The New Wolsey Theatre is proud to be a member of We Are Ipswich, the independent forum bringing together the town’s leading arts and heritage organisations.
Our Chief Executive/Artistic Director, Douglas Rintoul, currently chairs the forum.
Ipswich has a significant cultural infrastructure, with outstanding venues, organisations, artists and creative communities. We believe this is the town’s superpower: Ipswich is a cultural capital of the region, where creativity enriches lives, brings people together and helps shape the town’s future.
Together, we champion Ipswich’s cultural life, share knowledge and resources, and create opportunities for the town and its communities. Members span theatre, dance, music, museums, libraries, heritage, film and visual and performing arts, collectively reaching hundreds of thousands of people each year.
Our collaborations include securing investment for shared cultural projects, joint marketing campaigns, and the collective curation of Ipswich’s festival of new and contemporary work, In the Works. We also work together on the development of a Culture and Heritage Strategy for Ipswich and the town’s UK City of Culture 2029 bid.
These shared projects bring together our expertise, programmes and networks to reach wider audiences and help shape Ipswich’s cultural future.
Our members
Brighten the Corners/Out Loud Music, Clay1A, Colchester and Ipswich Museums, DanceEast, Eastern Angles Theatre Company, Furtherfield, Gecko, Ipswich Book Festival, Ipswich Theatres, IP-Switched, King Street Cinema, New Wolsey Theatre, Red Rose Chain, SPILL Festival + Think Tank, Suffolk Archives, Suffolk Libraries and Wolsey 550.
Stakeholder observers
Arts Council England, Ipswich Borough Council and Ipswich Central.
Read the document below to find out more about our shared ambitions and how the forum works.