Culture-led regeneration in seaside towns

In recent years, initiatives to commission art and cultural projects and programmes in regeneration plans have escalated, but there has not necessarily been a shared understanding of the process or possible impacts for seaside resorts. ‘We want an Angel of the North, but we want don’t want anything controversial!’ is a summary of the sentiments of many commissioners. This chapter aims to share the potential benefits and inevitable challenges that can arise from such ambition.

Millions of pounds are being invested in coastal initiatives based on ‘arts’ or ‘culture-led’ regeneration schemes, designed to improve the visitor image and quality of life in some of the most deprived coastal areas of England. What contribution can such schemes make, what are the barriers to successful commissioning and implementation, and what is being learned about the role of arts and culture in coastal regeneration?

Key findings emerging in arts and culture-led approaches to the regeneration of some of England’s seaside resorts are outlined here. While there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach, there are some overarching common themes contributing to the changing perceptions, challenging processes and emerging successes.

In cases where culture-led regeneration is showing emerging success, three underpinning themes are present. These are:

  • strong leadership at local political level;
  • a specific artistic vision for an area connected with its distinctiveness;
  • a genuine and broad engagement process.
Often commissioners want bold, iconic work – but what does that involve or mean? Where does the process begin? What might be the pitfalls? What could success look like?

Case Studies

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    England’s North West: Crosby

    Acceptance among local people and businesses can take time to win over, and it is often the case that arts and cultural projects need, somehow, to ‘prove their place’, to ‘justify their worth’ in gaining local respect. In small towns, large art projects can cause controversy.
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    England’s South East: Folkestone

    Folkestone Triennial4 includes headline artists and mixes temporary and permanent art in a deliberately small geographic area of Shepway. The Triennial is one part of a larger culture-led regeneration programme led by the Creative Foundation,5 which includes property acquisition and letting for creative and cultural industries and links with education and communities.
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    England’s South East: Margate

    Turner Contemporary6 is a visual arts organisation that celebrates J. M. W. Turner's association with Margate and, through a varied programme of exhibitions and events, promotes understanding and enjoyment of historical and contemporary art. Work is under way to build a permanent gallery which is due to open in Margate in 2011. As many readers will know, the project has not been without its complications over the past several years and lessons learned are generously shared. James Kennell, Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Regeneration, University of Greenwich suggests:7 
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    England’s North West: Blackpool

    The Great Promenade Show8 is a permanent outdoor linear public art gallery – ten permanent installations over two kilometres, commissioned and curated between 2000 and 20033 by a small team of north-western artists as part of a culture and regeneration scheme in the development of Blackpool’s South Shore Promenade. Artist and co-curator Michael Trainor conceived They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, a 20-feet diameter rotating mirrorball as part of the project.9 He comments:
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    England’s East Midlands: Lincolnshire

    Bathing Beauties®11 was conceived by Michael Trainor in response to his appointment as lead artist on the Lincolnshire coast from 2005 to 2008 and part of a series of coastal environmental improvement projects commissioned by Lincolnshire County Council, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Bathing Beauties® – ‘Re-imagining the British Beach Hut for the 21st Century’ – was initiated after identifying the potential based on an already existing 15-kilometre stretch of over 500 beach huts in varying states of repair. The project launched one of the most popular international art and architecture competitions in the UK this century – attracting 240 scale model entries from 15 different countries, gaining over 400,000 visitors to the website, and welcoming more than 10,000 additional visitors to the Lincolnshire coast in its first two-day festival in 2007. It has resulted in the commissioning of eight permanent small structures on the coast and additional strands, including a UK touring scale model exhibition and local annual festival. Additional European and other funding is being sought for a second phase. 
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