Regeneration expert visits the Island next week

Erika Rushton, Chairman of Liverpool’s Baltic Creative, will be speaking at the Market Hall on Tuesday 6 September at 6pm, as part of MakeMarket: A Creative Industries Takeover.

A creative economist with experience of delivering creatively-led buildings and area regeneration, over the last 20 years Erika has delivered and advised on neighbourhood redevelopments, and assembled partners and funds for both employment creation and physical redevelopment programmes. Erika has been hugely influential in the renaissance of Liverpool’s Cultural Quarter and was also involved with the Turner Prize-winning ‘Granby Four Streets’, which brings together artists, architects and designers to work with the local community to regenerate  a previously rundown area.  

MakeMarket organiser Kate Brier says how pleased she is to welcome Erika to the Isle of Man.

'Erika is an inspirational woman whose ideas and enthusiasm have influenced many people who want to see their local built environment regenerated, not demolished. She is also a proponent of ‘creative spaces’ of which Baltic Creative is just one example and I’m looking forward to hearing her ideas about what we could be doing to facilitate something similar here on the Island.'

Erika’s talk marks the beginning of MakeMarket’s focus on architecture and ties in with the current Isle of Architecture campaign. On Saturday 10 September, following on from discussions recently held by the Creative Industries Group, local architects and creative professionals will collaborate in a workshop exploring what a ‘space for making’ means and what such a space could include. This event also includes a presentation by local woman Jasmin Eastwood and her fellow architect Jade Meek, who will revisit their alternative Douglas Masterplan, which they first presented a year ago and which attracted a great deal of interest and comment. Although the workshop is for invited professionals only, interested members of the public are invited to see the results from 5.15pm the same day, and the material produced will be on display at the Market Hall throughout September.

Full details of all the above events can be found on www.facebook.com/MakeMarketIOM

MakeMarket: A Creative Industries Takeover is supported by the Isle of Man Arts Council, Department of Economic Development, Culture Vannin, Manx Lottery Trust and UCM. The initiative is being co-ordinated by UCM and local events and marketing consultancy Revel.