The Changing Face Exhibition opens today!

April 4, 2015April 4, 2015 | Quentin Budworth

The Changing Face of Hull Exhibition opens today and runs until April 30th 2015 in The Space upstairs at the Central Library, Albion Street, Hull. This stunning exhibition of portraits of people living and working in Hull and explores ideas of self, city and shared identity. Click on the photo to access the unique video artwork which accompanies the exhibition The project has been led by Quentin Budworth with second photographer Rebecca Robyns and has been funded by Hull City Council and the Arts Council’s Grants For The Arts.

To celebrate the opening of the exhibition here is the link to the video art piece by Quentin Budworth from The Changing Face Of Hull.

Dave Windass – Writer

March 22, 2015March 23, 2015 | Quentin Budworth

I met with Dave in the main auditorium of Hull Truck. Here he speaks in his own words about life in Hull…

I was born in Hull. There are three council houses next to Albert Ave swimming baths. I came bawling into the world in the middle one, number 90. Growing up involved a lot of time in the outdoor pool next-door-but-one and swimming lessons with Jack Hale, the Olympic swimmer who revolutionised the butterfly stroke.

Our house was a creative one. My dad was a signwriter, responsible for all those fluorescent posters that used to fill the windows of Jacksons supermarkets. When he wasn’t working he was painting. He painted our bedroom walls with caricatures; our favourite cartoon characters, sporting heroes, whatever we wanted. The house was full of books. My sister was always wearing holes in the carpets with her dancing.

I write for a living now but I went the long way round to get here. I worked for ten years in the construction industry and filling notebooks with words, writing short stories, sketches and plays wasn’t anything that I could tell the lads at work about. The full story is too tedious to share but I ended up working as an arts journalist for all kinds of publications, including The Stage, Big Issue in the North and Emap. Then I started discovering outlets for my creative work and got more involved than is healthy in writing for the theatre. I’ve done some stuff with Hull Truck, including Sully back in 2006.

Hull is an exciting place to be able to do this. We’ve got a blank canvas, in essence, and there’s a chance that we could invent the future of theatre right here in this city. For me, that would be theatre a million miles away from the stuffy confines of traditional spaces, diverse work that appeals to people that might not, otherwise, go anywhere near theatre.

The Changing Face Exhibition preview event is happening on April the 2nd you can book tickets for it by following this link:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-changing-face-of-hull-preview-tickets-16160036103?aff=efbevent

Photo © Quentin Budworth

Rick Welton

March 15, 2015March 18, 2015 | Quentin Budworth

I grew up in Hull. My dad was a fruit importer with a warehouse in Humber Street where I spent many Saturday mornings and holidays barrowing boxes of apples and oranges about. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the arts scene since I came back here after university as administrator of Hull Arts Centre in 1969. The first play when the arts centre opened in a converted church hall in Spring Street was Alan Plater’s ‘Don’t Build a Bridge, Drain the River’ with music by The Watersons and Michael Chapman. Hull actor Barrie Rutter was in the company then so it was great to meet him again last week in the foyer of Hull Truck after his performance of King Lear. The changes that are coming to the Fruit Market and to the city are momentous and so exciting. I love the new can-do spirit that’s around. It’s the spirit that made Amy Johnson, Hull’s aviator heroine, such an amazing pioneering woman. Hull’s taking flight and flying high just as she did!

The Changing Face Exhibition preview event is happening on April the 2nd you can book tickets for it by following this link:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-changing-face-of-hull-preview-tickets-16160036103?aff=efbevent

Photo © Quentin Budworth

Steve Elliott

December 23, 2014March 18, 2015 | Quentin Budworth

Hull is a good city to live and work in. People in the art scene are working hard to generate an improved perception of the city, its history and people.

I settled here five years ago after getting regular work with Creative Partnerships, a scheme which engaged artists to collaborate in schools to inspire teachers to be creative in their lessons.

The scheme has finished now but my freelance work is the same. I still try to create opportunities for learning and the development of creative skills.

I make processional sculpture, Little Giants, mostly to make people smile.

In 2014 I have collaborated with Dom Heffer, Amanda Lowe, Carol Walker, Anita Anita, Creative & Cultural Company, Judy’s Attic and Kingston Artgroup.

Steve is pictured here working on a giant Jack Frost a joint commission with Amanda Lowe and the Creative and Cultural Company – you can see the finished processional sculpture at Princes Quay until the end of January 2015.

http://www.stevelliott.co.uk

The Changing Face Exhibition preview event is happening on April the 2nd you can book tickets for it by following this link:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-changing-face-of-hull-preview-tickets-16160036103?aff=efbevent

Photo © Quentin Budworth

Graham Beck – artist, musician and performer

December 11, 2014December 11, 2014 | Quentin Budworth

Graham Beck – In his own words…
I first came to Hull as an art student, back in 1973, not knowing what Hull was like – my tutor had seen a programme on The Land Of Green Ginger, & said it looked a nice place. Reality seemed a bit different at first! Still, I got to like the place, formed an art college band (Ruby & The Takeaways) with Eric Goulden, who later became Wreckless Eric. We played upstairs at The Bull on Beverley Road, every Thursday night, from 1975-76. They were great times, & I even managed to get my degree in Fine Art! I went up to Newcastle University (teaching qualification), & then lived in London for 12 years, as a (struggling) musician & ‘entrepreneur’.

I arrived back in Hull in 1988, & have been here ever since. It’s definitely changing for the better (there have certainly been some huge changes since I was a student). It has a uniqueness which is hard to define when you live here, but the people are what make it. Sure, there are parts of Hull that need ‘looking at’ & revamping – we must be careful that it doesn’t lose it’s character because of all the redevelopment. Things have to move on, though.
These are difficult times, where budgets are tight & wages even tighter. Let’s hope that 2017 City Of Culture turns out to be all that’s promised, & that there IS a lasting legacy for the city. In the meantime, I’ll carry on being a musician………

Graham has two gigs coming up before the end of the year they are at Sewerby Hall Dec. 21st. & Adelphi Dec. 30th.

Here is Graham’s contact sheet he was absolutely marvellous to photograph and I’m looking forwards to photographing him again in the near future.