A labour candidate has set up a petition to save the GIANT gallery.
Jessica Toale created the petition following their announced closure at the end of the month and has already received 440 signatures.
She believes the gallery, which is located in the town centre, has been vital for Bournemouth and the closure has been a shock:
“I think GIANT has been only good for Bournemouth and for the town centre. I think it’s been so important to have the visual art space in the town centre, attracting people in and providing an outlet for creativity and inspiration.”
The GIANT gallery is been on the second floor of department store, Bobby’s, since 2021.
Owner, Stuart Semple, has shared his appreciation for the petition tweeting:
“It’s amazing how many people have already signed the petition! Thank you! I’m so moved reading all your comments. I’m working as hard as I can to try and keep something going in Bournemouth for you.”
Since the gallery opened over 240,000 people have visited its exhibitions.
The closure of the gallery is amongst other shut-down businesses in the town centre, with BCP council confirming today that The Ivy will no longer come to Bournemouth.
Jessica discussed how the dying high street is affecting Bournemouth:
“We’ve seen the town centre really decline over the past five to ten years. And if you look to what has been driving those changes, we’ve seen lots of consumer behaviour changes. The wonderful thing that art institutions do is bring people together for experiences that you wouldn’t otherwise have.”
She feels that the gallery has played an essential role in the community.
“I always felt that a gallery like GIANT could be a real linchpin in the town and could provide a community space, a place for interaction and inspiration.”
Jessica believes that we must ‘reinforce Bournemouth as a destination for the arts’, as the town suffers with rising costs and decreasing footfall.
“Bournemouth is facing what a lot of towns around the country are facing. People really want businesses to thrive, and they want it to be this unique place to have its own identity. The arts are certainly part of that.”
Since the petition was released, Jessica has received an extremely positive response.
She hopes to hold a series of talks and events to help find other ways to encourage the arts in Bournemouth and create the feeling and opportunities that the GIANT provided.
“I just wanted to demonstrate that there were enough people across the conurbation who really care about this issue and can see the benefits of arts and culture to the future of Bournemouth.”
Although the petition may not be able to save the GIANT gallery, Jessica hopes that it would encourage something similar in Bournemouth.
“What Stewart’s done with the gallery is fantastic. I think everybody does really see the benefit to having had GIANT here.”
GIANT is holding a farewell party on Friday 19th January between 6-9pm where anybody is welcome to come and celebrate the work of the gallery.
