Watch this space - new places offering

Laurent Delaye at Vinyl Head Gallery

WATCH THIS SPACE

Viv Yankah’s ‘Buoyed’ exhibition at 28 Addington Street

Walking along Addington Street it is clear to see Ramsgate’s original high street is enjoying a revival. In between the enforced silences of lockdowns, the street has been buzzing. One of Ramsgate’s best known artists Margo McDaid, aka Margo in Margate, has opened her own shop, and there have a been a host of pop-up exhibitions, including ceramic artist Viv Yankah with her tactile creations inspired by the sea; photographer and artist Sophia Schorr-Kon exploring the erotic feminine through collage and a surreal lens; and a winter salon showing international works from a former London gallerist.

Ramsgate’s established galleries have long supported local creatives, while projects like the Ramsgate Arts Barge will hopefully play a huge role. Although pop-ups are nothing new, there is a sense that the increase in new spaces could herald a more lasting creative scene.

Humberto ‘Humbi’ Sanjurjo is the owner of Vinyl Head record shop and the adjacent gallery which opened in 2014. Although he is shortly planning to expand his record shop into the gallery, many creatives have benefited from it.

A couple of doors down, Margo McDaid has opened a shop. She exhibited at Vinyl Head gallery, finding it an invaluable testing ground, and took over running the space for almost two years. The hire fee was kept low. Margo took no profit, wanting to help promote fellow creatives. Although the bulk of her own sales are online, she has close to 50,000 followers on Instagram with customers around the world, Margo is aware of the power of place: her brand name Margo in Margate attests to this. She has now taken on a year-long lease and intends to extend it, explaining that a physical shop provides valuable space to work, store and test displays, and to “meet people and get feedback”. Illustrator Molly Pickle, of Molly Pickle Design, and Dani Woolley of Push Design Store, offering sustainable illustrated home décor and children’s clothes, reiterate the value of a physical space alongside online platforms. Both have benefited from pop-ups at Vinyl Head gallery and are now seeking permanent shops.

Margo believes it is “independent and small businesses who can adapt to change” that will ultimately revive high streets. Buyers want to see “the fingerprint of the maker”, she says.

Former Mayfair gallerist Laurent Delaye recently moved to Ramsgate with his partner Clare Bradley, and staged two exhibitions, including a winter salon, at Vinyl Head gallery last year. Laurent brings a wealth of experience and the ability to attract international artists and audiences. In London he ran an “experimental programme of young unknown artists”, many of whom have become famous, including Grayson Perry. A specialist in post-war British Constructivist art, Laurent has organised major institutional shows in Brazil and Britain, and worked with a number of top private collectors as an advisor, continuously defending the avant-garde.

Laurent acknowledges Ramsgate’s potential: the breadth of talent quietly working away, and residents very much invested in the town. The success of his pop-ups has inspired him to invest, and he is looking for a permanent gallery space. “The distinction between local and international artists does not really exist in my mind,” explains Laurent. ►

Artist Margo McDaid aka Margo in Margate

Writer

Russell Chater

Something is happening: artists and small creative businesses are finding new places to exhibit and set up pop-up shops. We meet the people providing these sought-after spaces, and ask if Ramsgate’s creative scene is making it something of a destination

The Front Room, Bellevue Road

“A local artist can have an international career. If we are the platform for this, that’s all for the better.”

Further up, at number 28 Addington Street, Ruth Clarke is creating a new community-focused space in the shopfront of her home. Ruth, whose background is in music and advertising, knows that accessibility, affordability, and working with and for locals and existing businesses will be key.

Reflecting on her recent exhibition at number 28, ceramicist Viv Yankah says, “The footfall was great and translated into a healthy amount of sales.” With positive feedback and interest in the space from fellow creatives, Ruth plans to host further pop-ups before opening permanently later this year. One of these will be Anna Woods’ Positive Retail, a social enterprise initiative selling quality second-hand clothes and homeware from Ramsgate residents, with any profits ploughed back into the local community. Her aim is to establish demand and fundraise for a permanent space in Ramsgate.

“It would be great to see some of those empty spaces on the high street loaned out to local creators and independent businesses to help them get off the ground and re-establish the centre of Ramsgate as a destination,” Ruth says, adding that we should “create more opportunities for people to spend in a way that really benefits Thanet’s economy”.

Just off Addington Street, in Albert Street, is the new Hold Creative Spaces (CIC). Julia Rogers, perhaps best known locally for teaching life drawing classes, and Bev Howard have taken on a seven-year lease. Julia had long been seeking a permanent space to teach and create in. Although Bev’s background is engineering and business, the two share a vision to “provide a platform for artists to support their practice by teaching, exhibiting, collaborating and connecting”, explains Julia. “We hope to hold talks, events, installations, group, solo shows, studio open days, continuing professional practice for artists.” An initial group show is planned as soon as restrictions permit. “The scene seems more weighted to Margate due to the greater variety of venues and, therefore, opportunities,” says Julia. But she feels the challenges facing creatives in Ramsgate have made them “particularly inventive - things are happening”.

Further afield on Bellevue Road is the Front Room. Owner Phil Oldfield ran Isle of Thanet Arts (IOTA) until 2010 and continues to support local creatives by offering a hire-free space, taking a nominal percentage on sales. It opened in 2019 and has already seen a mix of art and retail pop-ups. Ami Harvey of Wild Lodge was its latest resident, selling plants, jewellery and homeware. “I had so many compliments on the styling of the shop and that gave me a new-found confidence in my vision and abilities,” she says.

With local estate agents Lovetts confirming that a Ramsgate retail space costs between £700-1000 per month, it is easy to see why running a permanent shop remains a dream for many. Celandine Hall will soon be opening its doors and could be an example of a larger space being occupied by multiple tenants taking on smaller, affordable units.

Back on Addington Street, the demand for flexible creative commercial space is evident, and it is not just artists, or their customers, that are benefitting. Other businesses are enjoying increased sales as a result of the extra visitors drawn by pop-ups. Nicci Rosengarten of Moon Lane Children’s Books and Toys confirms this, adding that it works both ways, with “lots of collaboration between shops”. Shoppers are coming from further afield, seeing the street as a “destination” due to its range of businesses, many of which are draws individually as well as collectively.

These projects demonstrate that in spite of, or perhaps because of, a bleak economic backdrop, community, creativity, generosity and flexibility continue to thrive in Ramsgate: a community to buy both from and into. ■

“It would be great to see some of those empty spaces on the high street loaned out to local creators and independent businesses to help them get off the ground”