2018 was marked by a hard-fought fight for more finances for the arts sector. In May, Philip Hewat Jaboor, the Chair of Arthouse, joined Andrew Goodyear and Pierre Horsfall, from the Jersey Arts Centre and the Opera House, to sound the alarm about the “chronic underinvestment” that pushed the island’s arts scene to crisis point. 

ArtHouse eventually received £160,000 of additional funding, which Tom Dingle, Director, said meant they had a sustainable platform from which they could continue "to provide a vibrant and inclusive cultural programme that offers exceptional value for the public purse."

Pictured: Tom Dingle, Director of ArtHouse Jersey.

While he applauded the States decision, he also called on decision-makers to ensure that "the Opera House and Art Centre’s bids for funding are prioritised so that the cultural sector is able to contribute fully to the review that will take place in 2019, the delivery of a new cultural strategy, and the realisation of the sector’s ongoing sustainability”.    

Last year also saw the appointment of Matt Fiott to the newly-created position of Executive Producer, aimed to ArtHouse modernise operations and diversify income streams.

Mostly the year was busy creatively, as the Show Reel ArtHouse put together shows.

Video: ArtHouse's show reel highlights the different projects they supported in 2018. 

For Express, the team wrote a review of the past year. They also revealed a little bit of what they are cooking up for 2019.

"Throughout 2018, Express has delivered news of local creatives pushing artistic boundaries, events that bring colour and vibrancy to our Island community and projects that increasingly have an impact on the international arts scene. It’s natural to focus on the art or project itself, but you may have noticed that a new name keeps cropping up in connection with many of these initiatives.

ArtHouse Jersey works behind the scenes to nurture our artistic community, providing them with a platform to flourish. Formerly known as the Jersey Arts Trust, we supports artists from Jersey and across the world to create ambitious work that has a positive impact on our island and engages international audiences.

Pictured: Skipton Open Studios saw 70 local artists open their doors to 18,000 visitors.

This year ArtHouse Jersey’s work spanned from large scale public events such as Skipton Open Studios, which had nearly 18,000 attendees, to small experimental projects such as ‘Sound of Colour’, where a composer and filmmaker responded to Jason Butler’s newest exhibition.

We also commissioned a new play, ‘Jackie the Baboon’, created by some of the team behind West-End hit ‘War Horse’, which will be staged in 2019, and a new symphony, ‘Two Brothers’, by local composer Charles Mauleverer, which formed a central part of the Island’s official commemorations of the Armistice.

Video: A sneak preview of 'Jackie the Baboon', the story of a baboon that served in WWI.

We have hosted international artists all year round, and awarded funds to deserving local artists to create and develop new work. In doing so, we now have an impressive alumni who have benefitted from our support, including filmmaker Michael Pearce, recently nominated for 10 British Independent Film Awards following the release of his film ‘Beast’, and photographer Martin Toft, who was a winner in the Portrait of Britain 2018 exhibition.

We hope your 2018 was as exciting as our own and we send everyone well wishes for the new year. Expect to hear a lot more about ArtHouse Jersey in 2019.

We’ve got big public projects planned, exciting commissions in the pipeline and a raft of interesting artist residencies coming up. You might not have known about our work before, but that’s set to change."