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For those who have been living in Coventry, or indeed anywhere for a very long time, it sometimes might make sense for their appreciation of the city to have dwindled a little.

Having lived in Cyprus until the age of 18, then three years of study in one of the smallest towns I've yet seen, Loughborough, has left me with little in the way of an atmosphere that embraces the arts and culture.

This might be because I've so far lived in communities that are very small, tight-knit and simply don't have enough diversity of people within them to create an arts culture and society.

I've been to London and sought out the arts there. While it is quite obvious that there is an arts culture in London, it is not always prominent and not apparent everywhere you go.
For example, last time I was there visiting a friend, I asked her about whether she had seen the West End Musical, Mamma Mia, and she just shrugged and casually asked, "Oh, is it on at the moment?"

Then I thought it must be a personal thing. After all, not everybody likes to watch the football, so why should everybody enjoy culture and the arts?

Coventry’s Secrets

I got extremely lucky it turns out, to gain myself a position reporting the arts in Coventry, rather than anywhere else. As I applied for the position, I researched the area and its secrets, and the more I read, the more I found was available. The more I found out there, the more excited I got about having chosen the right place to explore.

Lady Godiva Statue

I read about Lady Godiva, and how out of this story, an entire festival is held every year without fail, with an emphasis on live music and encouraging new talent. The amount of genres of music and forms of entertainment is endless.
Well, to me, the whole concept and idea of a festival is art in its own right and next year, I look forward to attending it.

I also read about the many artists, whose form of expression is through painting, sculpting and physically making things. I was lucky enough to meet some of these artists and painters, talk to them and I found that they were content with the work they had, with the publicity and with the facilities available around Coventry.
In any other town, city or country artists are always the ones complaining about how difficult it is for them to get their work out there.

What astounded me though, both through my research before I got to Coventry and through my time here, is the amount of local musicians and bands that are actually well-known around the area.
The listings of gigs and live music evenings are endless, and the support for live music and new raw talent stunned me.

At first, I didn't think too much of this phenomena, especially as now in the summer months everybody takes a break and goes off on holiday. But after having been here a while and hearing people talk about this band and that band, I noticed that it is actually a much bigger deal than it seems.
Especially to me, what with coming from the places I’ve come from!

Epiphany

Listening to people talk about not just one or two local bands that are trying to make it, but talk about several bands and recalling the times they’d seen them play at various venues, resulted in a moment of realisation for me.

In order for that many bands or singer/songwriters to have a prominent name and position in Coventry’s cultural society, would mean that there has to be not only a demand for live music and talent, but also encouragement and excitement around the issue. And I couldn't name one other place I'd been where that was the case with music.

The Godiva Festival 2008

I'm glad that now, as the summer is starting to die down and bands and artists are beginning to start their run of gigs again, I've had the chance to meet a few singer/songwriters to find out a little more about being in that position in Coventry.

None of them complained that there weren't enough venues, or more importantly that there wasn't enough support, as many up and coming musicians would. Quite the opposite really. If anything, they were so grateful for the packed venues that they found themselves faced with so often.

This gave me a great sense of satisfaction. At least in one little corner of the world, people are passionate enough and care enough about the arts to encourage it in this way.

Cultural Roots

When I got to Coventry for the first time properly, my mentor, Hannah took me out to see the sights around the city centre. And I was met with one of the most beautiful English cities I have ever encountered. The fact that the Cathedral, and extremely old areas, like Spon Street are still up and maintained says a lot. This is, to me, art in itself. History, culture and an appreciation for it, is nowadays, rarely found.
Moreover, the fact that this hasn't stopped the new, innovative and modern development of the city, of the people and of their minds is even more important.
For me, it's the fact that Coventry and ultimately the residents of Coventry, have managed to entwine the two worlds, old and new, in one city, of which its people are in fact extremely proud.

So, I take back what I said about dying appreciation for the city, and I take back what I said about those little towns being 'too small,' to appreciate the arts. After all, Coventry is not what you would call massive.

The Cathedral

I haven't yet met anyone in Coventry who doesn't like some form of artistic expression, be it music, theatre, dance or fine art. And I haven't met anyone from Coventry,Ìý who while they are outside of Coventry don't speak of it with a great nostalgic grin on their face.

So what's my explanation for every other town, city and country (including London)?
It's not about being small, or few people, but it's about taking a moment to smell the roses; or listen to the music so to speak.
Coventry is only different to the rest of the world in one sense. The people are still only human, but here, they allow themselves to be just that – human. Humans who enjoy a time-out and humans who enjoy good entertainment.

Arts Haven

To an outsider, Coventry really does make a very unique and artistic statement. It screams out history, roots, culture, art and entertainment. On every street corner and in every window, it has really struck me as different and unique. And the people don't just have an appreciation for one type of art, like music. They embrace all forms of expression, even if that includes the beggars in the subway (in that lighting, I’m sure photographers out there immediately saw potential for a brilliant photo.)

And, during my time here I've come to a conclusion.
When it comes to the arts and culture, there really are no excuses and Coventry is living proof of this.