Workshops

Focal Point Gallery runs an ongoing programme of workshops for artists, people working in the creative sector, families and the local community in general.

The gallery’s Digital Workroom includes digital cameras and editing software, and is situated on the ground floor of Southend Central Library. This workroom can be booked by registered users. To join the gallery’s list of registered users, please can Fran Wilde or Sharon Byrne on 01702 534108.

‘Projection’ April to July 2010

‘Projection’ is a photographic workshop, which engages young people from local organisations and schools in Southend-on-Sea. Culminating with a public event at Victoria Shopping Centre in Southend-on-Sea, shoppers and passers-by are being asked for their opinions on photographs taken by the project’s participants. Many of the resulting images have been made in the style of an advertising campaign; one of the main aims of ‘Projection’ is to encourage young people to represent themselves ‘as they would like the public to see them.’ Four groups are taking part in the project. These are YMCA’s Switch Art, Full Potential programme (organised by the Royal Association for Deaf people, or RAD), students from Priory School, and teenage mothers from Sanctuary Housing. Each group has approached the project in a different way: members of YMCA's Switch Art have produced close-up black and white portraits, while the Priory School students have used pinhole and digital cameras to look at their own surroundings. Members of Full Potential show

their dynamism, energy and sense of community and the teenage mothers from Sanctuary Housing comment on what it is to be a perfect mother with reference to commercial advertisements from the 1950s.

‘Projection’ is coordinated by Focal Point Gallery Education and funded by Firstlight through Mediabox.

Focal Point Gallery Offsite Projects
Education Programme
October 2010 to November 2012

Focal Point Gallery’s new offsite programme will present a series of temporary exhibitions of contemporary visual art, and connected events in and around central Southend-on-Sea between September 2010 and September 2012. As part of its education programme, Focal Point Gallery will be presenting a series of ‘out of the classroom learning’ schools activities, which will commence in January 2011. These events will include cross-curricular opportunities, and the development of the creative and media diploma.

Focal Point Gallery’s offsite programme will show site-specific projects by artists at a vital point in their careers, who will respond to the rich social history of Southend, as well as the current economic and political issues relevant to local residents and the general public.

Invitation to Schools School teachers are invited to participate in consultation sessions on 5 October and 12 October 2010. The sessions run from 1.30pm to 4.30pm and will combine an offsite

visit with a practical activity. Led by the co-ordinators of the education project, the activity will provide an opportunity for school staff to exchange ideas and identify curriculum areas that will benefit from the project.

Activity Days

1.30pm to 4.30pm, Tuesday 5 October 2010

1.30pm to 4.30pm, Tuesday 12 October 2010

Funded by Arts Council England, Southend Borough Council and Southend Education Trust (SET).