We’re here! We finally made it…

Exactly two years ago today, it would have been Fox Yard Studio’s original launch date! I thought it would be timely to take a look at how far we’ve come over the past two years and to celebrate with a special announcement…

As everyone will know, the last two years was an odd time. It was a time of uncertainty with lots of waiting and hoping for things to start to feel ‘normal’ again.

For much of 2020 and some of 2021, I worked from home, returning to my creative roots, exploring different training that would help me build Fox Yard Studio once I was able to reopen. Then in April 2021, things started to come back to life again!

I reopened the studio as a coworking space and welcomed a new Kickstart team in collaboration with our neighbours, Modece Architects. With the new team, we applied and won the Stowmarket Library Garden Project!! I couldn’t believe the timing of it all… Within two weeks of the Kickstart team starting, we won the competition and two days after the new Library garden was launched, the team finished their 6 month placement. What a whirlwind!

It was such a valuable experience for all of us, we learned so much and it was a great opportunity to work, not only with the incredibly talented creative team in the Old Fox Yard, but also with the other organisations in Stowmarket, collaborating as a team to create this new garden for the community.

Also during 2021, Fox Yard Studio became a part of the Stowmarket Culture Group. This was another great opportunity to get to know local businesses and organisations as well as get involved in local events that help Stowmarket thrive as a town and community. We took part in a new event put on by Babergh MidSuffolk District Council called the Time Machine event! The Old Fox Yard was filled with images of it’s past, from the history of Misty the Fox and our fox statue to images of the Old Fox Yard throughout the past decades! We were also joined by the lovely Judith & Maggie from Stow Stories, bringing people together and sharing stories of Stowmarket. (Photos below by MSDC Photographs: Gregg Brown)

And while all of this was going on, Fox Yard Studio also underwent some refurbishments! We had the old carpet ripped out, walls repainted and new spotlights put in. It was finally looking more and more like an art gallery! After the Kickstart team finished their placements and the refurbishments in the studio was finished, plans for the Winter Art Trail 2021 began! It was a new venture in Stowmarket and thought it would be a wonderful way to bring some art onto the high street. Stowmarket Town Council helped with covering the cost of materials that the artists painted onto which was a great help. We were also approached by BBC Radio Suffolk to chat about the Winter Art Trail, which was personally bit nerve-wracking (!) but it turned out to be a great experience in the end!

As 2021 drew to a close, of course I must mention the opening of Pallet next door! With a beautifully designed space by Modece Architects, it was a wonderful feeling walking into the newly finished bar with all the artwork by locals artists up on the walls. All the late nights preparing for the opening definitely paid off. And hats off to Ella, who runs Pallet, she has done an amazing job with the bar since it opened!

Once Pallet opened, Christmas soon followed and before we knew it, it was 2022!

After having some time to recoup (and recover from Covid) things have started to buzz again in the studio. With Spring rolling in, seeing the newly planted flowers in the yard (Thank you Colin from Red Gables!) and plans in the pipeline for the upcoming year, there’s excitement in the air.

2 years later… and it’s all finally coming together. We had our first art night last week in Pallet which was such a success! (Read more about it on our next blogpost!) Now I’m very excited to announce that we have our first workshops at Fox Yard Studio up online and more to come very soon. Let’s go 2022!

2 years later...