We are reopening

There have been times since March that I thought I’d maybe never get to write this particular blog post, it’s the one I’ve been waiting for since lockdown. Because this is the moment where I can say that we are reopening, and we can get back to doing what we do best – connecting people with the hand-made, and promoting the joy and fulfilment of making and celebrates the role of craft and creativity in all our lives.

As with so many business and organisations things won’t be quite the same as they were before, here at New Brewery Arts we have decided to take our time and to reopen gradually starting with our shop.

We’re implementing changes to make sure visitors are safe and that staff can manage everything that goes on behind the scenes to keep you safe when you visit us. Thanks in advance for your help and understanding with the ‘new-normal’. Here’s what our new opening will look like, what we will be doing and what we will ask of you.

We’re reopening just our shop for now. So, you can come and buy beautiful hand-made work, directly supporting independent makers, many of whom have really struggled throughout lockdown. Our shop will reopen on the 1st July.

You can also visit our studios – but do check with them directly to make sure they are open when you visit. Their contact details are on our website.

We’ll ask you to enter through our main front doors, and please use the hand sanitiser provided before entering our shop, please also respect social distancing as you visit, and exit through our back courtyard.

The biggest change is our new opening hours. We are open Tuesday – Saturday 9.30am-5pm (closed for lunch 1.45-2.15pm)

Our café, toilets, gallery, accommodation and classes remain closed throughout July.

Staff will be gradually returning from furlough, and many are working from home and part-time. The best way to get in touch with us is by email, and you can find our contact email addresses on our website.

But more than anything I want to say thank you - we received so many kind words and support when we closed, I know that this will continue as we work to #buildbackbetter.

Racial and social justice and equality: A statement from New Brewery Arts

The focus and debate on racial injustice, inequality and structural privilege mustn’t be ignored, and on behalf of everyone at New Brewery Arts I want to make our position clear.

New Brewery Arts recognises the historic social and racial injustices and inequalities inherent in the world, and that those are present in our world of craft. The work necessary to make craft a better place for those who have been marginalised or left out has not happened, and we have been part of that.

As we gradually reopen New Brewery Arts (as the easing of lockdown permits) we will work positively to be inclusive, equitable and sustainable to the benefit of all, our community here in Cirencester and the wider craft community.

We want to create a future where everyone feels at home, included, and we will find our way through listening, discussion and action. We will use our agency and be open to tough questions and conversations. This first step is a genuine call to ask you how we can do better – just contact me via email or respond to this blog.

Beth Alden
CEO, New Brewery Arts

Craft is now essential to our lives

It’s a good day today. At the weekend the government announced that retail could open as soon as June, although there is no such opening date for galleries.

Also, today the Crafts Council launched their new report ‘The Market for Craft’. It’s an exciting report, and I think, a very positive one. It’s the biggest research into the market for craft in a decade. Craft is clearly something people love and enjoy purchasing, as the report puts it “Craft is now essential to our lives. Craft is no longer a peripheral or isolated area of specialist interest.” 73% of us buy hand-made. Like us, Crafts Council sees craft as a route to ethical consumption and sustainable living, and as a tool for health and wellbeing.

Image from Crafts Council

At New Brewery Arts we want to see Craft valued as both a pastime and profession. The report looks at the shape of the sector, at how the craftspeople are able to have a livelihood and to “live by their creativity” or by “being able to live as far as possible by doing what they loved”. Disappointingly less than half the Master Craftspeople or Established Professional Makers earn their living solely through selling their work. Most have what’s called a ‘portfolio career’, meaning they also teach, or supplement their income through non-craft related activity. Even with a mixed portfolio of income most craftspeople earn far less than the national median annual salary of £30,350.

This is where New Brewery Arts fits in. In our last financial year, we paid over £200,000 to craftspeople through sales of their work in our shop, and we paid a further £95,000 to craftspeople and creatives through tutor fees. New Brewery Arts is what the Crafts Council call an ‘intermediary’. We act as a bridge between those who make, and those who consume craft. Our role supporting craftpeople takes many forms; not only are we a platform for creatives to earn a livelihood through selling and teaching, we provide support including studios, advice and opportunities. Our role is also to promote, elevate and advocate for craft. Our shop, gallery and classes are all ways to excite and inspire everyone. We want people to value craft and why it matters to them, we want people to know the story behind each item they own or make and the materials, resources and skill that went into making it.

That’s what makes today a good day – hearing that more people are enjoying craft, either producing or buying it. Today I feel a little bit closer to a day where everybody celebrates the joy and fulfilment craft brings to their lives and community, and that is a good day.

A charity with a purpose

I set a self-imposed task of writing a blog each week throughout lockdown, and last week I didn’t complete the task. My head was too full of all the news about lifting the lockdown, there was a lot to process. In all honesty I’m not sure I’ve processed the information yet; I think I’m still waiting to see what happens. I’ll admit I was distracted; I had forgotten what it was I had planned to do.

It is all too easy to get distracted by the immediate things at the moment, and to stop seeing the big picture that you originally committed to. New Brewery Arts have a written definition of what we are here for, why we exist, these are called our ‘charitable objects’. Our three objects are rather wordy and are written in legal-ese rather than day-to-day language. They are:

• To advance the education and appreciation of the public in relation to the arts and artistic crafts;

• To enrich the life of the community by providing facilities, open to the widest possible public access, for education and recreation in the arts and artistic crafts;

• To provide cultural and recreational facilities and opportunities to everyone in the surrounding communities, for purposes of learning and social well-being.

Recently we distilled these formal objects into our purpose. We wanted to put these rather wordy objects into language we could actually use.

“New Brewery Arts connects people with the hand-made, promotes the joy and fulfilment of making and celebrates the role of craft and creativity in all our lives.”

So, as we ask ourselves is it even possible to do what we did before? How to we teach a manual, dexterous skill at two meters? How do we serve a coffee? How do we sell a scarf? It feels a like having to learn to walk again, things that were once automatic now require thought and attention.

Our purpose feels like our torch, it shines a light for us on the path we should take. Its an exciting path, full of connection with people, with joy and fulfilment all coming together through craft and creativity. I am sure that whatever happens as, and when we reopen, if we focus on our purpose, and we focus on the very reason why we exist as a charity we can’t go wrong.