A new arts collective is working on bringing a performance and events space to Clacton.
The Clacton Arts Centre has made it its mission to boost the arts scene of the coastal town and create a space for concerts, performances, comedy, spoken word and much more.
The collective started meeting a number of months ago and started planning on how to give Clacton’s arts scene a new home.
Officially, the Clacton Arts Centre team has been working together for the past three months and focused its efforts on the task at hand.
“Our aim will be to have a physical building, where people can have live music events, comedy nights, theatre and community events. People in the community will be able to hire rooms within that building as well as us using the venue for different events and performances, much like the Colchester Arts Centre," said a spokesman of the collective.
“We want it to be used for absolutely anything that is needed, so not just music or comedy or theatre. If there is an exhibition that someone wants to put on, we want to be able to use it for that, or if there is a performance that somebody needs a space for we want it to be able to be used for that. We want to use it for anything that’s within the arts and beyond. We just want to bring the arts back to Clacton on Sea.”
Finding a property to accommodate the arts centre will not be an easy task.
The spokesman added: “It’s going to be a lot of blood sweat and tears, a lot of fundraising and a lot of work for the whole collective.”
The collective currently has ten members and hopes to get more people involved to make the dream of a vibrant arts scene a reality.
To raise awareness and make its name heard, the collective started to organise events in Clacton and wanted to make use of some of the most popular spots in town.
The spokesman said: “We’re hoping to put on other events at the end of the pier in the Jolly Roger, as well as the Martello Tower Tea Rooms, where “A Christmas Carol” recital will be held on December 7, and anywhere else we can find.
“We have spoken to Jessica’s Place recently and hope to hold some events there We just want to do as much as we can in the meantime.”
For the rest of the year, there are currently two more live music events planned on November 23 and December 21 in the Martello Lounge, along the seafront, in association with the Local band “A Light Left On.”
Two previous events at the same venue have been really successful.
Anyone who is keen to get involved, whether it is on stage or off stage, can contact the Clacton Arts Centre via Facebook or email info@clactonartscentre.org
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