VBLT Press Statements

Update - 10 May 2008

Colchester Institute Celebrates the Lease of The Minories

The Trustees of the Victor Batte-Lay Trust (VBLT) and Colchester Institute are delighted to confirm that the College has officially taken over tenancy of The Minories, and will occupy the building with immediate effect. Colchester Institute was selected as tenant following a public tender process, and was confirmed by a formal voting by the Trustees.

A spokesperson for the Trust said, "The Trustees believe a very positive solution to the future of The Minories has been found, which would have the blessing of our benefactor, and will ensure that the community which Mrs Batte-Lay wished to benefit from her generosity will continue to do so."

They continued, "Colchester Institute ticks all the boxes and the team involved in the presentation won the support of the trustees. With the new tenant, The Minories will continue to be open to the public and provide a service which will have wide-ranging appeal and accessibility, whilst at the same time complementing regeneration activity in the locality, including firstsite's new building.

The Minories will provide a learning facility appropriate to and in support of four exciting new postgraduate courses at Colchester Institute, which have recently been validated by the University of Essex and sees the first intake of students on three of these programmes in September. The Masters in Art in a Social Context is running this year. These new postgraduate programmes are innovative and unique courses, which focus individuals on the use of the arts in celebrating, enhancing and improving cultural, commercial and business environments. The first floor will therefore be developed as studio, seminar and lecture spaces directly supporting the academic endeavour. This learning environment is being complemented by provision of a public art gallery, shop and café on the ground floor, which will operate under Colchester Institute also.

Exhibitions in the ground floor galleries will fulfil the Victor Batte-Lay Trust requirements of meeting the artistic needs of the people of Colchester. The first exhibition, to open in early June 2008, will include works by students and tutors who attended Colchester Institute in the '50s and '60s.

Other planned exhibitions include a selection of works from the permanent collections of Colchester Art Society, Colchester Borough Council and the Batte-Lay Trust, as well as exhibitions by prominent local artists.

The Centre for Art, Design and Media at Colchester Institute engages with local practitioners, organisations and industry in the form of projects, commissions, exhibitions and consultancy in the furtherance of the creative industries and The Minories makes an ideal setting for these activities.

Alan Smith, Head of Centre for Art, Design and Media, confirmed, "Our vision is to establish a vibrant educational centre in the heart of Colchester's emerging cultural quarter, which is artistically accessible to the local and tourist community. We are very excited and look forward to calling The Minories our home."

VBLT find new tenant for the Minories

The Trustees of the Victor Batte-Lay Trust (VBLT) are delighted to confirm that Colchester Institute - Colchester School of Art and Design, has been selected as the preferred tenant to occupy the Minories when the existing tenants, contemporary arts organisation firstsite, move to the new facility. The tenancy agreement is yet to be formalised and is subject to favourable reports from the Institute's advisers and building surveyors.

The VBLT came to this decision as a result of a public tender process. The opportunity to submit proposals for the tenancy was publicised through an advertising campaign in the local, arts and charity media and a website was created to support the process.

Three formal submissions were received and Colchester Institute was selected following a formal presentation and voting by the Trustees.

The Trust, which owns the building, purchased with a fund endowed by the late Mrs Victor Batte-Lay, was seeking an appropriate new tenant who both met the criteria of the endowment (which is essentially to provide a service for the benefit of local inhabitants with an interest in the artistic and antiquarian features of Colchester) and sustain the significant maintenance of this important historic building by entering into a fully repairing lease.

A spokesperson for the Trust said:

"The Trustees believe a very positive solution to the future of the Minories has been found which would have the blessing of the benefactor and will ensure that the community to which Mrs Batte Lay wished to benefit from her generosity will continue to do so. Colchester Institute ticked all the right boxes and the team involved in the presentation won the support of the Trustees. With the new tenant, The Minories will continue to be open to the public and provide a service which will have wide-ranging appeal and accessibility whilst at the same time complement regeneration activity in the locality including firstsite's new site."

Colchester institute's vision for the use of the building which won the support of the Trustees focuses on exhibition space for local artists as well as student and graduate space. It is intended that the MA Arts in the Community programme which is still to be validated by the University of Essex, will also be based there. Otherwise Colchester Institute proposes to continue with a shop and café offering, which will be open to the public and it wishes to explore further uses of the garden and the Gothic folly for musical and other performing arts events.

Alan Smith, Head of Centre for Art Design and Media at Colchester Institute confirmed: "Our vision is to establish a vibrant educational centre in the heart of Colchester's emerging cultural quarter which is artistically accessible to the local and tourist community. We are very excited and look forward to calling the Minories home."

For further information contact :
VBLT - Teresa Harman 07770 425068 or email her at vblt@th-marketing.co.uk
COLCHESTER INSTITUTE - Kati Vardon 01206 518685 or email her kati.vardon@colchester.ac.uk

February 2007

The deadline for the submission of proposals for the tenancy of the Minories has now passed (31 January 2007) and the Trustees are pleased to confirm that three submissions have been received.

In the interest of fairness, the identity of the organisations and the individuals behind these submissions will remain strictly confidential and the detail and full content of each proposal will be known to the Trustees only.

The timetable for the evaluation of the proposals will be as follows:

• Week commencing 12th February - The Trustees will receive copies of all the proposals for review
• 22nd February - the proposals will be discussed by The Trustees and proposals not matching the tenancy criteria will be rejected
• 15th March - Providing that there are candidates which meet the criteria and there are no other objections from The Trustees, these candidates will be asked to attend for an interview with the Trustees and the Trustees will then vote to select the preferred candidate. If at this stage there are no candidates which meet the criteria or if the candidate(s) decide for whatever reason to withdraw their application(s), the Trustees will consider the other options available.
• End of March - on the basis that there is a selected candidate which meets the criteria and who wishes to formalise the negotiations, the Trustees' aim is to be able to publicly announce the name of that candidate by the end of March.

October 2006 - VBLT launch campaign to find new tenant for the Minories

The Trustees of the Victor Batte-Lay Trust (VBLT) have launched a campaign to source a tenant for the Minories, currently occupied by the contemporary arts organisation firstsite.

The Trust, which owns the building, purchased with a fund endowed by the late Mrs Victor Batte-Lay, is seeking an appropriate new tenant who can both meet the criteria of the endowment (which is essentially to provide a service for the benefit of local inhabitants with an interest in the artistic and antiquarian features of Colchester) and sustain the significant maintenance of this important historic building by entering into a fully repairing lease.

The advertising campaign is complemented by the specially designed website www.vblt.org.uk. The Trustees are asking interested parties to submit formal proposals by the end of January 2007 in preparation for firstsite vacating the building by the end of the year.

Martyn Carr, Trustee was confident that the campaign will be a success:

"The Trustees believe a positive solution to the future of the VBLT will be found which would have had the blessing of the benefactor and will ensure that the community to which Mrs Batte Lay wished to benefit from her generosity will continue to do so."

The Minories, a house with Tudor origins, a Gothic folly, café and beautiful gardens, has been a public art venue since 1958. Its attractive location in the centre of Colchester, close to other key visitor attractions, will be open to proposals from arts and other related organisations operating in the "not for profit" sector.

For further information contact Teresa Harman 07770 425068 or email her at vblt@th-marketing.co.uk