Offsite Projects

Focal Point Gallery is developing a series of offsite projects in and around Southend-on-Sea and the wider Thames Gateway. Temporary interventions, exhibitions and installations by artists are planned with a series of partners to provide a programme of events and linked educational opportunities for the local community.

The purpose of these projects is to generate a positive public outlook towards contemporary art and the environment within the town, and a feeling of optimism towards the planned changes and the regeneration process in the Thames Gateway. These projects will respond critically to this context, and allow for vibrant change, as well as an increased audience for culture and contemporary art in the area.

Warrior Square Gardens 2009 / 2010

Focal Point Gallery in partnership with Renaissance Southend, Southend-on-Sea’s regeneration agency, is recruiting a high profile contemporary artist to respond to Warrior Square Gardens – a late Victorian square that is due for redevelopment and situated in the centre of Southend – with a vibrant site-specific project that

will take place during its planned overhaul in 2010.

Short-listed artists have now submitted proposals that respond to the square, and which interact directly with the general public and the local community. Artists have taken the lead with ideas during this initial research period, which connect to the architecture of Warrior Square Gardens, both in terms of its history, its present incarnation, and plans for what it might become in the future. Other concerns have included research into the current social, political and economic reality of the area, and the wider context of Southend and The Thames Gateway.

At this stage we are aiming to commission up to two projects, rather than a single ‘stand alone’ project. What has become clear is that a narrative involving multiple readings of Warrior Square Gardens – those which connect to each other and the wider history of the area through more than one artist’s work – would be more beneficial than a single artistic approach; this would have a continued creative and cultural presence in and around the square before, during and

after it has been redeveloped. 
We also imagine that it is possible to create an additional exhibition during 2010, which will include proposals and material from all of the short-listed artists, the theme of which will be artists’ responses to Warrior Square Gardens and Southend-on-Sea. This will help utilise existing material and make sure that any creative input doesn’t go to waste.

Once confirmed, Focal Point Gallery will work together with its chosen artist/s to realise their proposal/s to the strongest degree possible. The project will involve the use of multiple partners so as to make use of the skills in the area, and to include as many participants as possible. This will also create a wide working community that will benefit from the experience. Hopefully, the mixture of professional organisations and volunteer local artists will create a energetic social mixture and help promote and extend the local creative culture.

More information on the chosen artists for Warrior Square Gardens, as well as other offsite projects organised by Focal Point Gallery, will appear

here shortly.