New engagement practices in response to Covid-19: the case study of Showcase Gallery and Solent University

Blog written by Kate Maple, Curator, Showcase Gallery Solent University

​The Showcase Gallery is part of Solent University’s School of Art, Design & Fashion and is a participatory exhibition space in the heart of Southampton with a focus on reaching communities with less voice in the cultural sector.  As a University public facing space, our entire programme of exhibition and events, some of it two years in the planning, has been decimated in a heartbeat by Covid-19.  The uniqueness of this experience, across all cultural venues and organisations across the board, is extraordinary and whilst there is a very real fight for survival, there is also a unique opportunity to rethink how we might balance recovery with reinvention.  It has already changed how we communicate and the Art To Go project was an example of this change in practice.

© Showcase Gallery

Not only did Covid-19 halt our exhibition programme, it also removed us from our face-to-face interaction with local communities. The frustration of this disconnect and the desire to get directly involved in supporting communities creatively was a key motivation to developing Art To Go.  Another key factor was that communications between cultural organisations grew exponentially, as an online method of offering solidarity and discussing how lockdown would  affect the city, both culturally and mentally. ​ From these online meetings, we were able to map the growing concern that socio-economic divisions were increasing with young people particularly affected.  ​

Whilst many venues were going publicly online with great cultural content, Southampton City Council noted that children in care did not necessarily have easy access to computers and were therefore at risk of being excluded from participation.  Thus the  Art To Go project was devised as a rapid response to address the Council’s concerns and enable the gallery to positively and proactively reach out directly to local young people.  

© Showcase Gallery

​Artist Joe Ross devised the concept of filling a pizza box full of art materials and arts activities to be handed directly to young people via key workers and carers who could deliver the boxes safely.  With a callout to other cultural venues to participate, what emerged was a full box with a rich array of activities from galleries, theatres and film organisations, with all the necessary art materials to participate in the tasks.  A vital part of the project were the non-arts organisations such as No Limits and the Council’s Violent Reduction Unit (VRU) who had the infrastructure and expertise to deliver to areas in most need.  

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© Showcase Gallery

​After an initial 150 boxes were delivered and demand outstripped supply, Art To Go expanded thanks to extra funding from the VRU, Artswork and Arts Council.  Due to the oddness of lockdown, the gallery team had their homes transformed into mini cottage industries filled with paper, arts and crafts materials and numerous pizza boxes stacked up against walls. The evaluation of the project is still ongoing but well over 500 boxes were delivered, with key workers distributing boxes to children in care, local police giving them to young people affected by crime and submissions for our Life in Lockdown window exhibition still rolling in.  There was great investment by all parties involved in the benefit of culture and creative practice to support mental health.

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In Southampton, the Covid-19 crisis opened doors and channels of communications directly and rapidly with a decisive shift towards collaborative working between arts and non-arts organisations. With the future uncertain, changing our practice is not only desired but essential. The more imaginative, adaptive and collaborative we can be, the better we can support all people who are at risk of their voices not being heard, at a time of crisis and beyond.
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