Business Bites – Chichester is a cultural capital, it’s time more people knew
I was lucky enough to attend the launch of the Goodwood Art Foundation last week. It was a fabulous event and showcased the best of what Chichester has to offer. As you might expect, it is it set in beautiful grounds which have been carefully planted. There are thought provoking art installations nestled under trees and down avenues, a number of which are brightly coloured so not easily missed. Others blend in more. The Magnolia flowers on the ground were a personal favourite. The carefully curated sculptural pieces found outside aren’t the only artworks.
There is also a gallery on site, which has a selection of works, both photography and sculptural by Rachel Whiteread. Perhaps most insightful was that all the photographs in the exhibition were taken on an iPhone camera. A medium accessible to many, surely this is something to inspire the most amateur of creatives.
The highlight of the place for me however was the elegantly designed café building. With a deck that juts into the trees, I’m sure this will be the perfect place for a coffee or lunch. The walls here too are lined with art. It reminded me a little of the Audain gallery in Whistler, Canada. The architecture itself is a piece of art and it is clear that no expense has been spared to provide visitors with a fully immersive and transformational experience. Sat on that deck you do feel like you are in the heart of a woodland.
At the event the Duke of Richmond highlighted the long tradition of arts patronage by Goodwood. Canaletto and Stubbs are two noteworthy painters that were beneficiaries. Many private donors were instrumental in getting the Goodwood Art Foundation off the ground.
Supporting creative spaces and the artists that enable them is a topic close to my heart. As I have mentioned before, Oxmarket Contemporary, of which I am a Trustee and Director, is such a space located in the heart of Chichester.
Not many know that Oxmarket is a charity and the only established place in Chichester where new and aspiring artists can get their work shown, professionally curated and in front of a database of thousands to start or progress their careers. Artists and artistic communities can only thrive if there is a commercial market for the work.
But all this is reliant on community support. While Oxmarket doesn’t have the big donors and commercial sponsors (yet) that others have, it is a special place in the heart of the community. Volunteers play a crucial role in enabling the gallery to operate and donations are always welcome. It is free to enter, and the two galleries have new exhibitions every fortnight.
Chichester has huge cultural capital. In my opinion it deserves to be recognised as much as Hay on Wye for this. It is certainly a step closer to being recognised as an artistic destination. With our inspirational Downs and coastline, and local champions of the arts like Goodwood, Pallant House and Oxmarket, who’s to say that we can’t be?