Inside Out is the brain child of Fleetwood based artist Gillian Wood. It is a project that is bringing together the often unseen and under represented creative talents and skills of the people of Fleetwood and surrounding areas.
It is literally turning the inside, out.
WHERE DID IT START?
Back in March 2020 Gillian was working with us at LeftCoast as an artist in residence. As with the rest of the country her world suddenly shrunk as we went into our first COVID 19 national lockdown. Her background working in costume on Hollywood films meant she was in contact with a network of costumiers who started to sew scrubs for the NHS. Looking around the area she saw that there was no local equivalent, so she founded the Fylde Coast Scrub Hub. The scrub hub grew through collaboration with a team of local sewers, producing over 400 sets of scrubs. Fast forward to last summer and those that had been sewing scrubs started to ask themselves, what next? Gill decided to make a film about the scrub hub and interviewed the sewing team in their gardens. She realised what a creative bunch she was working with, people weren’t only sewing, but baking, knitting, making and painting. Not only that but people were sharing stories of people making rocking horses, designing suits and sewing wedding dresses. We thought that this needed celebrating, and so Inside Out was born.
THE ARTISTS
INSIDE OUT EXHIBITION
The Inside Out Exhibition took place from 22 June – 18 July 2021. It was a celebration of all things creative, made in Fleetwood. We had a phenomenal response to the exhibition, both from those who exhibited and those who visited. It became a place where people could talk about their work, share their techniques and inspiration and just generally exchange stories about their home town. It really demonstrated how much this creative spaces was needed at this time.
The exhibition took place in the old Fleetwood Hospital, the perfect site for an exhibition that created a space for reflection and sharing.
You can see a short film of the exhibition above and take a look at the exhibition guide below.
