Arts Junction

Arts Junction, now in its third year is a mixed arts venture in the heart of Arundel. Arundel is a rich melting pot of music, theatre and the visual arts, but what’s been missing is a way of bringing them all together.

Hence Arts Junction – a chance for artists to bring and take away ideas & inspiration from across as many art forms as the local community can foster.

The event occurs monthly on the second Monday of each month, the evening offering up a mixture of poetry, music, theatre and visual art provided by different artists each month.

Mike Carey, Barry Smith and Bill Brennan curate each of their respective art interests to ensure a balanced and varied mix of artistic expression.

The evenings take place in the newly refurbished theatre space of the Red Room, an intimate space ideal for music, poetry and theatre.

Tickets are £12 and the money goes directly to the artists involved on the evening.

Mike Carey

Mike is an active jazz pianist on the local music scene and is involved in the running of the jazz club at the Jailhouse as well as many other musical events locally and further afield. Mike studied at the London College of Music, but then took a left turn into the world of computer programming. Recently back on track, he has recorded four albums with his band, Big House, and is performing and composing at every opportunity. He can sometimes be caught hobnobbing with performance poets as a musical interpolator.

Bill Brennan

Bill is co-founder and artistic director of Drip Action Theatre Company, a registered charity established in 1987 to promote drama with a focus on new writing. He is formerly Chair of the Arundel Festival, an annual arts event with an attendance of around 60,000.

Barry Smith

Barry is currently the director of the South Downs Poetry Festival and was for ten years co-ordinator of the Festival of Chichester. He curates the poetry element of Blakefest and edits Poetry & All That Jazz magazine. Barry was runner-up in a BBC Proms Poetry Competition and shortlisted for the Bread & Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award, 2021. His poetry collection, Performance Rites, is available from Waterloo Press.

He has worked in education, as a theatre director and as a critic. Productions directed include Antigone for the Edinburgh Festival and Murder in the Cathedral and The Mysteries for Chichester Cathedral. His poems have appeared in journals and magazines, as well as online and on YouTube, including Acumen, Agenda, Culture Matters, Frogmore Papers, the Journal, the Stony Thursday Book, London Grip, Orbis and Poetry South East. He can sometimes be caught hobnobbing with jazz and roots musicians as a performance poet.