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By PEER
PEER makes the experience of great art part of daily life. We want to maximise our visibility from the street, to entice and welcome audiences to enjoy our exhibitions and participation programmes.
PEER gallery comprises two well-proportioned, single-glazed 1970s shop units that measure 10 metres across and look onto the high street. When we are closed and at night, the shutters are down, creating a poorly lit, unwelcoming and alienating environment.
We want to say ‘hello Hoxton High Street’ by dramatically transforming our outward appearance. We want to be more visible and welcoming to attract new audiences. To do this we will replace the shopfronts with an elegant, single-entrance façade and install internal see-though shutters. This will increase footfall and gallery visitors and mean that our exhibitions are visible when we are closed.
PEER has been based on Hoxton Street since 2002 and has exhibited more than 50 world-class artists, many of whom are Hackney residents. We provide a range of participatory activities for our local schools and community groups, and have also commissioned a number of highly acclaimed public realm art projects locally and around Hackney.
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
PEER believes a vibrant high street should offer a range of services and experiences – shops, cafes, hairdressers, a library, a post office, green space and cultural facilities. This kind of diversity is key to community cohesion and wellbeing, and is vital to combat the increasing homogenization and decline of many high streets.
Our programme receives fantastic backing from Hackney Council, the Arts Council and others. However, since we moved here in 2002 our frontage has given us the look of a temporary ‘pop up’ space. Now is a great moment put down firm roots and to really strengthen our role within the ecology of the high street. By installing a new double-glazed and well designed frontage and internal see-through shutters, we will embed PEER into the local community and safeguard our place on Hoxton Street for the long term. Through the physical improvement of the environment, this project will stimulate a sense of pride and ownership and offer art as part of daily life.
Steps to get it done:
'Hello Hoxton High Street' is the key element of a two-phase project. Phase One will transform the poorly designed and unwelcoming public realm space to the front and south of PEER by creating a pocket park and to install seating and lighting. This work will be taking place in the coming weeks with overwhelming support from the local community.
The new frontage and shutters for PEER will be a tremendous way to reinforce our commitment to making the local area a better place to live, work and visit. With the new facade and shutters in place we will also carry out upgrades to the gallery itself, including new lighting and flooring and the introduction of climate control.
PEER believes that the high street is the backbone of the community. It is a place where people shop and socialise, and can also be a place of opportunity and to discover new things. The arts can contribute to community cohesion, reduce social exclusion and isolation and make communities feel safer and stronger.
Journey
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Discover and support community projects helping to transform Hackney's public spaces!
Brilliant news, thanks everyone!
Whoop, 190 people have pledged since fundraising began!
It was announced earlier today that PEER has received a pledge of £19,000 from the Mayor's High Street Fund towards our Hello Hoxton High Street campaign. This is utterly fantastic news! This leaves us with a further £1,105 to raise by the deadline on October 14. Given the momentum and enthusiasm for the project we are confident that this will be achieved! We will be in touch again once we have reached this target, so in the meantime, if you know of others who would like to be a part of this success story and want to help make Hoxton Street the best high street in London, do send them the link to make a pledge! https://www.spacehive.com/hellohoxtonhighstreet With all very best wishes Ingrid, Gemma and Khadija at PEER
Dear PEER Supporter Today was set as the target to reach our fundraising goal, but as you can see, our campaign now has a further 41 days to run. This has happened because there has been an overwhelming number of excellent projects posted onto the Spacehive site that seek support from the Mayor's High Street Fund. As a result, the Mayor has now decided to make his pledges in mid September rather than by the end of August as first planned. We will now be informed of the Mayor's decision about his support of our project in a couple of weeks, after which time we have been given a further month to reach out final goal! I will be in touch again as soon as we have heard from the Mayor. But in the mean time many thanks again for your fantastic support, and do share the link to our Spacehive page https://www.spacehive.com/hellohoxtonhighstreet if you know of others who would like to help make Hoxton Street the best high street in London! With all very best wishes Ingrid Director, PEER
Whoop, 100 people have pledged since fundraising began!
Come on down to Hoxton Street Market today for PEER's Grand Tombola! Everyone's a winner! Prizes donated from Hoxton Street shops and traders include pie & mash for two, drinks at Howl at the Moon, £40 voucher for a meal at Waterhouse restaurant, condition cut and blow dry at Hoxton Salon, tea towels, jam, postcards and many more. All proceeds will go towards our spacehive campaign.
How will the money be spent?Target (inc. fees) £44,791
Costs Breakdown
This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.
Target (inc. fees) £44,791
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