Art - Star Gallery

It is fairly safe to say that the old Star Gallery premises on Castle Ditch Lane is the creative hub of Lewes, even though they are not showing art exhibitions in the main gallery with the frequency they used to. Perhaps with this in mind the twenty-two companies housed in the building, all hand-picked for their artistic or artisanal products, have organised a show in the gallery in which they showcase their talents. Each enterprise has depicted what they do on an A3 board. On Friday evening (6pm-9pm) the tenants of the building are hosting a private viewing at which they will be on hand to discuss their work.

The show has been up since Tuesday, so I went along for a preview. It doesn’t grab you in the same way a carefully curated art exhibition might, but it is worth popping in to see the variety of companies that work there, some of which I didn’t previously know existed. I knew about the jewellers, guitar-makers, potters, artists and some of the designers there. I knew of the sci-fi cartoon-book illustrator. But didn’t have a clue that the former brewery housed a ‘fibre artist’ (Anne Schulte) or a ‘wine boffin’ (Olly Smith) or a ‘ceramics and glass restorer’ (Sarah Burges) or, indeed, a ‘press-release specialists’ (Press Dispensary). Norman Baker MP and Mayor Merlin Milner will be at the do. “Given the recent battle regarding local beer at the Lewes Arms,” says Merlin, “it is fitting that we are celebrating that talent within the brewery that used (the pub) as the brewery tap.” AG