THE GRIT
The Grit was a not for profit organisation, which drew its name from "The Grit", a famous lost fishing village on the Lowestoft coast that thrived in the early 1900s. The Grit opened in June 2022 in the Old Court Buildings in Old Nelson Street, Lowestoft and was a new centre for the arts and heritage in Lowestoft and had a large main space with a café, licensed bar and a books and prints bookshop, there were also studio spaces for rent and two large event rooms, court 1 for exhibitions and workshops and court 2 for meetings, rehearsals, performances and screenings. Regular events included Children’s Ukulele; Rock Choir; Book Club; French Conversation; Persistent Vision Cinema; Open Mic event; Songwriters Socials; Seagull Drama Group; Heritage Talks and Exhibitions etc. The Grit was made possible by the vision of the community and an opportunity to use the premises rent free and occupied a large area of the magistrate’s court in Old Nelson Street providing space in which art and sculpture was presented alongside a programme of art events, evening performance, cinema, and community activities. The Grit had an obligation to celebrate and promote the unique heritage of Lowestoft and comprised of a large exhibition space, a cinema, heritage centre, gallery and archive with attached reading room, multi-purpose community spaces with meeting rooms etc. and gallery or performance space for performers, exhibitors, and creatives. During its short life it hosted artwork by local artists in the Café from December 2022 with Easterly Artists having their first exhibition at The Grit’s new gallery space in 2023 and Suffolk artists who exhibited at The Grit included Mark Burrell, Alexander Costello, Mark Goldsworthy, Ben Quail with several group exhibitions. With no funding The Grit closed in September 2023 and the arts centre company was dissolved in March 2024.