Vortex by Phil Little.

Eclectic art show at Southwater Area Community Centre

Time Is On Our Side, an exhibition featuring the work of local artists, is running at Southwater Area Community Centre during October. Nick Terdre reports.

Time Is On Our Side is a community-based project at Southwater Area Community Centre (SACC) featuring artists of all ages and walks of life, from children to pensioners. Originally scheduled for April but postponed due to the lockdown, it is loosely based on the H G Wells novel The Time Machine, the subject of this year’s The Town Explores a Book event.

A Leap Through Time, Sophie Hall (aged 10).

“In these difficult and challenging times it is important that people can still engage with art and culture,” says  Nick Hill, SACC trustee and art coordinator, and one of the participating artists, who has been putting on annual exhibitions at the centre since 2009.

The show features a wide range of media, including mixed media, painting, photography, drawing and embroidery.  The selection is very eclectic, with something to please all tastes and styles, says Nick. There is also a wide range of participants, from primary school pupils to an artist in her eighties. Younger artists are encouraged to display new work and are thanked with a  small gift and a certificate of participation.

Time Machine 1, Yvonne Rees.

The event  also has the aim of publicising the facilities available at the centre itself, one of the few remaining community centres in Hastings and St Leonards. Rooms are available for community groups of all sorts to meet and pursue their interests. After being shut down for a period, SACC has now resumed activities with a full panoply of coronavirus precautions.

Some high-profile visitors are already booked in for a visit to the exhibition, including the Lord High Sheriff of Sussex this coming week and local MP Sally-Ann Hart the following week.

The show is open to visitors from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday. However, numbers at any time are restricted, so it is advisable to notify the centre in advance of the time you intend to come – either send a text to Nick (07984 732716)or an email to Cath (office@sothwatercommunitycentre.org).

Time Is On Our Side Art exhibition at Southwater Area Community Centre, 1-2 Stainsby Street, St Leonards-on-Sea TN37 6LA.To Friday 30 October, Monday- Saturday, 10am-4pm.

Ad Astra, Shon and Keith G.

The article was updated by the writer, who is also a trustee of Southwater Area Community Centre, on 12 October 2020.

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