Name: Arts trail in Southsea
Uploaded: 2020-07-21T10:42:46.000Z
Duration: 27 s
Description: Arts trail in Southsea

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Then look at the billboards at Goldsmith Avenue, Fratton, which were transformed into artistic masterpieces with encouraging, positive messages to get us through lockdown. Not to mention the several art galleries and studios which normally play host to hundreds of inspiring exhibitions each year.

But with such a culturally-enriched city comes its potential drawbacks – with so many artists out there, how do we ensure they all get their fair share of exposure?

Portsmouth Creates, the independent arts organisation which launched last November, has the answer in the form of itsWe Believe project.

Pictured are artists, from left: Joe Munro, Kevin Dean, Mark Persaud, William Sutton, Clarke Reynolds, Ryan Dodd, Michael McKenzie, Angela Chick and project manager, Billie Coe, at the Rock Garden, Southsea. Picture: Habibur Rahman

Billie Coe, the project leader, says: ‘The impact Covid-19 has had on some smaller artists, who may have just started a business, has been disastrous financially.

‘We wanted to target those who weren’t eligible for the small business or retail, leisure and hospitality government grants.

‘Some were living off the income of their artwork and with galleries and exhibitions closed, people weren’t seeing their art so they weren’t making much money.’

To find a solution to this damaging problem, Portsmouth Creates has been working closely with Portsmouth City Council since the beginning of May to launch three arts trails – at Milton, Old Portsmouth and Southsea – to showcase artwork on poster boards.

Billie Coe, organiser of the project, with some of the boards in Southsea. Picture: Sarah Standing

Each artist was given a £500 micro-commission, guided by the theme: ‘We Believe – expressions of hope and optimism for our city beyond Covid-19.’

To raise the money for each micro-commission, Portsmouth Creates launched a crowdfunder campaign which Portsmouth City Council said it would match-fund.

GALLERY: Portsmouth Creates launches arts trail in Southsea to support local artists

Billie, from Widley, explains: ‘We have got a database of contacts of people we know or have worked with so I just contacted all of those and asked if they knew anyone who would benefit from a micro-commission.

Artists, from left: William Sutton,Mark Persaud, Angela Chick, Clarke Reynolds, Kevin Dean, Ryan Dodd, Joe Munro and project manager, Billie Coe on the arts trail in Southsea. Picture: Habibur Rahman

‘I put it out on social media and artists had to put through an application via our website with background information and submissions of previous pieces. We didn’t want them to create something from scratch for the application.

Portsmouth Creates invited Jo Bushnell, from Aspex Gallery, Trevor Keeble and Pippa Bostock, from the University of Portsmouth, to judge 36 entries and whittle them down to 20, which took four days.

Billie says it was hard to judge because they were all amazing and different, with each artist bringing something new to the table from watercolour and digital art to braille and copper etching.

‘It was hard to break the news to them too. I was sending one positive message and then another negative one saying they hadn’t got it.

Joe Munro creating his artwork for the project.

‘The ones who got it were all so chuffed because most of them had grown up here and were so proud their work was going to be exhibited locally.’

Steve Pitt, the council’s cabinet member for culture and city development, says as soon as lockdown started he realised he needed to act to help struggling artists in our city.

He explains: ‘I soon realised there were a lot of people in our cultural and creative communities who weren’t eligible for government funding during the pandemic and we wanted to help a chunk of them in one go.

‘I thought it would be a great way to get people outside too because at that point, we didn’t know what would be open.

‘The trail is a really fun thing for people to do and it’s great to showcase the fantastic artistic talent we have in the city.’

One artist who has benefited from the project is 27-year-old Joe Munro from Southsea. After living in Bristol and London, he has moved back to his home city but when the pandemic struck, he became worried about the future.

He says: ‘All my friends are artists and creative people. We were all concerned about the industry as a whole and artists have really felt the brunt of it. So many projects were cancelled. It was a very frustrating and nerve-wracking experience.’

WATCH: New arts trail in Southsea shows off local artists' work

Joe’s artwork shows people socialising and cheering at the bandstand, Southsea, and he says he created it because ‘it’s a symbol of hope of what we will get back to’.

‘I think it’s really good to have a party of different artists because some creatives are given a lot more exposure than others. It has showcased artwork from a few up and coming artists and hopefully this will act as a stepping stone to other projects and commissions,’ adds Joe.

Like Joe, illustrator Angela Chick, from Southsea, was gutted when the pandemic ruined an exciting project. She explains: ‘Before lockdown, a large store was about to accept some big orders of my work but when they closed, they no longer needed my products. I also had quite a few exciting commissions which were cancelled too.

‘I luckily still sold my artwork online but it was still quite a big impact financially when things started to close. It’s hard on any small business that doesn’t have a steady pay check.’

Angela’s artwork, which can be seen in the bottom right picture, is filled with bright colours and reads, ‘the future is bright’. She says: ‘I was really excited when I was chosen and I was hoping to send a positive message with my art. I’m such a big fan of the local arts scene and there are so many amazing creatives and the scene has been thriving.’

Meet the artists

The art by these 20 artists is displayed at the art trails at Milton, Old Portsmouth and Southsea.

Here are their contact details via their websites or Instagram accounts (@) for more information:

*Angela Chick: Instagram, @angela.chick.illustration/angelachick.com

*Anne Shaw: annecshaw.com

*The Long Vacation: @the_long_vacation/thelongvacation.etsy.com

*Clarke Reynolds: @clarke_reynolds_1981/seeingwithoutseeing.com

*Georgia de Buriatte: @deburiart/deburiat.co.uk

*Harry Murr: harrymurrdesign.co.uk

*James Sharp: @jamesrobertsharp/sharp.film/

*Jeannie Driver: @jeanniedriverartist/jeanniedriver.com

*Joe Munro: @joe_mun/joemunro.com