AIR

AIR e-Bulletin April 2009

Highlights – artists and empty shops, you say what you want from AIR, Emily Speed’s getting paid now, Open dialogues and AIR TIME come to London (Swansea in June) + add your comments on artists’ representation.

1. Inform EMPTY SHOPS NETWORK The artist-led Empty Shops Network got a boost when Communities Secretary Hazel Blears endorsed it as a way to save towns from misery and gloom as shops folded. Next, Arts Council England announced it would put £500K aside for the Town Centres Initiative that artists can bid into use empty shops as art spaces and galleries. It's nothing new, as the sixties saw empty buildings taken over, leaving buildings like London's Roundhouse as part of the cultural landscape. City Racing took over an empty betting shop in 1988, and ran a successful gallery for ten years. But with forty-five years of practice, using empty shops still has no handbook and is always a juggling act. Artists want freedom. Town centre managers want to 'increase footfall', especially as other shops fail. But landlords want their buildings let long-term, and many agents want an easy life. Read on » For more about ACE funds to help artists and arts organisations in the recession go to www.artscouncil.org.uk/actiononrecession Read Alice Bradshaw's Temporary Art Space blog – part of the Empty Shops Network WHAT YOU WANT... Thanks to all of you who found time in...

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