We’re thrilled to announce that Our Big Picture has successfully raised £332,000 to carry out vital accessibility, conservation, and repair works on our Grade II listed Georgian buildings at 17–21 Bethlehem Street, Grimsby. This milestone marks a huge step forward in our journey to create an inclusive and fully accessible Arts & Heritage Hub for North East Lincolnshire.
Over the past year, our dedicated team has been fundraising and collaborating with key funders and stakeholders to bring this vision to life. The restored buildings will feature flexible and adaptable creative spaces, empowering our creative and heritage community to expand their work, engage with more people, and deliver a broader range of arts and heritage projects.
🎨 What This Means for Our Community:
• New accessible spaces.
• Conservation and repair work to restore this iconic building.
• Spaces for creative industries, workshops and group sessions, and exhibitions.
• A lasting legacy for arts and culture in NE Lincolnshire.
Since acquiring the building in 2022, we’ve seen the incredible potential of this space. In 2023 alone:
✅ 4,000+ participants engaged in activities like urban archaeological digs and art sessions.
✅ 129 artists commissioned, supporting 82 early and mid-career artists.
We couldn’t have achieved this without the unwavering support of our funders, including:
• Arts Council England
• Garfield Weston Foundation
• Pilgrim Trust
• The Foyle Foundation
• NELC through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund
As Pete Massey, Director of Yorkshire, Arts Council England, shared:
“Our Big Picture is a really exciting project that will create a fully accessible and inclusive creative community space in Grimsby. We’re thrilled to have supported this initiative through our Capital Investment Programme, which aims to give more communities around the country vital creative spaces and hubs, so that more people in more places can experience art and culture on their doorstep.”
Our CEO, Paula Denton, also said:
“We feel privileged to be the custodians of this building and excited to create a lasting legacy for the arts and culture of the town. Thank you to all our funders and stakeholders for their continued support and belief in this project.”
Together, we’re building a brighter, more creative future for NE Lincolnshire.
Building work to be completed by October 2025 – Stay tuned as we embark on this transformative journey!
A special thank you to Mother Architects for helping us secure RIBA 4 and planning permission.
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