Make the most of Summer in the Creative Quarter and get involved in the amazing events, exhibitions and workshops happening on your doorstep this August!
Objectables win Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer at the Retas
This July, the UK’s very best greeting card retailers were officially recognised at The Retas awards ceremony, which saw stockists from across the retail spectrum recognised, rewarded and celebrated. The Old High Street's very own Objectables won Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer award! Congrats to Annie and Tim!
Unleashed exhibition
Gallery 66, 66 The Old High Street, CT20 1RW. Wed 7 - Wed 21 Aug.
Artist and Delicious California designer, Ewen Macaulay is bringing his exciting art exhibition back home to Folkestone with a two week exhibition at the lovely Gallery 66 on The Old High Street.
Full of life, colour and energy, Ewen's paintings are often created on large handmade (upcycled) woodened canvases. Mostly a mixture of wildlife and cityscapes, these striking paintings are created in Ewen's unique style and are sure to excite everyone.
Prescient Pool August Residency: Joff Insole
HOP Projects, 73 Tontine Street, CT20 1JR. Exhibition opening: Fri 30 Aug, 5-9pm.
Joff Insole is a British outsider artist now local to Folkestone. His visual perspectives and language feed from that raw reality of the everyday to which we have gradually become desensitised. He composes a unique, elaborate and recognisable alternative world that renders Folkestone’s heritage as symbolic - a contra-cultural force that confronts established cultural hierarchies, and allows us to recognise and value the subtleties and richness of the communities around us.
Moving Image Screening #3: Making Do and Getting By | Richard Wentworth
71 Tontine Street, CT20 1JR. Opening: Fri 30 Aug, 7-9pm.
Artist Richard Wentworth registers chance encounters of oddities and discrepancies in the modern landscape. Known for his photographic series, Making Do and Getting By, Wentworth is inclined to explore the nuances of modern life and the human role therein. Mundane snapshots and fragments of the modern landscape are elevated to an analysis of human resourcefulness and improvisation, whereby amusing oddities that would otherwise go by unnoticed become the subject of intent contemplation. Curated by photographer Mick Williamson, this moving-image screening will be on display for one evening at the HOP Projects studios.
Edgeland Visions and other recent works
BREW, 83 Cheriton Road, CT20 1DG. Private view: Thu 29 Aug | 6-8pm. Exhibition open: Thu 29 Aug - Sun 6 Oct | 9am-4pm.
An exhibition of paintings and prints by Matt James Healy.
13:13 - photographic exhibition documenting trading cultures in Folkestone
Brewery Tap, 53 Tontine Street, CT20 1JR. Private view: Thu 15 Aug | 6-9pm. Exhibition open: Thu 15 - Sun 18 Aug
In 1313 trade first officially began through the port of Folkestone. Starting with 7 ships, trading was initially of wool, as well as luxuries of the time, such as wines and cloth.
Now, after centuries of development in the town, The Old High Street exists as a progressive thoroughfare for trade, made up of a range of goods and services run by dedicated independent and creative people in a regenerating town.
At 13:13 hours present day, what is happening on The Old High Street, and who is doing it?
Bartle Halpin will be showing a work-in-progress photographic exhibition including a select number of locations, supported by an introductory collection of research material. You will see the spaces, the places, the people; the reality and normality of their everyday on The Old High Street.
Calming Crochet workshop
digital:glassworks, Mill Bay, CT20 1JG. Sat 17 Aug | 10.30am-12.30pm | £35
Join Heather in her sunny studio for a morning of Calming Crochet over coffee and cake. Learn the art of crochet and become absorbed in the process using sustainable, recycled and repurposed materials.
You will produce a series of samples, which you can use within your own creative practice, or at home for relaxation. This course will introduce you to the process as well as allowing you to explore a variety of materials and experiment with embellishment, joining and connecting and textured stitches.
Exhibitions at Whelkboy
44 The Old High Street, CT20 1RN
Joanne Penfold
Fri 30 Aug - Thu 5 Sep
Contemporary and abstract impressions of places, feelings, emotions, Joanne Penfole paints intuitively and never second guesses how a painting will end up - seeing painting as an exciting journey. For Joanne, there are no rules and anything is possible!
Miriam Cobrin: Ancient Olives – Through the Oliver Groves of Puglia
Thu 15 - Thu 29 Aug | 11am-4.30pm
A selection of paintings representing Miriam’s response to the amazing olive groves of Puglia, where 2000-year-old trees are confronted by the greatest threat they have ever faced, an untreatable pathogen called Xylella.
Taster sessions & workshops with artist Deborah Crofts
The Stables, 35-37 Tontine Street, CT20 1JT. Thu 1 - Fri 16 Aug | 10am | From £10
Artist, Deborah Crofts, will be running a selection of taster sessions and workshops throughout August, experimenting with paint, charcoal and water-based mono-printing. Check out Deborah's Facebook page to see all the sessions on offer and to book.
Lasting Memories - Beach Poppies drop-in event & exhibition
Gallery 66, 66 The Old High Street, CT20 1RW. Sat 7 Sep| 11am-4pm
Screen South have partnered with East Cliff Creatives on the National Lottery Heritage Fund supported-project, Lasting Memories, for which over 2,500 local volunteers have painted stones for the seven poppies now on Folkestone beach.
See the new film about Lasting Memories and discover more about heritage stories that inspired the project.
Draft & Stitch training sessions
digital:glassworks, Mill Bay, CT20 1JG
Saturday 3 August | 10am-4pm | £60
Make a pattern from one of your favourite garments in a day so that you can make another one. Your original garment remains undamaged. This is repeated every first Saturday of the month.
Friday 30 August | £250 5 day course
Beginners pattern cutting course. Learn the art of cutting a pattern for your own styled garments. 5 day course covering bodices, sleeves, skirts and trousers. £250 for 5 days. Call 01303 764999 for more details.
Rootsy
Touchbase Care, 17-19 Tontine Street, CT20 1JT. Fri 16 Aug | 7-10pm | Tickets £12.50
Join the folks at Touchbase for a Caribbean-themed summer soiree on their decking! Enjoy cocktails, jerk chicken and Jamaican rice (veggie and vegan options on request), with musical accompaniment from local Reggae band Gumboots.
Beano's Café open late for Last Fridays!
43 Tontine Street, CT20 1JT | Fri 30 Aug | open until 9pm
Enjoy yummy vegan food and summer cocktails! Let the weekend beGIN!
New courses from September 2019 at Kent Adult Education Creative!
If you're feeling inspired by the amazing work of the artists and creatives featured in this month's newsletter, then why not learn a new craft with Kent Adult Education?
Perhaps you'd like to add a personal touch to Christmas gifts this year - so learn how to print cards and make jewellery and decorations, including Scandi-inspired wreaths.
Step up to the wheel and give pottery a spin; or try your hand at embroidery or clothes-making. Get familiar with calligraphy; paint with pastels; or wash with watercolours. Try something new and learn about botanical casting, or find out how photos can inspire artwork.
With so much on offer, there's something for everyone to learn and get inspired by with Kent Adult Education.
Events at Custom Folkestone
East Yard, Folkestone Harbour Arm | Throughout August | Booking essential for all events
Custom Folkestone’s events programme is served up alongside a menu of delicious locally sourced and seasonal food.
Thursday 1 August - CO-WORKING HUB
9-10.30am | £5 per ticket, including breakfast | Children welcome to play while you attend
With the aim of reducing isolation for those who work from home, Custom's co-working hub will enable local businesses to increase their networks. This pilot event will help Custom figure our exactly what potential members want and need.
From Saturday 10 August - BRUNCH MEDITATION
9.30-11.30am | £15 per person, including brunch & bottomless tea/coffee
Kick off your weekend with a fortnightly session of guided meditation on the beach, led by Shamanic practitioner Sjoukje Gummels, followed by a luxurious brunch with bottomless tea/coffee.
Sunday 25 August - EAST YARD COMMUNITY MEAL: BRAZIL
5pm | £5 deposit required | Pay What You Feel | Profits go to Kent Refugee Action Network
Looking to Brazil for inspiration, Custom are working with Folkestone-based artist, Rubiane Maia to host this extraordinary feast (which will include pescatarian, vegetarian and vegan food), in collaboration with Dr Legumes and Docker Brewery and Bakehouse.
Put down a £5 deposit on booking, then Pay What You Feel on the day - all profits will go to the Kent Refugee Action Network.
Custom Folkestone is engaged in a programme of events and artistic explorations of the huge diversity this little corner of the world has to offer. Food is an extraordinary way of sharing cultures and ideas, and it can celebrate the hugely positive impacts of migration on our town.
Call out: Public Art Commission for a Scheduled Ancient Monument
Deadline: Fri 6 Sep
Dover Arts Development, on behalf of the Land Trust, are looking to commission an artist to create an artwork for the West Wing Battery at Fort Burgoyne Dover as part of the Pioneering Places: East Kent project.
The artwork should enhance the site for local residents, tourists and new residents of the adjacent planned housing estate. The work should help to deliver interpretation for the site and facilitate long-term community activity.
COMMON: GROUND
Career Development as a Working-Class Artist in Kent | Gulbenkian Theatre Café | Fri 6 Sep | 6-8.30pm | Free - registration required
This COMMON: GROUND event is a supportive discussion which will offer a platform for artists who self-identify as working-class and work in theatre to share the barriers to career development that they face when building a career in theatre in this region.
Click here for more info and to book
