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Brightlingsea Lido's plans to become a creative arts hub for the community have taken a major step forward with the appointment of two artists in residence who will work closely with Writer in Residence, Ruth Loten.

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Chrissie Richards, who is known for her narrative figure paintings and Becky Jackson, a textile designer whose own artwork focuses on seascapes, have joined established writer in residence Ruth Loten to form a creative team at the Lido.

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Chrissie and Becky are both based in Brightlingsea and will be giving their time and talents to work with Ruth on projects involving the community to produce artwork and written work to celebrate the Lido, which had its 90th anniversary last year.

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Ruth said: “I’m delighted to welcome Becky and Chrissie into the creative team at the Lido. Having two such talented artists on board means we can vastly expand what we’re able to offer the community and the Lido. On the back of the 90th anniversary celebrations last summer Becky, Chrissie and I will be working on projects to tell the story of the Lido.

To make this happen, the team need the community to come together to create some artwork. We will be running a series of workshops with the aim of involving as many people as possible in this project. We will be posting details about the workshops on Facebook soon. We are also planning to turn the history of the Lido story and artwork into a picture book.”

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Chrissie said: “I am very excited and pleased to be appointed as an artist in residence at the Lido.  I am a firm believer that being creative is good for people and I’m looking forward to working with the community on some exciting projects.”

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Becky said: “I am delighted to be working with Ruth and Chrissie, bringing art into the community. The Lido is at the heart of the town, it is a place of joy and wellness for many people and I hope that our art workshops and community projects will be an extension of that.”

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Lido trustee and Brightlingsea Mayor (2022-23) Mick Barry said: “The addition of artists in residence to our established writer post is an exciting development. Using the Lido site as a hub to encourage a range of artistic collaborations and projects is just brilliant.”

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