especially as the DTIZ develops - if they aren't careful, it will be a forgotten area and all businesses around that area will suffer.
I didn't know it could only be approached from the rear - through the car-park; I came in through the High Street, no problem. I'd have thought that a High Street entrance is essential to get the people in and for them to walk through the centre and see the shops and what they have to offer.
Roger
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Along with most people I didnt know a thing about this and to be honest I still dont know much. An arts area on paper sounds good though, so I wish the idea well. I would like to see such an area considered in and around the DTIZ development because once that gets going the hub of activity will be there. Sorry to say it but the Charlton Centre already has the stigma of dead duck about it.
Yes Roger you could always enter from the rear( sounds rude
!) but I think the centre there was probably too small to be a success story. My feeling is in highly affluent areas small holdings seem to thrive, think of the Brighton Lanes for example, where the myriad of shops are full of exciting options. Prices are not low, prices are high, so its not a recommended excursion for the wary spender. If you have lots of dosh however you can enjoy the experience, and as there is lots of dosh in Brighton it thrives. This level of cash isnt immediately in evidence in central Dover.
Guest 654- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 169
I do recall the centre when it opened but it didnt survive, the worry now is the trend out to Whitfield, and if Asda does pullout the town centre is looking grim.
No one wants to moan but we should b looking at all the things we could do rather than what we cant do,
cruise ships being a good example.
Guest 644- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,214
I have not had the time to look inside this week yet, but will try to this weekend. I must admit, the whole enterprise seems somewhat enigmatic to me - but I suppose that's Art in a nutshell to many of us!
It is good to see a gallery set up in Dover, but as with some of the posters above I fear for the long term future of the site. I don't think it has been well advertised - but that's hardly something new for Dover. I only found out about it the day before the opening as I happened to be in the Louis where the opening party was to be held.
More worrying is the lack of advertising. There seems to be no posters on the front of the Charlton Centre where the public walk past. To find it, one must be on the way to the dark and dingy 20p toilet and glance up the stairs!
Given that the rent space for a single unit in the Charlton Centre is £16-22k pa (and yes, I have seen the brochure), I don't see how this poor town could generate enough trade to keep it ticking over.
Still, good luck to the artists with this. I just hope it works out well, but they really need to promote themselves outside the Art circle a lot better if this gallery stands a rat's chance to survive.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
paul
you got in before me there.roger saying about arty people and being approached from the rear etc!!!
kindly note that crass humour is my forte on here.
One has to play to ones strengths, Howard....!
Guest 666- Registered: 25 Mar 2008
- Posts: 323
Too a look today - all rather hidden from view - bit like planning applications in the Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy - plans in a dimly lit basement...!
Wish them luck, but what they need is at least an 'A board' outside to let passing folks know what is going on.
Oh Boy!, That'll be the day.........
I had a look today. It's a lovely idea, but I was a bit concerned about the lighting if artists are renting those little studios, both for working and for exhibiting.But whatever, I want to encourage it - a bit more "cul-cha" would be nice in Dover! And a real outlet for creativity would be a boon. I will be there tomorrow for the opening and atrists talk.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
do not forget your cape bern.
a cigarette holder will also add to your street cred at such an event.
does anyone remember the hancock film?
Love it...I am dusting off the beret as we speak,
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
Yes, I remember it, The Rebel - Hancock at his finest; an artist indeed !!!
Funny though.
Roger
Guest 666- Registered: 25 Mar 2008
- Posts: 323
The Rebel - great..I love it when he flings his umbrella and bowler out into the channel as the final vestige of his repressed british background - then arrives to pouring rain 'en France' priceless!
Oh Boy!, That'll be the day.........
Well, I went to the Artists Talk and Opening of the Centre, but all I found was three women in the central room talking amonst themselves, some random sketches and drawings blu-tacked incoherently around the place, some blu-tacked bits of paper telling us who had booked the studios to rent....and that was it. The promised Talk and Opening didn't seem to be on the horizon so I left. The women watched me go and then started gabbing again. As performance art it failed to engage me, and as an introduction to the centre ditto. Sad, as I had been rather excited by the idea. I hope it improves......I may have lost interest by then...
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
buddy and roger.
that film got panned by the critics, but everyone i know loved it.
remember the sculpture falling off of the ferry into the channel.
those awful paintings of a house with a winding path, smoking chimney and a cat etc??
everyone thinking he was a genius, calling his work style "the new infantile" school.
The Emperors New Clothes type of thing.......happens now with trendy economic policies and new Party Leaders....