Like so many other cultural organisations, we’ve had the toughest of tough years. So, we’re absolutely delighted to hear from Arts Council England that our grant application, awarded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has been successful. The £249,500 grant will be a huge boost for the organisation and its visitors as we bounce back from a five-month closure. Eden is one of more than 300 organisations receiving a grant, channelled through the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, aimed at having a positive impact on the sector now and into the future. This award will enable Eden to bring a core creative team back from furlough to work with freelance practitioners, adapting and re-opening galleries and creating Covid-compliant spaces for performance.
The grant will also enable refurbishment of artworks and galleries to ensure that they are Covid-compliant. This is great news for the team, the creative sector and our community – a huge boost. It means that we’ll be able to provide further employment and start to fire up our arts and culture programme as we reopen. We are excited at the prospect of adapting and reopening our gallery spaces, enabling people to pause and enjoy the installations in as safe a way as possible. The award allows us to reach and grow audiences both at the physical destination and virtually. With more and more culture being curated online, this is a great time to support and enjoy all the new and creative ways art and culture is available to us. Eden’s mission is to connect people with each other and the living world, exploring how together we can work towards a better future. Today, more than ever we need to establish emotional connections, re-igniting conversations at a time when sharing Eden’s narratives has never been more relevant and vital: an inclusive approach inspiring resilience, hope and agency.
As well as being a renowned music venue, to date Eden has commissioned and exhibited such world-revered and diverse artists as El Anatsui, Wolfgang Buttress, Hayden Dunham, Ryan Gander, Jenny Kendler, Julian Opie, Peter Randall-Page, Tim Shaw and Studio Swine.
Among its best-known art works are ‘Infinity Blue’ by Studio Swine, a giant ceramic sculpture paying homage to one of world’s smallest organisms, cyanobacteria, and ‘Seed’, a seed-shaped granite sculpture created by Peter Randall-Page. Both of these works are in the Core education centre, home to the Invisible Worlds exhibition.
Dr Jo Elworthy is Eden’s Director of Interpretation