Hello, hello, and welcome to the January 2021 Wycombe Arts Centre wrapup! Is it too late for us to wish you a happy new year?
For fairly obvious reasons, it’s been a bit of a quiet one, but we still have plenty to talk to you about and so read on to find out all about it!
What we’ve been up to
It’s been a strange month for us because we felt a bit like we’d had the rug pulled from under our feet due to the new national lockdown. The difference is that this time, we have the hope of the vaccines to keep us going and the knowledge that this time at least, when we get up and running again, we hopefully won’t have to face any more waves of cancellations.
But we haven’t just been sitting around and twiddling our thumbs. Ongoing upgrade work has continued throughout both the café space and the theatre space, and our cleaner Laurie has been able to use the time to focus more on maintenance and deep cleaning than on her regular duties.
We’ve also been able to dedicate some time to investing in our staff, carrying out inclusivity training with Zoe Partington and Signdance Collective. We want to foster an environment in which everyone feels included, and we’ve already taken some steps towards acheiving this. These inclusivity training workshops are designed to keep us thinking and to provide us with a solid base to build upon as we continue to improve in the future.
We’re also very excited to be launching our first ever online events, which will allow us to continue to serve the local community even when face-to-face meetings aren’t possible. Our upcoming online events include:
- Writers Workshop on Saturday 30th Jan 2021: This two hour event features published local authors Stevyn Colgan, Paul Waters and Dane Cobain (me!). We’ll be providing an introduction to the business of writing along with all of the tips and pointers you need to start out on the path to becoming a professional writer.
- Roundabout Creative Theatre on Wednesday 3rd Feb 2021: Roundabout Creative Theatre is coming to Wycombe Arts Centre, starting with Zoom meetings. Email Soobie and Alison on roundabout@wycombeartscentre.com to register your attendance!
- Creative Sign Workshop on Saturday 20th Feb 2021: Join Isolta Avila and Peter Osita of our company-in-residence Signdance Collective for a one-off creative sign workshop! Find out more and register your attendance on Facebook.
Coming soon
We’ve got a whole bunch of events in the pipeline at the moment, although a lot of them are on hold until we can finalise a date for them once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Just a few of the ones to look forward to include:
- #BreakingBarriers4 is coming to Wycombe Arts Centre! Organised in partnership with Wycombe Youth Action, Chiltern Rangers, Flux Photographic, Decreate and more, the Breaking Barriers events are designed to provide free creative workshops for young people in and around High Wycombe.
- We’re hoping to relaunch our monthly open mic nights and Sunday jams using our Church Space to enable social distancing.
- Tankus the Henge frontman Jaz Delorean, who was due to return to Wycombe Arts Centre for two solo performances, has been rescheduled for January 2021.
- We’re looking forward to launching Films @ Wycombe Arts Centre with our new projector and screen, so be sure to join the Films @ Wycombe Arts Centre Facebook group for updates and more info!
- We hope to be able to host weekly Humming Bee Yoga sessions as soon as possible.
- Juliet of The Tired Dressmaker was gearing up for her free Bucks Sewing Bee taster session on Saturday November 21st. This has been postponed for now and will hopefully return in March 2021.
- The same goes for the screenprinting workshops by artists Kalkalata and Ruth October, which were due to take place on the evening of Friday 27th November. Keep your eyes peeled for updates and announcements!
- We announced the launch of Dwelling, an experimental performance that combines dance/theatre, film, and live vocal-looping to explore innovative ways of telling stories. It’s a small-scale intimate performance that invites the audience to dwell on what are often considered taboos that are associated with death/mourning. Due to take place on February 13th, you can click here to find out more and to learn about tickets.
Get involved
We’re always looking for people who are interested in volunteering or helping out, whether you’re interested in hosting events or whether you’re just looking to get more involved in the local artistic community.
Please do get in touch if you have anything to share! In the meantime, you can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for further updates. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
