Who We Are, What We Do

We are an art agency inspired by and working within the coastal town of Felixstowe. Over the last six years, we have commissioned artists, worked alongside young people, developed a small, pilot festival, mentored artists and hosted talks, events and socials.

How We Work 

Our primary motivation is to test new ways of bringing artists and communities together to explore connections between arts and health within the specific context of the coast. Finding means to challenge hierarchies amongst artists-audiences-commissioner-place is what excites us. Much of this work is process-led and experimental. We are as interested in ‘how’ we do what we do as much as ‘what’ emerges. This approach allows us to keep asking important questions: Who is this project for? Who can be involved and benefit? Who will care? 

Scale of what we do is not our key driver. Instead, our programme focuses on three main strands that complement rather than compete with other arts activity in the East:

• Commissioning Socially-Engaged Artists

• Artist Support and Development

• Creative, Community Engagement

Collaboration lies at the centre of what we do. By working through ‘borrowed infrastructure’ - without a fixed project space and often in  the public realm - we seek to prioritise community participation and partnership working, stay nimble and responsive in changing times, and maintain a low carbon footprint. For more information about our collaborators and partners, please head over to the Supporters page.

Pier Projects became a registered CIC in 2017, operating as a not-for-profit. We raise money to support the artists and communities we work alongside through grants. Our asset-lock means that we cannot spend this money on anything other than arts activity and if we cease working, our assets will be transferred to a like-minded organisation.

Why We Do This

Founded in 2017 by arts producer Natalie Pace and arts educator Louise Stratford, `our work emerged out of the experience of training together for a marathon, running along Felixstowe’s seafront. Our interests in endurance running and swimming events, prompted thought and discussion around dualisms of mind and body, physical, mental and environmental health and wellbeing and the potential of art to interrogate these themes.

These thematics are rooted in aspects of Felixstowe’s heritage. During the 1850’s the Suffolk town was a renowned Victorian spa resort, frequented for the health benefits of being by the including taking in the sea waters and air. This history as a spa town and the physiological benefits of its coastal location included several convalescent homes across the twentieth century, where people went to recover slowly from illness, outside of the hospital environment. Today, the reinvigorated spa gardens take pride of place along the promenade, over 200 community groups support community health and social interactions and the proliferation of walkers, sea swimmers and runners further supports a profile of the town as that which fosters positive wellbeing. In developing the infrastructure of an organisation, our ambition is to support this characteristic of the town - its heritage and contemporary interests and activity-  to be explored through an artistic lens.

Our Programme