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Multi Cultural Hub

Where’s the Multi Cultural Hub of Derby? At Artcore, of course!

The Artcore Gallery, Shop, Café and Studios – a comprehensive Multi Cultural Hub – is at the heart of all contemporary art activities in Derby city!

Offering something for everyone, we are superbly positioned at the Osnabruck Square, right in the middle of downtown Derby, close to several premium shopping stores and eateries, museums and entertainment spots, popular squares and plazas, where people gather, spending leisurely time with friends and family. It is truly the Multi Cultural Hub of Derby; just as the Artcore Charnwood Street is its Community Hub since more than a decade!

Our street-facing, two-storeyed corner building has a lovely Café on one side of the ground floor, spilling into the pavement outside to make the most of good-weather days. The Café easily seats 30+ persons, offering hot and savoury vegetarian/vegan snacks, hearty soups and brunches, cakes and cookies, tea, coffee and cold drinks.  The other side, overlooking the busy street, accommodates the open craft store, displaying wonderful  and creative greeting cards, watercolour paintings and prints, jewellery, studio pottery, embroidery and crochet knick-knacks  made by the talented artist community of Derbyshire whom Artcore supports. The ground floor also accommodates spaces for open workshops and closed door meetings. All spaces on the ground floor can be manipulated to transform them into a large single space if that is what a planned event requires.

The first floor is the Gallery. It is disabled-friendly and can be easily accessed by stairs and a lift. It has a large multi-purpose, T-shaped hall that can host art and book exhibitions, small films and documentary screenings, art installations, talks and book readings, dance demonstrations, cultural events, meetings and small conferences.

As of now, we offer,

  1. Free Art Sessions (1 to 3 pm, Mon to Fri)
  2. Sew & Socialise (1 to 3 pm, on Mondays)
  3. Knit & Natter (1 to 3 pm, on Tuesdays)
  4. Mindful Colouring (1 to 3 pm, on Wednesdays)
  5. Craft Creations (1 to 3 pm, on Fridays)
  6. Carers 2 for 1 (9.30 am to 12 noon, Mondays)
  7. Reading Club (11.30 am to 12.30 pm, Thursdays)

These activities are all held on the ground floor, amidst much bonhomie and friendly chatter, ready to be spiced with steaming hot and fresh goodies from the Café!

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Derby-Osnabruck-Derby

Since the German town of Osnabruck is ‘twinned’ as a city with Derby (the stone pedestal marking this is just opposite our main door; an ideal selfie point!), we have successfully initiated an Artist Exchange Residency with Osnabruck. Osnabruck sent across an invaluable exhibition of their German-Jewish artist-son, Felix Nussbaum’s artworks (as a Jew he was killed at Auschwitz in 1944) which were exhibited at Artcore in 2022. This was the first time a major show of Nussbaum’s works was held in England, and that too in the UK. A huge feather in Artcore’s cap! Then in the summer of 2023, two Derby-based artists were selected by Artcore to go to Osnabruck on a 10-day Residency Programme.

 

International and Local Artist Residencies

Artist Residencies were something that Artcore has been aiming at for the longest time. With reliable and knowledgeable associates in the contemporary art world in India, a Residency programme for British artists to travel to India for 10-15 days, spend time in a homestay with Indian artists, and timed so as to coincide with one of the secular, colourful Indian festivals, is already being successfully implemented and more are in the pipeline in the coming years. The experience for the British artists is then truly a cultural exchange – they experience a slice of Indian life actually lived, and not just partake of a touristic, shallow experience. More than a dozen British artists have travelled to India on our fully-paid-for Residencies over the last few years.

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Art Workshops, Exhibitions 
 

Special Art Workshops in specific mediums such as Studio Pottery, Water Colour on Paper, Acrylic on Glass, Photographing People, and so on, are organised on a regular basis. New subjects for study are added every year, especially keeping in mind artists’ requests.

We have a range of versatile spaces for Studio Hire at the Cultural Hub (Osnabruck Square) and the Community Hub (Charnwood Street). We actively support the development of emerging artists from Derby and the East Midlands, as well as featuring the works of more established UK and international artists.

Our Community Hub is situated in the heart of the diverse and BME communities that we have been serving for more than a decade. Our Cultural Hub draws its strength from our proven ability to connect with diverse communities proactively, by offering a welcoming and safe space to practise a range of creative activities, removing the barriers of age, orientation, educational/financial background, and ethnicity.

 
So, connect with Artcore … and express yourself and share your creative work with the World!