On February 7 The Beehive will host the first face-to-face meeting of Arts and Culture East Devon (ACED), which is designed to allow artists, performers and organisations to get together and share ideas and experiences. This is the first in-person meeting following the pandemic.

ACED is a network to link up the creative and artistic communities of East Devon, and provide a space for performance, promotions, and networking across the region.

Monday's event welcomes the newly appointed consultants who are leading the East Devon-wide Culture Strategy, which will launch in June.

The aim is to create a public network of East Devon cultural institutions and events, such as music events, theatre, galleries and workshops. In addition, local arts and culture organisations will be supported and promoted.

Ultimately, it is hoped that public participation in the region's cultural and artistic events can be increased, and creative activities will be embedded into the economic and social life of East Devon.

There will be three ACED Network meetings a year and two forum meetings, which will be led by East Devon District Councillors.

The theme for Monday's meeting is performance.

The Beehive and The King of Clubs (a music venue in Ottery St. Mary) will be sharing their experiences and Villages in Action, which is a touring scheme bringing performances to communities in Devon, will also speak.

These presentations will be followed by the opportunity to view the Mikhail Karikis and Tom Bailey exhibitions over the road at Thelma Hulbert Gallery.

Jemma Browning of The Beehive told Nub News: "We're looking forward to welcoming the artistic communities of East Devon to The Beehive for what will be the first "in-person" ACED network meeting - having met on Zoom for the last year or so."

If you would like to attend Monday's event, you must book here