During the 2020 pandemic many people realised the arts were a great comfort and benefit to everyone when restrictions limited movement, interaction with others and even sports. For us creative types we have always known the arts are a way to connect and communicate and support each other. What the Covid-19 crisis did was to make us aware of just how valuable creativity was in helping the local, and wider community to get through difficult times.
Against this background and the opportunity which opened up through the North Hertfordshire Council’s Arts and Culture Zoom meetings I took it upon myself to start a network for creatives in Hitchin; somewhere to connect, exchange ideas and creativity as well as support, encourage and inspire. It was something I had wanted to do for Hitchin for some time and I had done before in Letchworth Garden City by founding the Arts Centre there many years ago. Now, mostly, the start had to be virtual via screens and emails and a proposed initial meeting kept having to be postponed due to Covid restrictions.
The gathering of artist friends and contacts was not difficult and quite soon a large group of interested people had formed; all waiting to meet up whenever it would be possible. It was around this time that through exploring what art groups there were in the area that I came across, and joined, Creative Juice organised by the amazing Dean Harmer. This group had similar, sometimes shared, but not totally the same objectives as my idea for the as yet unnamed Hitchin Creative. There was an instant rapport which, like all great connections, came all out of the blue. We both knew we could work together and find the common ground between the two projects and our shared vision to support the creative community for the benefit of the town. Dean was soon on board as a co-founder!
After a while and a few zoom sessions with individuals, or a stolen coffee break outside in the Market Square, the first live meeting of those interested in shaping the project took place in September 2021 at the Market Theatre Bar in Sun Street. Thanks to Glyn Doggett, the theatre has become a regular haunt for us and is developing into a meeting place for creative individuals. This spin off from Hitchin Creative’s early meetings is exactly the type of thing we hoped would happen. It’s all about initiative, opportunity and vision really.
As 2021 rolled on our community grew as more people found out about us and joined in. By November I had invited some of our Hitchin Councillors to join a meeting to discuss the potential of Hitchin Creative and involvement in the art life of the town.
Our meetings had become monthly events and our December meeting saw our biggest yet where we were able to report on the progress we were making. One important connection was made through one of our founding members Akua Obeng-Frimpong was with Richard Slade of the Neotists. This group, from St Neots in Cambridgeshire, had already established a similar project which, in five years, had rejuvenated the town centre and brought together an impressive collection of artists, art professionals and a portfolio of projects delivered for the community. Meeting Richard for the first time last year made me realise what a success his achievements were and, what a long way ahead we have to travel. His collaborations with the local authority, as well as the wider arts community and businesses in his area appeared to be one key to his success.
In January 2022, and after an amazing collaborative effort by all the founding members of Hitchin Creative, we put together an impressive Manifesto (which you can read on our website). Dean created a beautiful document from our efforts and we invited our Hitchin councillors to join us at a brief meeting to present our ideas for supporting the Hitchin community through the arts and creative collaborations. It was an encouraging start to the relationship we would like to build with North Hertfordshire Council. It was from this meeting that Judi Billing awarded us a small grant from her Hitchin Locality Budget to help us establish this website. This grant was a visionary idea which begins the process of sharing and supporting the creative community, needed more than ever in the post-Covid world.
In the very creative and skilled hands of Heather Allen and James Lomas from Sugarzoo our website has become a reality.
In March an amazing meeting took place at The Old George, Ickleford where we were able to spread out in the pubs open marquee (sudden Covid restrictions were upon us again). More than sixty creative professionals and interested individuals joined us and inspiring conversations and ideas flowed all evening. This is what Hitchin Creative is all about, meeting each other, sharing and moving things forwards.
What struck me at that moment, and since, is how our group of about twenty founder members finds the energy and time to work together on developing ideas and projects. I am deeply moved by the commitment everyone has to communicate effectively and regularly, work together without ego or self-ambition and come up with the goods based on knowledge, experience, creativity and vision. Sometimes the endless meetings and introductions do seem to take over but, and most importantly, these are laying a strong foundation of interest and support for the future.
Hitchin Creative is now well established and beginning its journey towards finding opportunities to inspire, support and promote the arts in this area, not only for our own creative community, but also for the benefit of everyone who seeks us out or happens to discover us at our work. We would love to hear from you and have you join us, add a profile to our site and come along to a steering group meeting and share your ideas. Everyone is welcome whatever their experience or status. You will be amongst friends.
On 16 July we will be holding the first Hitchin Creative day in the Market Square where we will be making all types of creative chaos to show who we are and what we do. Please come and say ‘Hello’ and find out more about us.
So, to close, I must thank our founder members, Dean, Akua, Hilary, Sally, Val, Glyn, Julian, the two Matts, Nigel, Danny, Paul, Cheryl, Martin, Rosie, Mark, Angela, Carl, Kevin and Morag as well as our Hitchin Councillors for their supportive vision and commitment to making Hitchin Creative.
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