Slack Space has received a very special donation this Spring. We are now the proud owners of a large and comprehensive collection of vintage art posters.

Some of these have to be seen to be believed. The collection includes vintage posters from our very own The Minories dating back over 40 years, as well as early posters from Colchester Arts Centre, the University Gallery and other venues.

In addition to this feast of local treasure the collection features a large number of original posters from Royal Academy exhibitions dating over thirty years and including such powerful and momentous exhibitions as Sensations, Monet and The Art of Photography.

This work is to be auctioned with the proceeds going to support Slack Space’s work in the community and with local artists and musicians.

The Slack Space art poster auction will take place throughout the day on Saturday 16 April. The posters will be on display in a special hanging in the Slack Space exhibition space on Queen St, Colchester throughout the day so do pop in anytime between 11am – 11pm to have a look at these marvellous vintage items.

Due to size the auction of posters will be split into three parts:

3pm Part One: Of local interest
6pm Part Two: Film, music and miscellaneous
9pm Part Three: The Royal Academy

Refreshments will be available throughout the day.

To view the posters in advance of the auction please go to our flickr site, where they are available to view in three separate albums.

To bid on a piece in advance please e mail us at colchesterslackers (at) gmail.com, stating your name, the lot number you are bidding on and your maximum bid. We will then bid on your behalf up to this amount.

All posters can be picked up from Slack Space anytime Wed – Sat 11am – 6pm the week after the auction

Massive Line-Up for Saturday

We are pleased to announce the line up for the 12 hour fundraising gig at Slack Space on 19.03.11. But first, read this:

Please bring lots of money to the event! There will be a super raffle, to which lots of local businesses are donating, as well as cakes and massages for Japan! There will be regular collections throughout the day so please make sure we can fill those coffers and really make a difference here!

Please consider bringing cakes to the event and also raffle prizes!

We are pleased to announce that other local venues are lending their support to this event:

There will be a special afternoon workshop event given by musical improvisation group Firewire at the Friends Meeting House 10am to 12pm, at which a collection will be taken

Essex Rocks / Art not Apathy are supporting the event and will be collecting at their gig at The Soundhouse on Saturday evening

V Bar and Twisters are both supporting the event and will be collecting and devising a special cocktail in honour of the occasion

Lush, the shop, will be hosting musical acts throughout the day and will be collecting for the event

30+ buskers will be performing in various town centre locations on the day raising money for the event

An so, on to the line up for the main event itself. Slack Space will host two stages, and acoustic stage and a main stage, allowing back to back music as we switch between the two. The acoustic stage will feature both acoustic and spoken word acts with 15 minute sets and the main stage will host a range of local bands playing for 30 minutes each. All of these acts are playing for free to raise money for Japan.

Please note, this line up is subject to final confirmation, but WOW …..

Fourth Street
Fools Errand
Mojo Rising
Few Against Many
Red Fenetre
The Great Excuse
Wasted Youth
Holsten Cadaver
Flares
Never Ending Lights
Worn Down
TGC
Kamakaze Afterparty
The Overwrought
Dingus Khan
Dickens Family
Mark Brayley
The Medlars
The Four Blokes
Kiss the Mistress
Shambolic Charm
Connor Sturges
Francesca Jones
The Crumpet Girls
Layer Marney
Fred Slattern
Drift
Toejam
Videotapes
Aaron Hughes
Lulu Saphire
Golden Jackals

Timings to follow

On Saturday 19^th March Slack Space Colchester is organising a 12 hour gig to raise money for Japan. Proceeds will go to Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. This is a Global Giving project working with organisations like International Medical Corps and Save the Children to distribute funds where they are needed to help the victims of the disaster.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Please consider helping us raise funds to help the people affected by the aftermath of this horrific disaster. Can you …

+ Share this e mail or the poster included?

+ Visit our just giving page and donate now:

+ Attend the 12 hour fundraising gig on Saturday 19 March:

+ Busk in town on the 19th to help raise money for the appeal:

+ Can you donate anything we can raffle on the 19th? Please bring prize donations to Slack Space during the week (Wed - Fri 11 - 6)

+ Can you volunteer to help on the day of the event?

+ Can you do another fundraising activity on the day of the event? So far we've had offers of vegan cupcakes and shiatsu massage and we’re hoping other venues in town will donate a percentage of their profits to the cause.

+ Do you have any other fundraising ideas?

Thank you!

Slack Space Colchester

Current exhibition

Have you seen the new exhibition at Slack Space yet? ‘Open 2’ is the second in our series of open

exhibitions featuring the work of local artists that has been put forward through our open

submissions procedure. 'Open 2' features work by:

Amy Wilesmith

Andrew Howell

Charlotte Strawberry

Derek Dooley

Frances Vincent

Geetha Alagirisamy

Jem Gooding

Marie Bevis

Souterrain: new Slack Space singing group

Slack Space is thrilled to announce that we will be hosting a new singing group on alternate Thursdays. ‘Souterrain’ is run by eminent local community musician Angela Dennis. Angela is a Natural Voice Practitioner. This means that at the heart of the group will be the idea that everyone can sing and singing is fun! Songs will be taught by ear and in an open, accessible and social manner. The Souterrain group developed from a piece of site specific theatre which took place at the old Keddies department store, the current home of Slack Space, in 2007. Souterrain starts on Thur 17 March at 7.30 and then will run on alternate Thursdays. Entry is by donation.

The Slack Diaries

Slack Space has started a new blog in order to offer a more personal account of experiences. This is in addition to our main blog. The new diaries also contain a calendar function which means you can log on at any point and get an up to date view of what is happening at Slack Space. This calendar will be updated daily so you will be able to see any recent changes and additions to events and exhibitions at Slack Space. We hope you find it useful.

Upcoming events

Thursday 17 March 7.30 Souterrain

Slack Space’s new open and accessible singing group

23rd March 12.30 - 2.30 Adults Craft Club

Learn craft and making skills with local artist Paula MacGregor

Saturday 26 March 2pm – 3pm Slack Jazz

Slack Space afternoon jazz jam. All welcome

Wednesday 30 March 7pm

Open meeting for Colchester Carnival

And don’t forget Piano Friday - every Friday from 11am – 6pm the piano is available for anyone who

would like to practice or play

Calls For Work

Call for Primary Schools Exhibition
We are looking for local primary schools to take part in an exhibition from 30 March – 15 April.
Please register your interest by 16 March with a brief description of the kind and amount of work you might have available.

Contact colchesterslackers (at) googlemail.com

Call for Earth Day Exhibition
Do you work with recycled or found materials? Paula Macgregor is curating a special exhibition in Slack Space from 20 April – 7 May. 2D and 3D work welcome.

Contact paula (at) donyland.co.uk

Call for regular literary group or event
After the huge success of the Slack Space Book Bang we wondered if anyone out there would be
interested and able to run some kind of regular literary based group or event at Slack Space.
Please let us know if you are interested and send in a short proposal to
colchesterslackers (at) googlemail.com