Creative Eastbourne Celebrate 1st Birthday at Printers Playhouse
On Friday 3 July, Printers Playhouse was delighted to host the first birthday celebration of Creative Eastbourne, the ever-growing network that brings together creatives from Eastbourne and the surrounding area.
With around 100 people registered to attend, the evening was a fantastic opportunity for artists, makers, performers, designers and creative professionals to connect, collaborate and celebrate a successful first year of building a vibrant local creative community.
Miles Grafton Berkley spoke to the group reflecting on the growth of the community, its supportive nature and showed appreciation to Maja Jones for founding the group.
Alison Norwood, writer and lover of Art and Photography said:
"Creative Eastbourne, the incredible community collective that gathers up local makers and creatives of all kinds, was thrilled to hold its first birthday party at Printers Playhouse on 3 July. Exactly one year after the first experimental – and clearly highly successful – gathering, a marvellous time was had by all with matcha cookies, a DJ, and even some celebratory speeches. A fake cake and bespoke bunting fitted in perfectly with the venue’s excellent atmosphere, and dancing, or chilling in the garden, happened! Creative Eastbourne is propelled by volunteers and joined by anyone – professionals or otherwise – and the gaggles of conversations at these group events are always fascinating. More than anything, the laid-back but total focus of the group and the venue mixed perfectly for another extremely cool event.
To add, on a personal level, that first Creative Eastbourne event last July dovetailed with my own career plans, and – with the support of this newly-gained group of friends – I was confident to make the big move to working more independently. People in Creative Eastbourne genuinely believe in the things that they create, and listen to and encourage others in their own endeavours. Never known anything like it!"
Adam Highfield, artist and art group facilitator commented:
"Creative Eastbourne has opened up a whole new social and artisan life for me! From helping me connect with Cafe Joon where I went on to run an art group and Printers Playhouse where I have :
displayed and sold artwork, engaged in a very fun writing group, and learnt a few songs on ukulele.
But through creative Eastbourne I also discovered:
another poetry group, several more opportunities to display and sell my art, an extremely friendly social environment which helped massively with loneliness.
I think I would be remiss not to mention the inclusivity of Creative Eastbourne and the places they have introduced me to since that really stands out.
The groups decisions are made communally but how these decisions are carried out is well organised by a few stand out individuals. Overall my life is and has been improved massively by Creative Eastbourne and the people in it.”
The event reflected the energy, talent and enthusiasm that Creative Eastbourne has fostered over the past twelve months, and highlighted the strength of Eastbourne's thriving creative sector.