A SOUTHAMPTON theatre company is supporting a transgender artist project in the centre of the city.

Nuffield Southampton Theatres is backing a week long showcase of art by trans and gender non-conforming people from March 26 until Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31.

The inaugural community project is being hosted at The Art House Cafe, on Above Bar Street.

ArtSOTrans is supported by Chrysalis - Gender Identity Matters and Nuffield Southampton Theatres. It is offering workshops, talks, comedy, music nights and an exhibition by local artists.

Devin Valentine, director of ArtSOTrans, said: “We want to celebrate the art trans and gender non-conforming people bring to our communities, in the hope that this celebration and openness will normalise transness to a wider audience."

He added: "The media and world politics have been quite openly hostile towards trans people, but we want to fight back against that hostility by saying that trans/gender diverse people are here, have always been here, and will always be here as part of local communities the world over – and that our presence is a bonus to those communities, not a burden.”

One of the highlights of the week is on March 30, which will see an evening of music and comedy featuring Ash Ellis and Hunting Hearts.

The evening will also include special guests, such as Caodhan O’Reilly and Rui, Felix Russell and Joey White.

ArtSOTrans is supported by Nuffield Southampton Theatres Self Starter funds, which has awarded £1,000 to The Art House to help them pay for the artists and publicise the events. They also offer free training, support and guidance to get ideas off the ground.

Jani Franck, a director at The Art House, said: "We would definitely like to do this event every year. I think music, poetry and paintings connect us."

Nuffield Southampton Theatres helps local artists through their creative development programme Laboratory.

They collaborate with artists at all stages in their careers and provide a programme of talent development opportunities.

To buy tickets and for more information, visit: thearthousesouthampton.co.uk.