Julia Kotziamani & Hastings Art School

SU48C, Priory Meadows, Hastings, TN34 1PH
Open: Thursday 10am -1pm , Friday 12-4 pm, Saturday 1-5 pm, and Sunday 1-4 pm.

Julia is an artist, teacher and founder of Hastings Art School. She works across several mediums exploring relational dynamics, the dialectics of institutional selves, and the conditions of living and working as a single mother in poverty. Her work takes many forms including paper cutting, installation, relational events, performance and most recently film. She is fascinated by the social economy of digital identity and uses lots of digital ephemera, memes and short-form content in her work.

Whilst doing her MFA at Goldsmiths Julia experienced many barriers facing artists who live and work outside of London who do not have the privilege of wealth or formal qualifications. As founder and director of Hastings Art School Julia supports artists in their creative development and with learning the tools for a long-term creative career. The art school offers accessible programmes, events and workshops to support artists in the local area who cannot, or who don’t want to, attend a traditional art school. The aim is to provide high-quality arts education, library resources and events traditionally supported through a post-grad level programme, whilst removing some of the main barriers to learning facing artists in Hastings.

Julia will use the space to develop her own practice and to showcase other local working-class artists from Hastings Art School via exhibitions, practical and conceptual workshops, lectures, talks and events.

Julia lives and works in Hastings, East Sussex.

Public Programme

About Hastings Art School
HAS is a local, accessible art school with 25 artists currently enrolled. Our aim is to provide creative development and career opportunities to artists in the local area who do not want to, or cannot attend a traditional art school.

Their core offering is a flexible 30-week programme, accessibly priced, for local artists at any stage of their career who want to challenge and drive their practice in a critical, collaborative environment. HAS have no specific entry requirements and are open to artists from any background, working in any medium. They host practical workshops, lectures and student-led exhibitions and are committed to reducing some of the barriers to learning facing lots of artists in Hastings and the surrounding area.

Julia and HAS have hosted a range of exhibitions and pratical workshops. Exhibitions have included ‘The Space Between The Shadows’, ‘Here to There to Here: Hastings’, ‘Stade: Landing’, ‘Still Moments, Space, and Light’ and ‘No More Silence’. They have also presented their student’s work in collaborative exhibitions. Additionally, Julia and HAS have hosted a multitude of interesting workshops across drawing, painting, mosaic, weaving, print and collage practices.