Interview: Liz Hutchin, director of Taunton's GoCreate CIC

But there may have been a few wobbles, as she was awaiting a decision over a £60,600 Arts Council England grant.

As it turned out, there was no need for her apprehension.

Liz is one of the faces of Taunton-based art-promoting Community Interest Company (CIC), GoCreate.

With an almost lifelong interest in art, she was the ideal match for the organisation, which she joined in 2014.

"A friend suggested they got in touch with me because art was my thing and I had lots of connections with schools," said Liz.

"I soon started co-ordinating much of the work we wanted to do in schools.

"In 2016, I became a director, along with Jenny [Eastwell-Keogh].

"People say we complement each other perfectly - Jenny is creative and great at getting things done. I’m creative but have a background in organisation and structure.

"Initially, we were producing festivals and exhibitions.

"I was doing lots of creative sessions in schools and workshops, at one stage going into a different school every day, packing up my car with everything, unpacking it at the school, then packing up and going home.

"During the pandemic, we’d send out packages in carrier bags with canvas, paper, paint, so people could create artwork about what they were going through and what was keeping them going."

Currently, GoCreate rents a space at Flook House, off Station Road, where they have their office, deliver well-being sessions and provide Arts Awards workshops for young people, enabling them to achieve qualifications.

The sessions run on a ‘pay what you can’ basis, meaning the group has often struggled to cover expenses.

Liz and Jenny then hit on the idea of opening a gallery and using the commission from sales to improve the finances.

"We were offered a place in the Orchard Centre in September 2024, for a three-month trial.

"On the back of the success of that, in April last year, we were offered our current unit," recalled Liz.

"We’ve never looked back.

"We’re so grateful to the owners of the Orchard Centre for having faith in us."

Over 12 months, GoCreate saw the gallery turnover rise to £40,000, with £8,000 ploughed into the CIC to support art in the community.

"It’s helping to make art and the arts accessible in our town," said Liz.

"But it’s always been a bit of a roller coaster, worrying about where the next funds are coming from."

Which is why directors Liz, Jenny and Richard were relieved when the Arts Council confirmed this month it was awarding a National Lottery Project Grant of £60,600 to GoCreate.

Liz added: "That enables us to fully function for a year, pay artists to do workshops, keep the gallery going to sell work and put money back into and strengthen GoCreate, to help us move from a grass roots to a more professional organisation.

"We’re now looking for new premises to house the gallery and run workshops, as well as offer studio space for local artists.

"We’ve got some new projects on the horizon, like Taunton Together Festival and working in partnership with SW Heritage and the Chew Valley Hoard."

Liz was born and educated in Newcastle before studying for a BEd at Leeds University College of Education, Ripon.

She said: "I studied education and English language.

"I’d wanted to do art and design but was talked out of it by the careers adviser.

"However, I soon discovered I could still do a foundation course in art.

"I’d been drawing and painting since I was three and my life would be so strange without it."

After graduating in 1981, Liz took a teaching job in Hastings, where she met her first husband.

She then spent "the best three years of my teaching life" in London’s Bethnal Green.

"There was a multi-cultural environment," she added.

"I used music and dance, expressive arts, as my means of communication.

"There was no National Curriculum at the time, so I could be creative.

"The children were absolutely engrossed in everything we did."

In 1989, Liz and her husband moved to the West Country, which they had both visited on school trips and loved the countryside.

She taught in Sedgemoor Manor School, Bridgwater, and Staplegrove Primary School before taking on the head’s relief at Churchstanton Primary School.

She then worked at Bishop Henderson Primary School, in Taunton until retiring in 2013.

She said: "I’ve always found art a perfect vehicle for teaching many aspects of the curriculum and art has always been important in my teaching as it carries you through so much and is therapeutic, cathartic."

After splitting from her first husband, Liz went on to meet her current husband 25 years ago via an early internet dating website.

"My brother was teaching in Northern Ireland and I flew over to see him.

"I saw an advert for internet dating in an in-flight magazine.

"I had to go home and buy my first PC.

"I started receiving emails from a man who originated in Edinburgh.

"We had some phone conversations and finally met in London, where he was working.

"He then decided perhaps Taunton was a good place to move to as he could still commute to London."

Away from GoCreate, Liz is a professional painter, and while she enjoys singing with Blackdown Acapella Chorus and walking her dog, she loves skiing in France, where she gets much of the inspiration for her artwork.