Ayscoughfee Gardens will come to life on Saturday 23 March for Light Night, a special event of creative installations, sculptures and performances to celebrate its heritage and local and global historical links.
The free event, which will run from 6pm – 8pm, will feature fire displays, musical acts, interactive performances, light displays and arts and crafts workshops, as part of the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership’s Arts Council England NPO project.
A variety of displays and activities will be situated around the Gardens on the night, with visitors having the chance to create artwork and displays that will become part of the installations and learn more about the hidden history of Ayscoughfee and its stories. The Gardens will also be illuminated with a covering of enchanting multi-coloured lights.
In the build up to the event, new art collective A&E Collaborative and artist Emily Cartwright will be working with residents, students and local community groups to create some of the artwork.
Some of these sessions will be taking place during February half term and are available to book on to now. All of the workshops will be free for participants to take part, enabling as many local people as possible to be a part of the collaborative effort to create a spectacular Light Night evening, be creative and learn more about local history.
The ‘Wonder-fall’ workshops are open to children aged 11-18 and will be lead by Liz Kelleher of A&E Collaborative at Ayscoughfee Hall, to create a recycled plastic bottle ‘waterfall’ which is hoped to be brought to life with projection art.
The event is being organised by the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership and Transported, working with Jamie Hawker Services, A&E Collaborative and Emily Cartwright.
The Partnership’s NPO funding looks to support arts, culture, heritage and creativity across the whole of South and East Lincolnshire, providing meaningful opportunity and programming for residents, developing the sector and helping to build our arts, culture and heritage offer.
Ayscoughfee Hall and Gardens was identified through the bid as South Holland’s creative hub to deliver creative activity as part of the funding, with the programme being supported by an eight-member culture board which draws experience from a variety of sectors.
Councillor Elizabeth Sneath, South Holland District Council’s representative on the NPO culture board, said: “I am delighted to see this celebration of Ayscoughfee’s heritage taking place, giving the opportunity to find out more about local history and get creative in what promises to be truly magical surroundings.
“I am especially pleased that local artists, communities and schools are getting involved to create the installations, and transform the already beautiful Gardens into a unique experience. I hope people will join us for this event to support the work of the local community and see Ayscoughfee in a different light.”
Director of Transported, Nick Jones, said: “Transported are excited to be working with the new NPO in the development of an exciting arts initiative that will see new types of experiences created in the fantastic setting of Ayscoughfee that will reflect some of the amazing stories behind Spalding’s connection to the rest of the world.”
The free open-to-the-public workshops must be booked in advance through Transported’s Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/o/transported-art-68847340313.
