‘Our communities deserve light, fun and enjoyment’
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Artlink CEO Lindsey Alvis in The Nearness of Elsewhere exhibition
Chewing the Fat – out to lunch with Phil Ascough
This week’s guest: Artlink CEO Lindsey Alvis
After a creative promenade through painting, drawing, photography and more it’s when you get to sewing that the mind turns to the threads running through the history and work of Artlink.
There’s the strand back through the development of Princes Avenue, beyond the opening circa 2002 of Pave, first in an invasion of bars and restaurants which transformed Hull’s social scene.
Artlink’s thread extends even further. The organisation is counting down to its 45th anniversary in 2027 and will no doubt weave in any number of art forms as it celebrates the milestone.
“We are also coming up to 20 years in this building,” said Lindsey Alvis, creative director and CEO as she conducted a quick tour of the space at 87 Princes Avenue.
“It’s an incredible period for Artlink to have been around, with all the change the city has been through. We had a shop in Princes Avenue, it grew organically and the opportunity arose to come here, the old Sunday school for the church next door. It was set up by a group of artists and there’s rarely a day when someone doesn’t say they had a connection with Artlink.”
There’s also the diversity thread: “Disability arts and equity and inclusivity have always been at the heart of it and people come from all kinds of different backgrounds. Some of the groups are paid for but we have subsidised places – if cost is a barrier we can have a conversation about that.”
Prominent during the last 12 months is Lindsey’s personal thread to when, as a little girl, she used to accompany her mum, a youth worker.
“I was often doing things by her side whether it was summer schools, youth centres and clubs – I had spent time in areas across the city.”
Inspiration came from a family friend who used to tell “magical stories” of drama school and stage performances in London, from joining community trips to Hull New Theatre and Hull Truck Theatre, and from Sidmouth School in Hull, where a teacher saw the value of entering the students into choral competitions at Hull City Hall.
Lindsey recalled: “It was the classic thing of a teacher who gave young people opportunities. The chance through community tickets to see performances on the stage and have someone in my life who really loved drama.”
And then she left her home city to build a career in culture, graduating in drama and sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University, securing an internship at The Gate in Notting Hill and landing a job with Headlong, based in London and setting Lindsey to work on theatre productions which toured the UK.
From there Lindsey joined Everyman Playhouse in Liverpool but was tempted back across the country when the chance came to join the UK City of Culture team.
GLOBAL RECOGNITION: Emma Prempeh working on The Nearness of Elsewhere. Picture by Matt Fratson
“I just couldn’t pass that up,” she said.
“The opportunity to come back and be part of the change that I wanted to see in the city. Bring the skills I had learned elsewhere and be back near my friends and family after a long time living away.”
Highlights during the year included Flood, inspired by Hull’s vulnerability to rising water levels, the futuristic 2097: We Made Ourselves Over, and The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca, the play written by Maxine Peake which took over Hull Guildhall to tell the story of the women who fought for fishermen's rights.
Two things are at the forefront of Lindsey’s memories: “It was extraordinary to take over a working civic building, and I absolutely loved working with the volunteers.”
Among them is Janet Adamson, a City of Culture volunteer since 2017 and the longest-serving Artlink trustee when the previous chair retired to leave a vacancy. She said: “The theory was that I would take it on for six months. That was in 2022!”
By then Lindsey was at Middle Child Theatre Company, where she spent five years before a spell at Parents and Carers in Performing Arts (PiPA), which partners with performing arts employers to build inclusive, care-friendly workplaces. Both organisations share the Artlink ethos and fueled Lindsey’s desire to return to making art in communities and working on her doorstep.
‘RIGHT IN THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY’: Lindsey Alvis on the balcony at Artlink
She said: “I came here for the launch of an exhibition and just got an absolute vibe about the place. It was exciting and the art was really good. It was busy and diverse with lots of different people – children, adults, lots of people I had known from the city for a long time.”
Lindsey worked closely with the outgoing CEO, Philip Stevens, with Janet and with the rest of the team. Ongoing projects since her appointment just over a year ago are recruiting new board members and the launch of a major fundraising campaign.
She said: “I wanted to understand where we are at. I’d known of Artlink for a long time and it was about getting to grips with all of that. It was never my intention to come in with a plan. It was about listening, understanding what we wanted to be and what the unique things are that we offer. There’s still so much more to learn. New things every day.”
The current headliner is The Nearness of Elsewhere, a new exhibition by Emma Prempeh, a British artist with Ghanaian and Vincentian heritage, who visited Hull and led workshops and attended community gatherings to incorporate the stories of local people and places. Artcube, a global online and offline community for artists, loved it so much they placed it fourth in a must-see top ten – ahead of Zurich, New York, Miami, Mallorca and two shows in London. You’ve got until Friday, December 19 to go and see it.
At the back of the building you’ll find the studio of MISC Print Co, an artist-led screen print studio, and upstairs is the bright and airy creative space which is a launchpad for home-grown projects.
Lindsey said: “There is something for everyone – world-class exhibitions, networking events, weekly yoga classes, self-led craft activities for children, print workshops, a shop.
ENGAGEMENT: Artlink Gallery Explorers. Picture by Matt Fratson
“Gallery Explorers have been coming in weekly for four years. The parents of the young people who take part will tell you about the transformative nature of the programme and how it has helped them growing up. It’s the calmest, most restorative environment for young people.
“Explorers in Libraries came out of a project where libraries found young people turning up unaccompanied. Photography Explorers was launched in October and is a direct response to young people telling us what they wanted.”
Another project is Creative Connections, working with Sight Support Hull & East Yorkshire and bringing together 20 participants to create their own art, with a waiting list of others eager to join.
In common with seemingly every creative body everywhere, resources are tight. Artlink receives funding from Arts Council England, the National Lottery Community Fund, Hull City Council, the Garfield Weston Foundation, Children in Need, Hull Culture and Leisure Library Service and the James Reckitt Library Trust.
The £87k for 87 fundraiser is self-explanatory and is setting out to generate more cash to subsidise existing work and create new opportunities. We talk about combining a look round Artlink Hull | 87 Gallery with a business supper club in one of the nearby venues, and that’s a conversation we’ll revisit.
Lindsey said: “We would love to explore things like our brand and website but right now we need to be able to keep the lights on as a free-to-access gallery in the heart of the community.
“We really believe that children and young people in this city deserve access to these opportunities because they can change lives. I say that as someone who has grown up here and wanted to spend my life working on these projects. It can change what a young person wants to do with their life and change their skills and confidence.
“Our communities deserve light and fun and enjoyment. We deserve libraries, youth centres and galleries and all these things that give people opportunities. We need places like this, places of hope and healing and places that can be restorative and bring joy to communities.”
Janet expanded on other benefits of opening access to art and culture: “We can address the problems of mental health by other means than pointing people to the NHS. We are really good at assessing our impact on social isolation, mental health and wellbeing and confidence levels.”
The Artlink team adds up to the equivalent of four full-time posts and includes Emily Barton, a gallery assistant apprentice appointed as part of a new scheme developed by Generation Hull.
She blogged: “When you arrive, I will be right there at the front desk to greet you with a warm welcome. Whether you are a seasoned art enthusiast or visiting again or if it is for the first time coming to us, I will be here to help, answer your questions, and to ensure your gallery experience is both enjoyable and memorable.”
For Lindsey, it all adds up to the potential of people and place as she stands on the Artlink Hull | 87 Gallery balcony and remembers part-time holiday work at Jacksons – now Sainsbury’s – next door and shifts at the iconic Birds Eye pea plant.
“It’s about getting the locality right and making sure we are relevant to people’s lives. We are right in the heart of the community here. What I would like is to be seen as part of everyday life.”