Funding of £450,000 from East Hampshire District Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) has brought the redevelopment of Alton’s Allen Gallery one step closer to realisation.
Hampshire Cultural Trust, which manages the Allen Gallery, is 10 months into the first phase of a major project, supported by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to reimagine and redevelop the gallery for the community and town of Alton. During this first development phase, the focus has been on the rediscovery of the collection of nationally and internationally important ceramics that is held both at the gallery and at HCT’s central storage facility in Winchester. To date, research has been undertaken on more than 3800 ceramics, unearthing their wealth of stories and discovering themes that connect them, such as tea drinking, comedy and ornamental.
Also integral to this first phase, have been the development and design of architectural plans to remodel the galley so that the newly researched ceramics can be showcased to better effect and to allow them to be accessible to all visitors, from novices to those with a specialist interest. Plans for the gallery also include the creation of a dedicated community space, with the overall objective of transforming the gallery into a thriving heritage and cultural hub for the community of Alton and the surrounding area.
Full refurbishment of the gallery is the second phase of the project, and this CIL funding, which is raised from developers that build homes in the district and then distributed to support infrastructure projects in the area, is a major step forward in the realisation of these ambitious plans.
Deborah Neubauer, Director of Community and Impact at Hampshire Cultural Trust, commented: ‘We are absolutely thrilled to have received this very significant CIL funding from East Hampshire District Council. The redevelopment of the Allen Gallery is a major project for Hampshire Cultural Trust and when completed, we envision that the revitalised Allen Gallery will make a huge contribution to the culture, economy and life of Alton.
‘However, while this funding is without doubt a big step forward, we still have quite a way to go to secure all the funding that we need. We have just launched a community fundraising campaign, where we are asking supporters and visitors to donate a unique, handmade ceramic to raise funds, and in November, we will be submitting a second application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a further grant towards the full refurbishment so that we can transform the Allen Gallery into the very special place that we know it can be.’
Community is at the heart of the Rediscovering the Allen Gallery project, and during this first phase, multiple sessions have taken place with volunteers, individuals and groups from the local community to discover both their needs and what they would like to see from a redeveloped cultural venue in Alton. A new exhibition that has just opened at the Allen Gallery has taken these sessions one step further. All Fired Up! displays some of the research which has been undertaken in the first months of the project, as well as initial ideas and plans on what the Allen Gallery could look like once refurbished. Visitors to the gallery are invited to feedback their own thoughts and ideas on the plans for the gallery, share their opinions and ask questions. All Fired Up! runs until 12 September and will be accompanied by a programme of events and activities for the whole family to enjoy, including a trail showcasing some of the untold stories of the ceramics collection, nature journalling and activity tables, all free of charge.
For more information, please visit https://www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/all-fired-up.