MEDWAY 1
12 BELOW: INTRA on Rochester High Street includes a printmaking studio.
Nucleus Arts collaborates with. Named among the top 40 UK institutions in The Guardian’s university league table, it has campuses in Rochester, Canterbury, Epsom and Farnham and offers courses in art, design, graphics, fashion, architecture and media. In Rochester, 1,220 students are enrolled, studying subjects including contemporary jewellery, computer animation arts, design for theatre, film and performance, as well as a number of specialist fashion courses. Across four UCA campuses, 94.5% of 2014-15 leavers were in work or study six months after they graduated.
“We are very fortunate that the council has been very supportive in what we do and helped us find new spaces,” continues Steer. “The council has understood the difference arts can make to an area. The regeneration department helped us, which is brilliant, because that’s where we want creativity to be.” Tullberg adds: “MOSAF is a very successful initiative. We had about 100 visitors a day on the first weekend. “People are amazed by the quality and the variety of work within their community. Every day people walk into Nucleus Arts, and they cannot believe it is here in the
middle of Chatham. It’s an enormous resource for artists.” Another major venue regularly taking part in the festival is Sun Pier House, based in Chatham. Including 20 artists’ studios, a top floor gallery, a tearoom and event space, the venue was established by residents Edward Gransden and Heather Burgess. Its birth is directly connected with MOSAF. In 2012, Burgess was looking for a place to host the artists taking part in the newly established festival, and Grandsen knew of a large space available at Sun Pier – a former HSBC bank, which had been