An exciting series of Thursday Lates at Chichester’s Pallant House Gallery will ensure the warmest welcome for everyone with a wide range of talks and activities as we head towards spring.
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00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Really lovely
00:06to speak to Sinara Davies of Pallant House Gallery, Head of Learning and Public Programmes
00:11there, and talking about a fabulous programme that you have with the Gallery, which is all
00:16about making sure there's maximum access to everyone that the Gallery is welcoming as
00:21it possibly can be. You've got a lovely programme of Thursday Lates coming up, and you've had
00:26one for January, you've got ones coming up in February, March and April. What's the idea
00:31of Thursday Lates then? And you're saying it's a different way of exploring, experiencing
00:36the Gallery, isn't it?
00:38Yeah, thank you, Phil. So what we're very much intending to do through this programme
00:44is to offer maximum opportunity for people, three and a half hours, five to eight-thirty
00:49on a Thursday, so people can come after work hours to enjoy the Galleries in a really informal,
00:55welcoming atmosphere. We have a bar open, we have the restaurant open. We also have
01:00lots of drop-in creative activities that wouldn't necessarily be on in the daytime if you came
01:04to see the exhibition. We've got life drawing going on in the Galleries, for example, where
01:09people can be inspired by the artworks around them and have a go at drawing with a fantastic
01:15artist, Wendy Barrett, who recently won the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year. She's
01:20a really wonderfully talented teacher and artist. So we have people like that involved
01:24who are incredibly inspiring, but also very relaxed and welcoming. Alongside that, you
01:29can also take part in our talks, which is a special season of talks, which is kind of
01:36ticketed separately, but as part of that, you also have free access to everything else
01:39going on in the Gallery. And each month is themed. So, for example, in February, we have
01:46a pattern and print themed night in response to our exhibition on pattern, which is drawn
01:53from our collection. We've got the wonderful Sarah Burns, who's a textile artist and printmaker
02:00based in Stenning, inspired by the South Downs, but also by global textiles. She's coming
02:04to give a fascinating talk on her practice. So that gives you an idea of how we're responding
02:09to the themes of exhibition and the activities we offer. But again, we've got other behind-the-scenes
02:14activity with our library and archive staff available to share collections that you may
02:20not ordinarily see in the library, a guided tour is on offer, a studio, a workshop as
02:26well. So there's lots of things you can do during that period.
02:30I guess there's probably still a kind of perception that galleries could be a little bit stiff
02:36and formal and don't speak, don't move, don't do this, don't do that, et cetera. But clearly
02:42there is an informality, which is part of the engagement of Palant House, isn't that?
02:48Absolutely. And we try and ensure that's part of everything we do, whichever audience we're
02:52working with. We have an extensive schools programme, we work very closely with our community
02:57programme, with many adults in the community with different needs. So we've got a very wide-ranging
03:03way of ensuring that we remain relevant to audiences, trying to open at a time that's
03:08convenient for people who have other busy working commitments and other personal commitments.
03:14So absolutely trying to do everything we can to make the gallery a comfortable space for people,
03:19where people want to be and want to spend time with people they care about. A wonderful cafe and
03:25kind of bar space downstairs in the summer.
03:27It's a place to meet people, obviously.
03:30Yeah, it's a place to meet people. We have a live music programme as well in the summer to
03:33accompany the other activities that we're offering.
03:36Fantastic. Well, it sounds lovely. The Thursday Lates coming up are February the 13th,
03:41March the 6th and April the 3rd. Really lovely to speak to you. Thank you.
03:46Thank you, Phil.