8:41am Monday 29th June 2009
By Telegraph & Argus
Artists are being invited to celebrate completion of the £350,000 transformation of Bradford’s German Church into an arts centre.
The Delius Arts and Cultural Centre – named after Bradford composer Frederick Delius, whose parents were founder members of the church 130 years ago – is holding an exhibition of various artforms, including painting, drawing, ceramics, jewellery, textiles, photography, printmaking and sculpture.
The building, owned by the congregation, is being transformed into an arts centre thanks to funding which has included £120,000 from the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, £50,000 from Waste Recycling Environmental Limited, £10,000 from the Senior Support Fund, £70,000 from the German Church and £2,500 from Bradford arts company Fabric.
The centre is due to open later this year, and to celebrate there will be an art exhibition sponsored by Fabric and the Yorkshire Craft Centre. Local artists are invited to submit work under one of three themes – the architecture of the German Church, the music of Delius, or peace. The Grade II listed building, with its distinctive Germanic-Flemish styled slate spire, has a history linked to Bradford’s textile industry and the contribution made by its German population in the 19th century.
Delius’s parents were immigrants from Bielefeld in Germany, moving to Bradford to set up in textile business. Stained glass windows in the German church are dedicated to the Delius family.
The building also has links with the peace movement. Germans Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoeller, both prominent in the resistance against Nazism during the Second World War, preached at the church. Niemoeller was eventually imprisoned at Dachau Concentration Camp and Bonhoeffer was executed for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler.
The Bradford Declaration – a condemnation by German pastors in England of compromises some German clerics had made with the Nazis during the war – was signed at Bradford’s German church in 1933.
Claudia Powell, Delius Centre secretary and board member, said the call to artists to submit work is part of the centre’s mission to benefit the local community.
“It will add vibrancy to this part of the city while connecting its new, additional identity of being an arts and cultural centre with its rich and peaceful heritage,” she said. “The art exhibition is open to individual artists and groups. Each entrant may submit up to three works, and all works selected for the exhibition must be for sale. The work will be selected by a panel of art experts and critics.”
Entries must be submitted by Friday, September 25, to the Delius Arts and Cultural Centre, 29 Great Horton Road, Bradford, BD7 1AA. The exhibition will run from October 9 to November 27.
For more information, ring Clare Lamkin on (01274) 438945 or e-mail info@deliuscentre.org.uk
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/trade_directory/