The Hub on Rye Hill held its first portrait workshop on Saturday May 11, courtesy of Rye Primary School, who kindly agreed to donate the use of their hall to host the event.
Twelve children from Rye Primary, Winchelsea, Wittersham, Playden, Homewood and St Leonard’s Academy came along with accompanying adults, who were either parents or grandparents, and sat facing each other for two hours.
They learned how to draw and then use watercolours to create each other’s portraits. The workshop was led by local artist Stephanie Fawbert. She taught everyone the essentials of how to paint a successful portrait and the importance of looking properly.
The workshop was a huge success with everyone agreeing that it was a fabulous way to spend an afternoon, and one participant claiming that she would never look at a person in the same way again.
The Hub on Rye Hill is the new community wellbeing centre currently being built by The Rye and Winchelsea District Hospital. Situated at the top of Rye Hill, the road leading out of Rye going towards Peasmarsh. It will be a beautiful, light, modern airy building featuring a café where the community can meet.
The Hub will offer out-of-hospital therapies with bathing facilities, and classes, such as Pilates and yoga. It will be open to everyone of all ages. You will be able to come along, enjoy a class, book an activity, have some physio, or just meet some friends, have a coffee, enjoy the space, the view and the wonderful garden that will be created.
The building will be completed in December 2019. At the moment the site is surrounded by the necessary white construction-site hoarding.
The portrait workshop project was conceived by Jane Fitch and Stephanie Fawbert on behalf of the Rye Hospital, to make the hoarding more exciting and colourful, to raise the profile, and generate interest around this beautiful new space, within the local community. The completed portraits, measuring over 1m x 1.5m will be displayed on the construction hoarding from the middle of June. They hope to have more than 40 portraits. It
will be a portrait of the community, painted by the community, for everyone to enjoy.
The Hub on Rye Hill still needs another £50,000 to complete the work. It is running a Buy a Brick Campaign through justgiving.com.
There will be a big summer fete held on June 22, from 1pm till 4pm. So come along, enjoy the portraits, have fun at the fete and support the new Hub.
Image Credits: Rye Hospital .