Claire Griffiths, Author at Blackpool Social Club

13 Feb

Postcards From Blackpool with Tina Demspey.

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsLocal News, Visual Arts & Exhibitions

Tina Dempsey is a proactive individual creative around Blackpool with her own practice and providing a number of childrens workshops across the Fylde. I caught up with her to find out about her most current project: Postcards From Blackpool. Q: Tell me a little bit about you. a: I am a local artist born and bred and my work is a series of abstract cultural landscapes. Using collage, printmaking, drawing and painting I document my reactions to the world around me, to the social, physical and emotional spaces I encounter via colour, pattern and form. Q: How did your postcard…

26 Jan

Culture Blackpool Launch – The B Side

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsColumns & Opinion, Local News

My hometown, Blackpool. I am here by accident really, my family moved here in the 70's to open a guest house, Blackpool was thriving then with carnivals and hoards of visitors promenading the seafront. It is still a busy hub of activity in high season but out of season, the town belongs to the locals. If you walk around the town on a blustery winters day, the atmosphere you catch is tangible, remnants of people, place and time. The town belongs again to its residents. I studied elsewhere for a Fine Arts Degree and could not wait to leave at…

13 Jan

Review: Shaw’s – Blackpool to Brazil Exhibition

Claire Griffiths1 CommentVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, Blackpool, Brazil, documentaryphotography, Exhibition, northern soul, photography, Richard Jon

On Thursday the 12th of January I entered a cool coffee shop in Blackpool to check out a cross-section of work from a photographer working internationally and locally who may be best known for documenting a thriving Northern Soul scene. This exhibition features engaging landscape and still life photographs as well as documentary images of his Kickstarter funded Photography trip to Brazil. The coffee shop, Shaw's was packed with people all enjoying a delicious free coffee and accompanying treats. Northern Soul DJ Johnny Loder was playing some classic northern soul tracks helping to create a warm ambience. The man behind…

22 Dec

Preview – Craig Charles, Bootleg Social 30 December

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsMusic & Gigs

On the eve of New Year's Eve the firm favourite Craig Charles will be taking to the decks to play his own special mix of soul, northern soul and disco - always a popular event in Blackpool's event diary and one not to be missed. It has been 14 years since Craig Charles started his radio show on 6 Music and he is still one of the most popular music shows the station hosts. If you have never witnessed Craig playing live you are in for a treat, the atmosphere is tangible and dancing is a definite. Craig Charles is responsible…

20 Dec

Urban Organic Community Gardening in Blackpool

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsLocal News, Sports & WellbeingArt, Blackpool, community, gardening, people

At the start of December, I met with Alan Hulme of Urban Organic CIC to photograph his latest project at Blackpool's Blind Home and find out more about the aspirations behind the community garden. Claire: Who are you and what do you do. Alan: I’m Alan Hulme and I’m a Community Gardener and Beekeeper. C: Where is Urban Organic based? A: Urban Organic is based on the Growing for Life Garden at the Princess Alexandra Blind Home. We operate across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. C: How can people make use of the space and get involved? A: We have run sessions…

18 Oct

Whipper Snappers Photography Workshops with Better Start Blackpool.

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsLocal News, Visual Arts & ExhibitionsExhibition, photography, workshops

Two professional photographers in Blackpool are offering families the chance to learn how to capture their own family portraits. Whipper Snappers – made up of Claire Griffiths and Jill Reidy – has teamed up with Blackpool’s Better Start child development partnership to deliver workshops to families at Sure Start children’s centres across the town, providing family engagement in an age-old tradition of the family portrait. Over a series of three hour and a half sessions participating families will have their portraits taken by Whipper Snappers before being taught how to use a professional camera. Later sessions will also…

11 Oct

Seaside Towns Out Of Season Reflections.

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsHeritage, Local News, Visual Arts & ExhibitionsExhibition, photography, review

Last week Photographer and renaissance woman, Jill Reidy, exhibited her photographs at Abingdon Studios in Blackpool. I caught up with Jill to find out more about her experience and how the exhibition was put together. A short video tour with soundtrack. Jill, How did you decide on the format of the exhibition? I knew I wanted the exhibition in Blackpool, and I knew it had to be out of Season. Once I'd secured the space in Abingdon Studios I was lucky enough to be offered curator help. Jayne Simpson, who is an experienced artist and tutor, had a huge input. …

27 Sep

Do You Own The Dance Floor Celebrates the History of The Hacienda

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsMusic & GigsCounter Culture, Hacienda, Music, Rave, Subculture, The Regent

Do You Own The Dancefloor? – a documentary about the Hacienda auction is due to be screened at The Regent Cinema in Blackpool on October 7th. ‘Do you own the Dancefloor?’ tells what happened when the legendary Manchester nightclub the Haçienda was knocked down and sold off. In November 2000, many of the key elements from the iconic venue ended up as 69 lots at a charity auction before it was demolished to make way for a block of apartments. It resulted in parts of the nightclub - the epicenter of Manchester’s pop culture in the 1980s and 1990s –…

17 Aug

We Love Dancing – Come Join Us. Sam Simpson Dance Activist and Artist.

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsSports & Wellbeing, Theatre, Dance & Performance, Visual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, artist, dance, Music, performance

You may have seen her, you may have met her. Dancing at a bus stop, introducing herself to you with great gusto. For those of you who have not come across Sam Simpson, she is an artist based in Blackpool using dance as a way to inspire, bringing people together in communities and raising aspirations through the power of dance. I caught up with her ahead of this Saturday's, Arts Council Funded free "We Love To Dance" event on The Comedy Carpet. Who are you? I am an artist and a dancer, my business is Sam Simpson Art. Find out more about me…

31 May

The Grand Theatre Breaks Convention

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performance

On Saturday night I headed to the Grand Theatre to enjoy the UK’s biggest touring festival of hip hop dance, Breakin Convention'. As I arrived outside of the theatre there was a hustle of live music, DJ's and the general public breakin' their moves to the "mixed up" sounds of James Brown and Stevie Wonder. The first act of the night was Blackpool crew FY Wingz with a take on The Netflix series "The Get Down". If you missed the series it explores the origins of the culture of Hip Hop and how it is characterised from four to nine distinct elements, of…