The Public

The Public was a multi-purpose venue and art gallery in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, at the forefront of a regional regeneration programme which was – by late 2013– to also bring Europe's biggest Tesco, a multiplex cinema, restaurants and a new retail centre. It closed in November 2013. The building reopened as part of Sandwell College in October 2014. Despite indications that the arts centre would be at the forefront of West Bromwich's 'Golden Future', on 9 May 2013 it was announced that Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council was in discussion with Sandwell College to potentially lease The Public for use as a sixth-form college. At that time, the College's own sixth-form was oversubscribed with six applicants for every place. In 2012–13 there were 380,000 visitors to the building from all sections of society – an increase of over 40% from the previous year. The Public's mission was to be a place where people came to create and make things for themselves and to enjoy other people's creativity – an echo of Cedric Price's concept of a Fun Palace. In 2012, The Guardian's Robert Clark described The Public as "a playground for adults" adding that "maybe that's a good role for a contemporary art gallery to embrace". It was also home to 27 small companies as well as the Sandwell Arts Trust, who managed the building. Between them they employed around 120 people with a further 120 digital media apprentices. An article in the previously critical Express and Star in September 2012 said that The Public was finally winning local people over, had found its purpose and belied remote odds to become one of the region's success stories. Just over a year later on 23 November 2013, The Public closed for good. The building was formally reopened as a sixth form college by Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex on 1 October 2014.