The History of Quay Arts

 

1974

Inspired by painter Anne Lewington and graphic designer Nigel Lewington, a group of artists living and working on the Island began their search for a suitable building to house an arts centre. Their aim was to provide a place to show their own and other Island artists' work and to bring to the Isle of Wight some of the best of what was available nationally and further afield.
They identified a group of disused brewery warehouses on the Quayside at Newport Harbour as a potential site.

1976

A steering committee was formed and its first meeting took place at Calvert’s Hotel in Quay Street, Newport. Present were the Lewingtons, Lady Christine West, Brian Cater, Michael Harris, Frances Hutchinson, Bob Spedding and Tony Holmes.
In that same year the warehouses were sold by Whitbreads (formerly Mew Langton) to W Hurst who retained part of the land but immediately sold on the buildings (including 15a, b and c Sea Street) to the Isle of Wight Council for £14,000.

1978

The ground floor of the building was shoulder deep in rubbish including an enormous quantity of old gaming machines. Members and friends rallied to help, assisted by six workers from the Manpower Services Commission. Fundraising events organised by Sir Michael West and others raised £6,000 and with a further £7,500 grant from the Department of the Environment, the roof was replaced. The company and charity Isle of Wight Visual Arts Centre Ltd was formed to manage and operate the Quay Arts Centre.

1980

The first revenue support grant was agreed by the Isle of Wight County Council and Medina Borough Council. John Williams, chairman of the County Council's Leisure and Amenities Committee, took over the chair of the Quay.

1981

By now a total of £88,655 had been received and allocated to the project. Medina Borough Council and the Arts Council of England contributed to the funding as had many private individuals and companies.

1982

The Quay Arts Centre was officially named by Sir Hugh Casson. Basil Green bequeathed his art collection to the centre.

1987

 A formal lease was agreed with the County Council for a period of 28 years. It gave full responsibility for repairs and renewals to the Arts Centre. A three year revenue funding agreement was established which would start at £12,000 and reduce to £4,500 pa.

The Quay appointed its first full-time paid director, a general administrator and a part-time exhibitions organiser. Periodic flooding was causing problems for the use of the ground floor, but a pottery, print workshop and small café attempted to struggle on.

1989

The inevitable effects of a diminishing funding package threw the Quay into a new crisis. Flooding on the ground floor was making life impossible. The Quay was forced to carry on without a director for several months until the appointment of Kevin West was made. Sale of Basil Green bequest.

1990

Serious flooding again affected the whole ground floor. A year of political and economic stalemate ended in a plan to sell half of the Centre in order to secure the remainder. This was voted down by the membership. A period of intense negotiation and change followed, during which the Quay returned, temporarily, to being dependent on volunteers and friends for its survival.

1991

A one year funding agreement was reached. Anne Toms was appointed as the new Arts Centre Director and part-time administrator appointed to work with a team of volunteers to put on a programme and tackle the longer term problems. Anne Toms went on to lead the SRFA in its successful redevelopment bid to the National Lottery in1996 and until the completed conversion and reopening in 1998.

1992

Southern Arts and the Isle of Wight County Council jointly funded a business plan for the Quay and a County Arts Plan for the Island. The Quay Café was re-sited, new public toilets and offices constructed and a reception/shop opened on the ground floor. Medina and South Wight Borough Councils increased their revenue funding contribution.

1993

A flood wall was constructed and underpinning of the building, where erosion by Lukely Brook had taken its toll, was completed by the Isle of Wight County Council with help from the Rural Development Commission.
A new staff structure was implemented with two arts staff, receptionist and finance officer. The Café arrangements were formalised with a manager and staff.

1994

Temporary revenue funding agreements were confirmed in the base budget of the County Council. A new lease was agreed giving responsibility back to the County Council for external maintenance.
On 16th July 1994 the Isle of Wight Visual Arts Centre Ltd (the educational charity that had operated the Quay since its foundation) changed its name to the Steve Ross Foundation for the Arts in honour of the Isle of Wight's respected MP and key supporter of the Centre. The SRFA was launched with a restyled, smaller management body and a broader remit, to take the arts out into the community.

1994-5

As details of the new National Lottery awards were announced by Government, the funding was arranged for a feasibility study to look into the further development of the Quay buildings and the restoration of the adjacent Rope Store warehouse for arts use.

1996-7 Building Redevelopment

The two 18th Century brewery warehouses, originally owned by Mew Langtons, and the home of the Quay Arts Centre since its foundation by a group of local artists and enthusiasts in 1974 were the subject of a bid by the SRFA to the Arts Council of England's National Lottery Board for the refurbishing, extending and upgrading of the Centre by the architect Tony Fretton during 1996-1997.

After over a year of consultation and the detailed drafting and refining of the application to the National Lottery Board at the Arts Council of England, Quay Arts heard the success of their bid in December 1995. They threw a party in January 1996 and were handed a ceremonial cheque for £1,100,500. A supplementary award of £295,000 was granted for additional building works later that year.

To secure the National Lottery award a complicated matching funding package, representing 25% of the costs of the project, was put into place by the Quay which included cash grants and assistance in kind from the IW Council, Southern Arts, the IW Regeneration Partnership, Foundation for Sports and the Arts, the Rural Development Commission, Solent Protection Society, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), the ADAPT Trust and Friends of the Quay.

Building work finally started in November 1996. Quay staff and the Management Board decided to keep the Centre open in one form or another all through the building works. The old Long Gallery at the front of the centre was sealed off from the rest of the building and became a temporary café, gallery and performance area and staff relocated to improvised office spaces behind Reception. An interim arts programme of small scale exhibitions and weekly performance events took place during the building works.

Meanwhile, the rest of the building was cleared out and Island builders, Stoneham Construction, worked with the architect Tony Fretton to realise the ambitious plans for Quay Arts - creating contemporary, flexible arts spaces within the listed warehouses as well as improving access, the quality of the building and the potential for activity within it. The redevelopment was extensive and included removing the roof from the main building to create the theatre and raising the entire ground floor level to prevent future flooding. The top two floors and roof of the Rope Store warehouse were removed and the whole building underpinned.

The new facilities include the 165 square metre Michael West Gallery, the Anthony Minghella Theatre seating 134 with a sprung Maple dance floor and retractable seating, and enlarged and upgraded Café-Bar with waterfront decked terrace, seminar room, workshops, a crafts selling space, Reception and box office.