Author Archives: Jess Egan

Kahaani Film Launch

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Celebrating the launch of the Kahaani film with Create Studios

Saturday 15 November / 2-4pm / Yeovil Art Space

We are delighted to share a new event in November here at Yeovil Art Space to celebrate the launch of this special film made in a project by Create Studios

The film celebrates around 50 stories from first and second generation South Asian stories of people living in Somerset, Dorset, Swindon and Wiltshire. The stories, whether of challenge, joy, isolation or community are part of the living history of this region.

This is a free event, there will be a film screening, a chance to find out more about this beautiful project and connect with others, as well as refreshments available. Come along! Please book your place on the link below.

Book for the launch event

One Monday in June we hosted the filming at Yeovil Art Space and saw the team capture these wonderful ‘untold’ stories. The project aims to capture on camera around 50 first and second generation South Asian stories of people living in Somerset, Dorset, Swindon and Wiltshire

The stories, whether of challenge, joy, isolation or community are part of the living history of this region. Create Studios put a call out to hear about the journeys, first impressions and hopes and how you build a life in a new place.

These stories will become part of a digital archive, inspire short films and be used in schools to help challenge stereotypes and promote understanding.

The Kahaani Project – meaning story – is being delivered by Create Studios based in Swindon, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Click here to find out more about the project

Book for the launch event

OUR TOWN

October 2024 – March 2026 ‘OUR TOWN’ is a partnership project between Yeovil Town Council, Yeovil Refresh, Connect Somerset, Love Yeovil, Yeovil College and a number of community organisations and groups.  It will offer a programme of art and cultural events running…

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Yeovil Art Weekender 2026 – Open Call

Yeovil Art Weekender is brand new arts and culture festival for Yeovil, taking place right here in our town centre! Friday 27 – Sunday 29 March 2026, Produced by Yeovil Art Space we have put the festival together with our member artists,…

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Denim Reworking Workshop for ages 14-17

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Book your young creatives onto this fantastic short course during the October Half Term.

Led by artist and designer Lupe Velazquez the group will look at the process of design, from initial plans and ideas to the assembly of the final product. Using denim clothing as the foundation and adding your own style to create a unique fashion piece!

Sessions will include making a silkscreen patch for your product, leather work and the tools used, along with ways of embellishing your product, embroidery and the final assembly!

  • Monday 27 – Thursday 30 October
  • 1 – 3pm
  • £100 / 4 Sessions
  • Venue Yeovil Art Space Unit 13-15, Quedam Centre, BA20 1EU
  • For young creatives aged 14-17

Register your interest here!

Glovers Walk: Yeovil Art Space and Love Yeovil appoint independent Town Centre Board

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Press Statement November 2024

Yeovil Art Space and Love Yeovil have been commissioned to organise a community led consultation for the future of Glovers Walk. This intends to help develop a range of uses on the site and presents an opportunity to trial ideas that will support the town centre and the wider Yeovil community. Following the transformation of Glovers Walk into a green space, the potential uses are open ended and provide very exciting prospects for Yeovil. 

As part of the consultation, Yeovil Art Space and Love Yeovil are pleased to announce the appointment of an independent Town Centre Board who will bring perspective and accountability to the project, ensuring Yeovil’s communities and voices are at the heart of the consultation. The Town Centre Board is composed of skilled and experienced individuals who are passionate about making positive changes to the town. The Board includes: Amanda Card, Ceri Stephens, Mark Bolton, Adam Dyer, Stephen Fox, Ian Timms, Gareth Witt, Jasmine Strak, Natasha Rand, Zoe Li, and Natalia Lewis. 

Ian Timms, Yeovil Refresh Project Manager, explains,

“The fund is provided on specified projects and is linked to specific outcomes. This means that we are committed by the grant agreement to deliver the demolition. All of the funding associated with the Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) must have been committed and leave the council’s account by 31st March 2025. All contracts or grant agreements related to the fund had to be in place, signed and sealed by 30th September 2024. The business case associated with the grant means that we are committed to delivery of a meantime space. 

In any development on larger sites the creation of a viable and deliverable plan takes time. We estimate that a new development on the site would take 3-5 years to realise based on other major development sites. The meantime uses will be important to enable positive uses on the site but will also inform the creation of the longer term development plan. The meantime uses are likely to be in place for a minimum of 1-3 years.”

Future High Street Funding has been allocated on the condition that the Glovers Walk demolition is to revitalise the area. The 1.5-acre disused shopping complex at the Yeovil town centre will be flattened in 2025 and an open green space will be created to test a breadth of ideas and potential meanwhile use for the area. 

To gather the input and ideas of Yeovil’s community, residents and business owners, Yeovil Art Space and Love Yeovil have launched a short survey, which is live until Saturday 30th November at 5pm. The survey asks the community what they would like to see for the future of Glovers Walk following its transformation into an open green space. This will inform both the meanwhile use and longer term plans for the area. 

Alongside the survey, there will be a series of workshops to capture the public’s thoughts and ideas at Yeovil Art Space on Friday 8th November, Wednesday 13th November, and Saturday 30th November. To sign up, please indicate in the survey via the link yeovilartspace.uk/gloverswalk or click the button below

Click to fill in our survey for Glovers Walk

About Town – Your Way

Part of Story of Yeovil Exhibitions and Events Exhibition: 6 July – 31 August Opening Time: Wed – Fri 12-4, Sat 11-4 (Other times by appointment, group visits are welcome)Yeovil Art Space Gallery, Unit 13-15, Vicarage Street, Quedam Centre, Yeovil  For the final…

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Town Centre Art supports Wellbeing this Winter

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Yeovil Art Space is delighted to have been commissioned by the Quedam Shopping Centre to create an installation in the archway that connects the Quedam and Middle Street.

Walking the pathway in the town centre you can expect to see yarn bombing style colourful threads, mushrooms, tree branches and baubles, created by using recycled and eco-friendly materials.   It involved more than 30 Yeovil Creatives (Yeovil Art Space member artists) and 12 children aged 7-11 from our Saturday Art Club.

Artwork in the installation has been created by a collaboration between the artists Lupe Velazquez and Grażyna Wikierska, who created the large paintings and brought the installation together.  

The main focus of the installation is to bring colour and imagination to Yeovil’s public, creating something that makes people feel positive about themselves and the town. Not only brightening up the area for shoppers and visitors, we hope the artwork gives an uplifting impact to everyone during the darkest and coldest months of the year.

Artist Grażyna Wikierska tells us something about the ideas behind the designs in the work.  

“It was a great pleasure to work on this project. Yeovil needs more street art to brighten and cheer up the mood. I think it really has some impact when people see beauty around them. 

Nature plays a big role in the paintings. Mushrooms symbolise entangled life, calm reinforcement. Their seasonal ability to grow fast from the underground network is very promising and inspiring.  It symbolises rebirth, new beginnings, good luck, transformation, prosperity and enlightenment.

The circles in my painting represent spores, spores symbolise the spreading of love, kindness, conscious living to respect all life because all of us come from one source.” 

‘Together’ at Yeovil Art Space

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25 November – 23 December, 2023

Come and enjoy the ‘Starter’ for Taste of Yeovil at Yeovil Art Space and celebrate our creative community.

Join festive celebrations across both Yeovil Art Space venues in the Quedam this year, get creative and find out more about ‘Taste of Yeovil’.

We would like to invite you to come and pause with us in the gallery at this busy time of year and share your stories. Share with us your favourite recipe for Christmas, perhaps a memorable moment at the Christmas meal table, or stories related to food. We have hot drinks available and a heart warming exhibition to explore.

‘Together’ is an exhibition with a selection of special festive themed objects from Yeovil’s community heritage, including Christmas decorations, photographs, greeting cards and stories to tell around some memorable items in the collection including a special Christmas Pudding recipe and traditional Pudding Pot,

The recipe can be seen in our display, written on the back of a envelope which holds a letter dated November 1943 and is addressed to ‘Miss M.G. Sterry, Wiltown Cottage, Curry Rivel, Taunton, Somerset’.  

In the images above you can also see we have been inspired by a fantastic past Christmas display in Yeovil’s Plummer Roddis Ltd (Image courtesy of South Somerset Heritage Collection), the team have done so well putting together and arranging this giant Christmas cracker above our welcome desk!

The exhibition also includes some wintery favourites from the ‘View of Yeovil’ exhibition earlier this year, a giant paper chain made by the YAS Team and a very special pair of quilts made by the ‘Somerset Scrubs’ during the Covid pandemic and have been kindly loaned to us Yeovil resident Becky Smith (please see image gallery below)

The exhibition is part of the Story of Yeovil public programme, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, delivered by Yeovil Art Space on behalf of Yeovil Heritage and Art Working Group.

‘Share Your Love and Show You Care’

‘Light Hearted’ is now with us in the gallery! Also featured at Yeovil’s Christmas Lights Switch On event and the Sound of Yeovil Silent disco, this stunning LED heart now sits in Yeovil Art Space for the lead up to Christmas and is providing a bright and beautiful centrepiece for our festive exhibition. When you stand in front of it and hold hands the heart lights up! Come in to the gallery and have a go!

This striking and symbolic piece was created by digital media artist Gavin Morris, founder of The Digital Funfair, and has been staged across the UK, including Boomtown Festival and recently at the Arts By the Sea Festival in Bournemouth. 

‘Light Hearted’ at Yeovil’s Christmas Lights Switch On Event.

‘Christmas Creatives’

Alongside our main YAS Gallery the Yeovil Creatives have opened up the members space in the Quedam Shopping centre for some special opening dates this December!

Visit their new Art Exhibition ‘Christmas Creations’, with festive vibes, unique artworks on display and of course great gifts for sale. Take your photo in the ‘Instagrammable’ display, add your Christmas wishes to the tree and join any Christmassy creative activities!

Further open days in December are:

Sat 2 10-4
Thu 7 6-8pm
Sat 9 10-4
Sat 16 10-4
Sun 17 10-1

Our Festive Message is to Celebrate Community, Share Stories and Make Yeovil Creative!   Check out our Instagram and Facebook pages for updates @yeovilartspace