JOSH WARD has been coming to Lighthouse for most of his life. He spent the summer working on SALT, the community play for Poole, and was delighted this autumn to be offered a job working on Ticket Office. Like all new starters he was given a guided tour of our iconic building and learned more about the work that happens here – something he found particularly inspiring...
Hi, my name is Josh and I love Lighthouse. It’s one of the biggest arts centres outside of London and that is something I am very proud of.
Whilst the achievements of this organisation are celebrated, such as winning Best Place to Work at Poole Business Awards and being nominated as Best Panto at this year’s Panto Awards, what I feel is missing is the actual building itself being celebrated for how remarkable it is more than 40 years on from when it first opened. I think the whole building is breath taking and, to me, it is the literal equivalent of Doctor Who’s Tardis.
I am a massive history geek and a bit of a nerd when it comes to exploring the past, so I would really love to celebrate how amazing this building is. In my eyes, Lighthouse is the heart of modern Poole, just like how the Antelope was the heart of Poole in the 17th century as shown in SALT.
I think when people visit Lighthouse they often forget that we have a gallery space available to visit for free. If I could wave a magic wand and have unlimited resources, I’d be the curator of an exhibition in the gallery all about the history of this building featuring pictures of the past as well as old props and archive footage.
My plan would be to create a sound and visual landscape that is both accessible and inclusive so that it would open up who can engage with this exhibition. Getting this right is a must. I would conduct interviews with people who have fond memories of this building as well as those who worked here in the past.
Oh, and one more thing to ponder… if the building could talk, what would it say?