Just over 6 months ago, the old Up Holland Library venue was lying unused, unloved and forgotten; with so much untapped potential waiting to be unearthed. Fast forward to March 2020, and the all new Up Holland Artz Centre and Library Café facility sees upwards of 300 visitors each week; accessing the Library service, Café facility and regular creative classes for young people and adults, alike.
The cherry on the cake, however, came just this weekend, when the Up Holland Artz Centre hosted its very first performance event for the community, two evenings of musical performances to sell-out audiences. The event, entitled “The Stage & Screen Solo” saw 42 local youngsters take to the stage to perform hit songs from a repertoire of films and musicals, with many of these 42 young people having little-to-no prior involvement with music, singing and the performing arts before the Artz Centre launched its weekly Musical Theatre classes last October.
The event brought together members of the wider community, too, with volunteers from the local “Knit and Natter” group (who meet each week at the new Artz Centre), offering their time to run the bar and café for the evening. The “Stage & Screen Solo” invited over 160 individual audience members to the Artz Centre across the two evenings of performance, and this is testament to how the Artz Team effectively benefit local neighbourhoods, by bringing people together to experience high quality art, culture and entertainment.
After the event, Company Director Mark Ashton commented: “What an event, and what a transformation. And it is not just an old Library building that has been renovated and restored these past few months, it very much feels like the culture and community ethos here in Up Holland has been revitalised, too. I am very proud of everyone involved in this project and supporting our work, from my Staff Team, to the new Artz students, to the wider community of Up Holland”.
For more information about what is on offer at the all new Upholland Artz Centre, Library and Cafe, email us at info@artzcentre.co.uk or call us on 01695 622 368
