ARTISTS TALKING

# 21 [27 July 2007]

Fantastic news! The letter I thought I would never receive, arrived today. The Arts Council have awarded us £5000 towards upgrading the electrics. We can sort out the lighting and power points before the winter. Not a glamourous project but so necessary.
I've had 3 enquiries today about spaces. I thought activity might slow down during the holiday period, but I think a lot of teachers and lecturers have broken up and starting to think about their own practice.

# 22 [29 July 2007]

Tomorrow I am giving a talk at Angel Row Gallery about setting up HMS. As I am naturally shy this may be a bigger ordeal for me than some. I haven't got the answers to DIY studios - all I can do is share my experiences. The project is still ongoing and by no means established. In some ways it is harder because organisations actually think we are up and running and sorted. We had an enquiry from a school about work-shops to that effect. We are supposed to become experts in DDA, health and safety, fire safety, accountancy and legal issues to name a few.

# 23 [1 August 2007]

After the talk - the tortuous post-mortem. I keep thinking - I forgot to say this... I hope it didn't sound like that... and I really meant something else. I do yhis every time. The trouble is you can't edit it. I remember saying that I wasn't looking to set up studios, which is true. We weren't looking for buildings or to develop this project. It was by chance we saw a beautiful building with potential to create workspaces. So I think it gives hope to artists who are actively searching for buildings.

I also touched on the delicate issue of funding which is always a problem - raising the cash to get the project off the ground. We haven't got huge resoures but we achieved this by putting the property into a Sipp or self invested pension plan. This creative solution was my partner's idea, demonstrating you don't have to be an artist to have lateral thought.

Met up with the electrician today to sort out the upgrade. The price of copper has gone up since he gave us a quote. It seems the thriving Chinese economy is not only impacting on the ozone layer, but is affecting the price of commoditities, which is filtering down to HMS. A little more complicated than that, but our appetite for 'bargains' at Primark has knock-on effects. In other words our bill for the electrics is higher. Or am I being naive thinking there would be no increase?

# 24 [9 August 2007]

I had a letter which began, "I am pleased to let you know..." from one of the solicitors. It went on to say the deal had been concluded in relation to the SIPP. I thought good. I failed to notice the significance of the line which went on to say we had elected to pay VAT. Jem read it and went bananas. Apparently he had been at pains throughout the negotiating period to stress that we did not want to pay VAT. It would mean that whilst we could recover VAT on any building works, (which aren't that extensive) - we would have to charge the artists who colud not recover it. It looked like an expensive mistake. We spent a sleepless night until a phonecall first thing revealed it was a typist's error. It was one of those copy and paste letters which got paste-happy.

started some small oil paintings this week. Turps never smelt so good. Just when I thought things were getting more creative, I had to deal with STUFF. I arrived at HMS to find a locksmith was fitting a new lock to the turret. Noone had thought to let me know. The locksmith told me he had been instructed to do all the buildings for health and safety reasons, and as we didn't own the stairs there was no obligation for the company to tell me. We may only be a minority shareholder but we do have rights.
The immediate problem was to get keys cut for everyone. We have artists from 20 miles radius so deliverng them personally was out of the question. Four of us were at the mills today and between us we have managed to sort it.

# 25 [10 August 2007]

Had a fright: my computer died. It wouldn't boot up and all the files relating to HMS were locked inside. I dropped into the store where I bought it. The assistant took the battery out and plugged it into the mains and hey presto - it worked. I could have cried. This happened last week and it served as a wake up call to back-up. The necessary drive arrived yesterday. It was £80 and another one of those 'contingencies' - or unexpected costs that arise - along with extra keys and the rise in the price of copper.

# 26 [20 August 2007]

I have just spent a week at the edge of Bodmin Moor. The weather was a bit rubbish but the break has helped me to reboot. No internet and no mobile phone. Lori and Sheila fielded the phonecalls and emails and it was remarkably calm in my absence. Thank you both!

I have received a few applications for the 3 remaining spaces. We will be holding a meeting (at the end of August) as a group to make a decision. We are also triyng to work out a constitution, but we are still at the embryonic stage. I think it is important to get the structure right. This was the message I was getting from studio groups I researched before we got the keys.

Creative Launchpad have offered their services for free to help HMS artists develop their professional practice. This includes one-to-one meetings as well as training sessions. They are also going to help me develop my business skills in relation to HMS. In particular, forming a cooperative and issues relating to health and safety. Brilliant - I have someone to bounce ideas off.

Rang up the electrician today and it seems he may be able to start as early as next week. The Arts Council money will also be on its way - so fingers-crossed.

# 27 [28 August 2007]

"Do you have an anti-bullying policy?" "What about risk-assessment?" - just more questions I was asked this week. And my response:"We haven't even got a proper sink yet." What do we do if it starts raining cats and dogs and we didn't have enough wellies to go round? You see, this whole business is sending me mad! You put up a few partitions and rent out some spaces and all of a sudden you are supposed to have all this paperwork in place.

# 28 [5 September 2007]

The electrician has finally made a start. Some other good news: the partner of one of the artists runs a kitchen business and will install kitchen units. What generosity! I can't believe our luck. We are currently using a wash hand basin - not ideal but better than nothing. An aunty is also donating a kitchen table. We just need a fridge and a microwave and we'll be sorted.

I've had five meetings this week. Kat organised the first to sort out the residency for the Standing Room. We had some excellent proposals and I'm am delighted with the final choice. There will be a website linked to HMS dedicated to the Standing Room - with a forum to encourage critical debate about curating. A webcam will also capture live discussions between audience and curators. All exciting stuff, only achievable with the technical help of Lori, Simon and Joss.

Kat has also created an Allotment Show for Christmas. An ingenius idea where artists are invited to submit work by reserving a space on a grid via the web. On receiving a £10 admin fee, the space will be officially booked. The work (15 inches square) is then delivered, photographed for the web and placed in the selected space. The grid will include floor space for sculptural pieces as well as a wall grid for 2-d work. The intention is to tour it to 2 venues - one in Long Eaton as well as somewhere else in the borough. It makes work at HMS more accessible too!

Going back to the meetings, we also had a gathering to discuss the launch. We haven't managed to sort out funding - I have to hold my hands up because I developed admin fatigue before my hols and I haven't fully recovered. We will therefore opt for a simple marketing plan with postcard invites and some press-releases. We have some funding in for workshops thanks to others in the group.

Another meeting involved a school. Without being too personal I wasn't impressed....

As for my own work - it's going depressingly bad. I can't blame the environment, the weather or the other artists. The return of artistic angst...

# 29 [14 September 2007]

The fire officer recommended fire exit signs over the doors, the sort which are wired up to the electrics This is necessary if we are to use the studios at night. As the electricians are already here I asked for a price ... the contingency pot is gradually eroding. Anyway, I can't ignore it, so Stuart is sorting it out. No smoking signs, hand-held extinguishers, a fire blanket and instructions are also on the shopping list. Oh and some sort of bell - to raise the alarm.

# 30 [27 September 2007]

The electricians have finally finished and handed over the certificate (and the bill). Well, not quite. We've decided the exhibition area needs more light. We can't afford anything sophisticated, just bigger flourescents and doubles instead of single tubes. Sheila has created a stunning installation which will benefit from the upgrade. I also intend to start painting the floor next week, ready for the open studios.

Met the curators Jane Hardstaff and Jayne Falconer who were selected for the residency in October. They will be working with artists from HMS as well as others in the region. It's v exciting because the whole thing is quite organic where curators and artists are not sure of the outcome. The whole process is being documented and uploaded onto the website

www.standingroom.org. Kat has worked hard to get this off the ground without any budget, just great determination. It's been a steep learning curve for both of us.

I feel we're on the last leg of setting up HMS, though it's not a full-stop. The Open Studios, 26th - 28th October provide the deadline for sorting out all physical aspects such as the kitchen area, plumbing and the rest of the lighting. The plumber was supposed to turn up today ....

The invites are on the way - snail post takes up to 3 weeks but much cheaper. We have a few problems beacause a couple of artists had nominated their partners to provide live music at the PV. However, they have been offered paid gigs so they had to pull out - a shame but quite understandable. It might be a CD player - we'll see. After all we've achieved it seem quite minor.