U.R.B.A.N.

Roy Guy Exhibition

2012-02-07T13:29:00.005Z

Held in conjunction with the C.R.I (Crime Reduction Initiative) and will include some of the work created by its Service Users. The aim of the exhibition is to show that Art can have a positive influence on the lives of the people who use the services of the C.R.I.

The Exhibition is currently open.

www.cri.org.uk/

Artist Portrait: Safien

2012-01-24T11:51:00.004Z

Safien has been utilising the Empty retail space for the past few weeks to work on his 7 metre wide oil painting. Alot more will be revealed in the coming few weeks. We are very excited!

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U.R.B.A.N Launch Photos

2012-01-18T03:15:00.001Z

Here are some picture from our launch night. Facebook / Twitter

What is U.R.B.A.N ?

2012-01-07T20:51:00.000Z

U.R.B.A.N is Newports' new Arts and Exhibition space for practising professionals and the Arts community. In 2011 the 'Empty Shops Project' grew to become a great success, providing a creative outlet to many of the local artist and community groups through the use of workshops, local networking events, spaces to exhibit and overall helping to capture the spirit of Newport during the tough economic downturn.

With funds from the Arts Council of Wales and Newport Festival, the project returns bigger and better for 2012 with a new flagship space in the heart of the City Centre. At 21/22 John Frost Square you will find the newly formed U.R.B.A.N (Using Retail Building for Arts in Newport) project which will give space and become a creative hub for Newport's developing creative industry and social enterprises. While adding more art, culture and much needed fun and therefore footfall to our high street.

If you would like to get involved. Just click on out the Contact page.

U.R.B.A.N & SuperDragons II Official Launch

2011-12-20T16:35:00.003Z

The SuperDragons are back!
Official Facebook event page

We are doing a double launch at the NEW U.R.B.A.N arts space in John Frost Square.

We invite you to come along to the official launch of U.R.B.A.N (Using Retail Buildings for the Arts in Newport) and see artist and printmaker Bill Chambers' brand new exhibition.

January 10th 6.00-8.00pm at 21/22 John Frost Square- www.urbanewport.co.uk

In association with Arts Development and Newport Cit Council.
You will also be able to find out more about SuperDragons 2, how you can apply for Art space and/or Dragon space!

Hope to see you there. RSVP/email for questions to be answered - sally-anne.evans@newport.gov.uk/ 01633656638

www.urbanewport.co.uk
www.twitter.com/urbanewport
www.newportsuperdragons.co.uk/

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Bill Chambers - Forgotten Places is a first showing of works in progress focussing on the urban environment of Newport City centre using new technologies to create a diverse range of artworks.

www.billchambers.org

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BILL CHAMBERS at U.R.B.A.N

2011-11-24T13:54:00.000Z

Bill Chambers

Exhibition of Prints and Assemblages 10^th Dec – 13^th Jan 2012

John Frost Square Newport

On Saturday December 17^th the Artist will be available to answer questions and will be running printmaking activities open to the public.

The exhibition at U.R.B.A.N Gallery and Art Space,

21-22 John Frost Square

is a first showing of works in progress from a project entitled Hidden Spaces Forgotten Places. The Project is being funded by The Arts Council of Wales Creative Wales Award with assistance from the Contemporary Textiles Course at Cardiff Metropolitan University and will centre on the urban environment of Newport City centre using new technologies to create a diverse range of artworks. It is due to culminate in an exhibition at The Riverfront Centre in the spring. The development of Bill Chambers’ work in printmaking has often relied in some way on his interest in architecture and new processes so this project is a natural progression of his work to date.

“I am particularly fascinated by the strange nether world of the pedestrian cityscape and those places that are often forgotten, over-looked or simply ignored by people rushing by in their cars. If these places feature in people's imaginations at all they are places of disconnection and displacement, yet they are also places of cathedral like grandeur and spectacular sculptural qualities.”

Bill Chambers was born in Newport, Gwent in 1968. In 1989 he studied Fine Art at Cardiff School of Art and Design before completing his Masters Degree at Chelsea School of Art in 1992. Since then he has lived in Cardiff where he is a member of Old Library Artists Ltd. based at Oriel Canfas Gallery. A committed printmaker, Bill has strong links with Swansea Print Workshop where he is a director and holds regular master classes. He currently works for University of Wales Institute Cardiff as a printmaking technical demonstrator.

The exhibition opens a series of shows created especially for U.R.B.A.N and will continue over Christmas and New Year until 13^thJanuary. On Saturday December 17^th the artist will be available to answer questions and will be running printmaking activities open to the public.

Photographer Sarah Hopkins: U.R.B.A.N Interview

2011-10-26T19:48:00.000+01:00

With a great few weeks at the U.R.B.A.N gallery space. Sarah sat and chatted with us about some of the finer points of her work. If you missed her exhibition it will be available to see at the new City Council Information centre (old Railway station). The audio interview is just the start of some great U.R.B.A.N created news for you!

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Interview with Sarah Hopkins by URBANEWPORT

Fez

Sarah Hopkins Photography exhibition at U.R.B.A.N -21-22 John Frost Square

2011-10-25T16:04:00.003+01:00

Unfamiliar Newport - “no such thing as ordinary”

An exhibition of colour and monochrome photographs of Newport, taken by Sarah Hopkins during 2011, that catalogue a series of images showing the City in a new (or rediscovered) light.

It’s all too easy to miss what’s right under your nose, or above eye level – these photographs are witness to the fact that there’s no such thing as “ordinary” with even the smallest detail being worth a second look.

Newport is variously described as “lively”, “gritty”, “downbeat” (Rough Guides) – these pictures prove the first two descriptions accurate, but definitely not the last – hope you enjoy them, and motivate you to find your own extra-ordinary details hidden across the City.

Exhibition will open Tuesday 15th November and run until Tuesday 6th December 2011.

COMEDY PORT 2011 @ U.R.B.A.N

2011-10-11T13:46:00.000+01:00

Exciting News! ... Comedy Port 2011 will be using the U.R.B.A.N space at 21-22 John Frost Square as part of the week long festival. (10th - 16th October)

Here's your festival guide to what's happening at U.R.B.A.N this week!

TUESDAY 11th OCTOBER

8pm - The Life and Times of Albert Lymes
Price: £5
Albert Lymes has lived a less than extraordinary life....until today. Arriving home to find his dog has left him, his wife replaced by a coconut and his farther's ashes in a plastic bag on the porch, he embarks on the adventure of self discovery.Beautiful imagery,inventive staging and a surrealist wit make this one-man show (Justin Cliffe, Tin Shed Theatre) stand out.

WEDS 12th & THURS 13th OCTOBER
8pm -Mr & Mrs Clark present The Medicine Show
Price: £5
The Medicine Show,often run out of town, believed to be the bringer of disease or ill at ease, is the last bastion of hope for the balding, the infirm or the impotent. Mr & Mrs Clark's Medicine Show is an alternative to alternative therapy. A show where you, the audience, are in our prescriptive minds and we want to help you all.

SATURDAY 15th OCTOBER

3.30pm-5.30pm- Dan Mitchell,Dan Thomas,Gareth Brand(and more) present Fringe Stand -up
Price: £3

9.30pm -Late - THE INBETWEENERS FANCY DRESS CLOSING PARTY
Price: FREE
Geeks.Cheesy tunes and pure pop DJs.Dance Competitions. Bring your own.

The Gravity Project | 10th Setember - 30th September

2011-09-12T09:29:00.002+01:00

The Gravity Project Opening Times

(Times will be updated throughout the week)

12/09/11	13.00 to 15.00
15/09/11	10.30 to 17.00
16/09/11	10.30 to 17.00
17/09/11	11.00 to 13.00 & 13.00 to 17.00
19/09/11	10.30 to 17.00
20/09/11	10.30 to 17.00
21/09/11	10.30 to 17.00
22/09/11	10.30 to 17.00
23/09/11	11.00 to 15.00
24/09/11	11.00 to 13.00 & 13.00 to 17.00
29/09/11	10.30 to 17.00
30/09/11	10.30 to 17.00

Food Festival Workshop with Nathan Sheen- 23rd-25th August 2011

2011-08-25T19:17:00.000+01:00

New photographs added from this week at 21-22

Emma's Diary

2011-08-17T18:23:00.002+01:00

It's the second week of the Just Bling project and the necklaces are looking fantastic! Have a look at the gallery to see what we've been upto this week. It is fabulous to see so many parents, children and young people working together to create these spectacular, giant pieces of Bling. I especially liked the cute plastic ladybirds you can see in the picture above. An excellent start was made on the final necklace in the set today which will be made from material and rubber. We will be continuing to work on and hopefully putting the finishing touches to it tomorrow from 10am - 12.30pm and 1-3pm and then the work created in the workshops will be exhibited this Friday (19th August).

Greg's Diary

2011-08-14T19:42:00.000+01:00

Yet another great week for the Summer Fun Workshop at 21/22 John Frost Square!
(Check out of gallery to see for yourself!)

This week we had our first of two weeks with the Just Bling project and it’s become a quick success with the Newport public. The project’s goal is to create five large necklace displays out of recycled materials which will then be shown at a local museum sometime in the future. Three of the large necklace displays were completed by the end of the week, thanks to the public.

I would like to thank all of our workshop ‘Regulars’ who keep coming in and creating a great atmosphere at our workshops. They are a big reason for the success of this year’s Summer Fun Workshops.

We have two more weeks of workshops before we start getting involved with upcoming Newport Festivals, so look out for that!

Free Summer Fun Workshops @ 21/22 John Frost Square

2011-08-08T23:30:00.011+01:00

This year's Free Summer Fun Workshops will be taking place in 21/22 John Frost Square, Newport City Centre. (It's the one with the colourful window display!)

Workshop Info

JUST BLING

Come in and make a giant necklace using recycled materials!

Drop-In Sessions -10am ‐ 12pm and 1pm ‐ 4pm.

or try our

MASTER CLASSES!

Make a bracelet or necklace, working with semi‐precious stones, metals, silverwork, copper, leather and other specialised materials.

Master Class - 10.30am – 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 3.30pm

More details in 21/22 John Frost Square.

FREE OPEN ACCESS WORKSHOPS

Free 'Drop In' Workshops for Children of all ages, from Colouring in to Flag making every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm.

RECYCLED SCULPTURE WORKSHOPS

Help out to create a big sculpture made out of recycled materials on Tuesday 22nd, Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th of August.

Children must be accompanied by an adult for all workshops.

Workshop Schedule

Week Starting 8th August 2011

Just Bling - Monday 8th August to Sunday 14th August, 10am - 4pm
Open Access Workshops - Tuesday 9th to Thursday 11th, 10am - 3pm

Week Starting 15th August 2011

Just Bling - Monday 15th August to Sunday 21st August, 10am - 4pm
Open Access Workshops - Tuesday 16th to Thursday 18th, 10am - 3pm

Week Starting 22nd August 2011

Recycled Sculpture Workshops - Tuesday 16th to Thursday 18th, 10am - 3pm
Open Access Workshops - Tuesday 16th to Thursday 18th, 10am - 3pm

Emma's Diary

2011-08-08T17:56:00.001+01:00

We had a fabulous first week at our U.R.B.A.N and Arts Development open workshops in John Frost Square! Thanks to Stephanie Roberts for bringing her Urban Mosaic Project to the Shop for the week. Here's the link to Stephanie's facebook page if you would like more information about her wonderful work!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Stephanie-Roberts-mosaic-artist/161356537229843

So this week I'm really excited about the start of the BLING project which will be running from our shop at 21-22 John Frost Square for the next 2 weeks, Monday - Friday 10.30 until 4.30 pm*.

Artist Vicky Wilson, The National Museum of Wales and Newport Youth service are working together to provide open workshops in Junk Jewellery making in which children can create beads/items that can be attached together to form giant necklaces which will be on display downstairs. You can add to and watch the necklaces grow as the two weeks progress! I can't wait to add something pretty and funky to the chain, what will you add? The possibilities are endless!

Vicky will also be running specialist masterclasses in jewellery making for older children and teenagers. These must be pre-booked and all creations will feature in an exhibition at a National Museum of wales venue later in the year before they are returned! How exciting? The chance to make some Bling and an exhibition!

Keep an eye on our Facebook page and the website for photos, comments and updates about the workshop at the end of the week!

Emma's Diary

2011-07-07T16:18:00.004+01:00

The hard work has begun to transform some of the Empty Shops in Newport into gallery and workshop spaces and i'm very excited! As you can see from the photographs in the Gallery Behind the Scenes section, 21-22 John Frost Square needed a lot of work and Thanks to some wonderful people who spent many hours with a lot of White paint, we are now well on our way to providing you with a venue in which to express your creativity!

Artist Lounge

2011-02-22T13:35:00.003Z

Artist Lounge is an informal meeting designed to bring Artists, Photographers, Makers and Art enthusiasts together to discuss ideas and allow the opportunity to network and develop new work. Watch this space for more info to follow soon!

Exhibitions

2011-02-22T13:34:00.004Z

Watch this space for Exhibitions opening in November 2011

Opening

2011-02-22T13:33:00.002Z

The Newport Arts Project, U.R.B.A.N (Using Retail Buildings for Arts in Newport) will begin in July 2011. We kick off by hosting Arts Development Summer Workshops - Art in the Square on Tuesday 2nd August 2011. Exhibitions will begin in November 2011. To apply for an exhibition or voluntary position, please download the appropriate Application form and return to us.