Chichester's Oxmarket Contemporary - a key part of the arts scene - video Dailymotion

A chat with Jo

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers, really lovely

00:06to speak to Jo Shapiro who's the Manager at the Ox Market Gallery in Chichester, or Ox

00:11Market Contemporary I should say, and just to introduce the gallery to the Ox Market

00:16Contemporary to people that don't know it, what makes it such a special place would you

00:19say?

00:20So, I mean, hi Phil, Ox Market is a really beautiful gallery, it's an old church and

00:28it's right in the middle of Chichester, and the important thing for us is to have lots

00:33of accessible art for the public to come and visit, and also to be able to have exhibitions

00:41for lots of different artists, you know, new and emerging artists, established artists,

00:49and just make it a place that people feel they can come and enjoy all the time.

00:54And that's part of the tradition, isn't it, that rolling change that you want, that things

00:59don't stand still, do they?

01:02I think, I mean, I just think that's part of it.

01:04The gallery itself does, but?

01:07I mean, I think we've just seen with our exhibitions every two weeks that there's a constant change

01:13and the diversity in art is huge, there's, you know, from makers to, I don't know, glass

01:20artists and ceramicists, there's just so much diversity.

01:24I think it's just really good for us to show our visitors.

01:29Absolutely.

01:30And so many people have said in the past that the Ox Market is a bit of a hidden gem, it's

01:34slightly off the beaten track.

01:35Do you think you are combating that?

01:38Do you think there's rising awareness of?

01:41I'm hoping so.

01:42I mean, signage is obviously a big issue, so we're doing our best to try and address

01:46that at the moment.

01:47And obviously, with people like you helping us, you know, the Chichester Observer, fantastic

01:54for us every week showing what's on.

01:58And actually, what I'm really hoping is that people start coming to our shop now because

02:01our shop has become more of a sort of go-to place because we're offering makers and local

02:09artists at very good prices.

02:12So, yeah, I'm hoping people will start coming to that as well.

02:15Well, congratulations on all that you do with the Ox Market and good luck for the future.