Plymouth Arts Centre, Looe Street - Plymouth - geograph

Plymouth Arts Cinema is an independent cinema based at Plymouth College of Art. It screens new independent cinema from all around the world, classic films, along with festivals, special events, and Open Air Cinema. Plymouth Arts Centre was a centre for

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

, independent cinema and creative learning based in the

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

area of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, UK. It was first opened in 1947 with funding from the newly formed

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

. It was located in a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

town house in Looe Street, and included space for exhibitions, a cinema, artist studios, a café and a bar.

Beryl Cook Beryl Cook, OBE (10 September 192628 May 2008) was a British artist best known for her original and instantly recognisable paintings. Often comical, her works pictured people whom she encountered in everyday life, including people enjoying th ...

had her first exhibition here, and many other artists held exhibitions here early in their careers. In 2018, Plymouth Arts Centre closed. The organisation moved to a new location at Plymouth College of Art and continues to exist as an independent cinema, named Plymouth Arts Cinema.

History

Founded in 1947 in a

town house in Looe Street, Plymouth Arts Centre was opened by art historian

Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television ...

. The building is listed as part of a significant group of seventeenth and eighteenth century town houses in the street, many of which are listed. It is a three-storey building that at one time was used as a shop. It has a painted brick front and a steep slate half-hipped roof with deep moulded eaves. Plymouth Arts Centre was one of seven

arts centre An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues for ...

s set up around the country with funds from the newly established

. The centre comprises gallery spaces, a 61-seater cinema, artist studios, café and bar space and receives over 70,000 visitors a year. The artist

had her first exhibition at Plymouth Arts Centre in 1975, and Bernard Samuels, then Director of the Plymouth Arts Centre, is credited with discovering her. In 2008, to celebrate its diamond jubilee, the centre had a retrospective exhibition, displaying an assortment of old programmes, photographs, posters, invitations and ephemera that had been stored for years in the

attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

s at the centre. The archives have a gap, with a number of years missing between 1957 and the 1970s. The centre staff are hoping that these will turn up in somebody else's attic. Other artists who have held exhibitions in Plymouth Arts Centre include

Patrick Heron Patrick Heron (30 January 1920 – 20 March 1999) was a British abstract and figurative artist, critic, writer, and polemicist, who lived in Zennor, Cornwall. Heron was recognised as one of the leading painters of his generation. Influenced b ...

Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Associate of the Royal Academy, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawi ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

, Tom Raworth,

Peter Greenaway Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his films are the ...

Ralph Steadman Ralph Idris Steadman (born 15 May 1936) is a British illustrator best known for his collaboration and friendship with the American writer Hunter S. Thompson. Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures, cartoons and picture b ...

Vong Phaophanit Vong Phaophanit (born 1961) is an artist based in London. Phaophanit is best known for his large-scale installations, which incorporate a wide range of materials including ash, silk, rice, rubber, wax and often light. Biography Born in Savanna ...

, Richard Deacon,

Andy Goldsworthy Andy Goldsworthy (born 26 July 1956) is an English sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculptures and land art situated in natural and urban settings. Early life Goldsworthy was born in Cheshire on 26 J ...

and

Sir Terry Frost Sir Terence Ernest Manitou Frost Royal Academician, RA (13 October 1915 – 1 September 2003) was a British abstract artist, who worked in Newlyn, Cornwall. Frost was renowned for his use of the Cornish light, colour and shape to start a ne ...

. Many people exhibited here at the start of their careers and went on to become household names. In 2018,

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

defunded Plymouth Arts Centre and the Looe Street building was sold. The visual arts programme was ended but the cinema moved to a newly built facility at

Plymouth College of Art Arts University Plymouth is an independent university-sector Higher Education (HE) provider located in Plymouth in South West England. The former Plymouth College of Art was officially granted university status in 2022. In April 2019 the s ...

that opened on January 10 2019.

References

External links

Plymouth Arts Cinema website
* {{coord, 50.3695, -4.1373, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Arts centres in England Grade II listed buildings in Devon