Columns & Opinion

This month has seen the start of a new term.  Pencils sharpened and new bags purchased in excitement and anticipation for the start of a new academic year. But this year there is a tinge of sadness in the air in Blackpool for some of the creative community, as Park Road campus of Blackpool and The Fylde College is no more a school of art. A once thriving creative hub of activity, it's a place where I had the pleasure of undertaking art courses twice in the last few decades, a place with a reputation for producing many talented creatives…

The search is on for artists to fill a new studios complex in the heart of Blackpool town centre. Abingdon Studios is a creative initiative from LeftCoast and Blackpool Council, which aims to provide new and affordable studio space. Situated above Abingdon Street Market, the space will be artist run and will encourage them to collaborate with each other and develop new work. The studios will initially host six artists - and an open space on the upper floor will be developed for exhibitions and provide opportunities for artists to share their work with the surrounding communities. The spaces are priced…

Even before my recent trips to some of Europe's most splendid cities, I have often thought about Tourist Art and whether it have a place in Blackpool. I view Tourist Art as any form of creativity, which is made in any medium, purely for a tourist market. You know when you go to London, for example, you will find a street seller offering you the chance to by his watercolours of Big Ben, or by that sunny beach you can sit for an artist so they can create an unflattering caricature portrait of your good self, or in the hustle…

Blackpool has long been a town full of rich wonderment that inspires others. I have often wondered what it would be like to be a visitor to the town for the first time; what would I make of the vibrant, often bizarre sights that I see before me? I've also wondered what it would be like to take an alternative look at our dear town. How far could our imagination run in the opposite direction, and what would the end result look like? Well, this summer I was fortunate to see two art shows that answered both of the thoughts…

As a writer I like space. Not just an area to write, but an area to feel inspired. Some of these areas are easy to understand, full of details and grand gestures while others require a little more imagination to get the most out of them. Here I have listed my five favourite spaces that get the neurons firing in my grey matter, conjuring up images that, for me, translate into words.  So, pop pickers, here’s this week’s rundown on the hottest imaginariums on the Fylde Coast. 5. The Comedy Carpet I know a lot of you would think that…

Art Everywhere, which launched in the UK last summer, is a joint venture between a host of bodies including the Tate. This year’s event is promising to be bigger and better than ever. Art Everywhere is a project that sees billboards the length and breath of the land used to display large reproductions of some of Britain’s greatest artworks from the nation's vast collection.  The project is designed to create mass interest from the general public.  Art Everywhere uses a hashtag (doesn't everything these days? I find life is littered with hashtags) which is intended to generate and keep the…

If you turn on the news these days it's a depressing watch.  If it is not children being murdered in the Middle East, then it’s the country waiting to be fracked to death amongst other things. One thing that is startling with all the appalling issues going on is a lack of response from the arts. Once upon a time we would have seen new performances, contemporary art, and music highlighting the plight of the weak and vulnerable. But recently there has been a deathly silence from the art world, especially on a local level. Bar a couple of poets…