The Arts could work like a Farmer’s Market.
This was the inspiration behind the founding of The Paddock in 2004, and it is still our central tenet. Reduce art miles. Work where you live, and live where you work. Less separation between life and art, between painting and food shopping, between colleagues and kids. When I moved to this region twelve years ago, I was astounded by the number of people quietly producing serious, thought-provoking, fantastic art of all kinds: musicians, actors, writers, painters, dancers, sculptors, singers, choreographers, film-makers, directors – the list goes on. So often, though, the majority of that work was being produced up in London, or abroad. Why?
Great artists have to live some place. They live everywhere. And many of them live here. At The Paddock, we want to shift the expectation that art produced locally is by nature provincial, and therefore less good, less exciting, or less professional. We aim to produce projects in which artists create stimulating experiences for and with the people around them. Projects that involve and reflect on the places we inhabit. In 2004, we performed a play in people’s houses. In 2006, we danced in the streets, and performed a children’s theatre piece on top of Mount Caburn. In 2007, we commissioned a new opera about Finnish Prisoners in Lewes, and put it on in a disused warehouse. In 2009, we’re dancing in the streets again.
Since we began four years ago, people of all ages have helped us to create work with lasting effects on the local community. We thank them, and hope to continue offering art that inspires.
Get involved. Visit your Farmer’s Market.
Susannah Waters
Artistic Director
