A voice for the arts in
The These 3 Streams Festival in Llantwit Major earlier this year sparked the creation of a new gallery, writes Jenny White...
EARLIER this year, artist and curator Nick Davies was invited to help support the These 3 Streams Festival, which brings together visual arts, literature and music in Llantwit Major. Now she’s running a gallery and arts centre in the centre of the town. It all began when Davies curated several temporary art exhibitions to be held in retail premises in the town from May until the end of June. Her colleague Ginnie Bateman organised an arts trail featuring contributions from the local community, which were displayed in shop windows and cafés in and around the town centre.
In keeping with the community spirit of the festival, Davies also invited pupils from local schools to get involved by contributing prose and imagery.
A central effort was an exhibition at No 6 Church Street featuring paintings, original prints, ceramics, drawings and sculpture from local artists. Davies worked to link up local residents with local, professional practitioners and to showcase the results.
She also organised external workshops with Criw Celf, an organisation for talented young artists to enable 11-16 year old students to take part in visual interpretation of the Llantwit Major Literature Society’s Wild Seas anthology with paper/textile artist Sasha Kingston.
The feedback for all the festival exhibitions and outreach initiative was so positive that Davies decided to continue with the lease of the Church Street location, which has now become the These 3 Streams Gallery/oriel y Tair Crefft.
It’s a fitting project for Davies, who has been immersed in the world of visual art for many years. She started out working in the media industry, then returned to study an MA in arts practice in 2013. Since qualifying in 2015, she has focused largely on developing educational management projects.
Her artistic inspiration comes from natural phenomena and the cycles of nature. She works in sculpture (plaster/steel), low relief wall carvings (plaster), painting and print and she is influenced by coastal walks along the Heritage Coast.
She has exhibited as an individual and in collaboration within arts groups since 2010 and uses this experience to shape her curation of the exhibitions at No 6 Church Street.
She adds that she’s delighted with the support she’s received from local businesses.
“As a newcomer to the Church Street location, I’ve found the camaraderie between the retail businesses on Church Street so supportive, particularly in light of current global times and the struggles that independent retailers are now finding themselves in,” she says.
“For example, when I have arranged a launch, local businesses have opened their doors late into the evening to encourage more visitors to engage with the local events. Coffee from Café Velo has been delivered to my door and Sally at Pretty Vintage Things brought me a pot of hot tea and Jaffa cakes while I was installing the exhibition late into the evening – there’s a very obvious sense of sharing, generosity and hope.”
As the gallery sprang from the These 3 Streams Festival, it aims to extend the festival’s work in connecting visual art, music and literature.
“It’s my aim as curator to keep this thread going, so during the past months the Llantwit Major Creative Writing Circle has been invited to contribute to composing prose to accompany exhibition themes,” says Davies.
Her plans for No 6 Church Street also have a strong focus on community outreach.
“Having been inspired by the aim of the Cardiff Art Collective organisation many years ago, where a group of visionary contemporary artists and curators had the aim of transforming retail spaces in Cardiff city centre into art venues, it’s my aim to continue encouraging engagement with immersive approaches to arts practice,” she says.
“As many of my curations focus on themes relating to contemplation, I want to devote time to the local community, supporting current arts and heath strategies and the promotion of wellbeing.”
The current exhibition at No 6 Church Street, Susurration, is billed as a multi-sensory exhibition featuring works on paper, wood, ceramics, film and prose centred on the human connection with trees.
I’ve found the camaraderie between the retail businesses on Church Street so supportive, particularly in light of current global times and the struggles
The exhibition runs until November 14 and the gallery is open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays from 11am to 4pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4pm. These 3 Streams Gallery/oriel y Tair Crefft is at No 6 Church Street, Llantwit Major, CF51 1SB