I'm spitting feathers..........!!

Yesterday I called in at the King of Hearts Art Centre, as I usually do whenever I'm in the Magdelen Street area of Norwich. I was delighted to find a terrific exhibition by Liz McGowan and Malca Shotten, Studies of Happisburgh Shoreline. Really powerful drawings, paintings and sculpture in response to the crumbling cliffs and the resultant forms on the beach. It's not to be missed and the sort of exhibition that the King of Hearts does superbly.

Upstairs music was being played and other visitors were sitting out in the beautiful courtyard enjoying lunch from the restaurant in the sunshine.

Imagine then my horror to find that the centre is to close at the end of the year due to financial problems brought about by the current climate. I'm furious that this oasis of all that is good about the arts today is to go, and that the Arts Council won't help because it's 'too small'. No funding can be found to support it. I am tempted to think that a few bankers' bonuses should be raided, as their negligence is the main cause of this. How many other small and very worthwhile arts foundations are in similar trouble.

If you are in the area and can get to the centre and enjoy its facilities please do so. Then, if like me you feel it's a gem, get in touch with the EDP newspaper and rant a bit to see if there's anything to be done even at the eleventh hour.