Knowledge bank

Artist-led activity can be radical, edgy, slick, or a bit tatty round the edges, quick to appear and just as quick to disappear. It can go largely unseen, or capture the zeitgeist. Artists have been creating their own arena in which to make and exhibit work for years: from the Salon des Refusés, Paris in the 1860s and 70s to City Racing, London in 1980s and 90s.

Introduction

Until recently archives of artist-led activity have been few and far between. A handful of images and documents of the bigger, legendary activities survive such as Claes Oldenburg's poster advertising The Store in New York in 1961 or Sarah Lucas and Tracy Emin standing outside The Shop, London in 1993. However evidence of past activities until recently, has largely disappeared.

This learning resource guide highlights a sample of articles, profiles, guides and blogs in a-n's online archive. It draws on material in the following sections of www.a-n.co.uk:

• Knowledge bank - an archive of tours, practical guides, artist and organisation profiles;
• Artists talking - a collection of artist blogs, profiles and images;
• Networking artists' networks (NAN) - a networking and advisory body for artist-led groups;

in order to introduce students to a range of useful information, case studies and advice written by and for practising artists. This material is a valuable research resource about how contemporary artists create a support network, set up a studio, or use an empty shop for an exhibition.

The guide is punctuated by a series of suggested activities that can be integrated into students' learning on a range of visual art practice-based courses.

Where do I start?

For many graduates, artist-led activity is the first step to establishing a network beyond the safety net of art school, or university. The DIY culture, now firmly established in an artist's portfolio career, expands experience and challenges assumptions about practice.

a-n's Knowledge bank pages www.a-n.co.uk/knowledge_bank hold a number of tours, practical guides and archives containing profiles of artists and groups. Go to Knowledge bank > Profile & promotion > Artists' strategies.

Chris Brown, one of the founders of the Cardiff artist-led space and resource g39 uses the analogy of a game rule book for his tour Artist-led activity where artists are 'players'. He points out:

"In the absence of a system that requires a player to constantly be creating art (such as college), many players find it beneficial to work collectively. Two or more players can often operate more efficiently than a solitary player. Allying oneself with other well-chosen players creates a critically supportive environment where exchange of ideas, tactics and opportunities can take place between moves. This grouping also facilitates players to implement a key strategy in the game: securing a venue that can be used for workspaces, initiating exhibitions and/or projects."

Ed Adam and Sovay Berriman from Alias (Artists-led Initiative Advisory Service) in south west England give the following advice in the profile Alias:

"Network with other similar organisations - being part of a strong network is only ever going to help. Be nosy, find out how they work and what has and hasn't worked for them. Share your concerns and problems along with your successes! Membership groups like Spike Associates and Eastside's Extra Special People are good places to start."

So find out what artist-led activity is going on in your area. Networking Artists' Networks (NAN) does what its name suggests, it encourages artist-led groups to network.

Activity: Find some existing artist networks in your region through NAN's artists' networks search www.a-n.co.uk/nan/organisations. If you know of one which isn't listed, let NAN know. If there isn't a network in your area, maybe it's time you started one!

Making it work: finding a place to work

Jonathan Waring's practical guide Establishing a studio group sets out the process of establishing a studio group: from having the initial idea, bringing together like-minded artists to form a group, getting hold of a space, to running studios effectively on a day-to-day basis.

He advises: "Before you start, talk to other artists who have established groups. All studios groups are different, so be prepared to travel outside of your immediate location to get a broad range of artists' experiences."

In addition to speaking directly to other artist studio groups, you can read first-hand accounts of the highs and lows of two artists who had very different experiences of setting up studio complexes. Jackie Berridge's blog Setting up 18 studios, Long Eaton, Nottingham describes in great detail the process of setting up an artists' studios complex:

"We finally have the keys  - despite the solicitors inflicting torture for nearly 6 months. And what a building! It's actually the first floor of a lace factory with red bricks, turrets and lots of natural light. Furthermore it's in fantastic condition and has the dimensions to set up 18 studios which are approx 200 sq ft." # 1 [17 May 2007]

She goes on "When I was setting up the studios, I never thought about the detail. There is so much stuff that is tedious but necessary. Like fire safety and BT and plumbing...etc etc. It doesn't make interesting reading, but this is what it's really like." #18 [19 July 2007]

Berridge talks about ongoing practical issues, funding, time scales and everything you could possibly wish to know. She charts the ongoing ups and downs of maintaining such a project and continuing her practice as an artist.

Similarly Gabrielle Hoad describes the establishment of Exeter's only artists' studios building in her blog Exeter Studios Project. Here, she talks honestly about her personal experience and ultimately her resignation from the project. She makes it clear that her blog is "my point of view and not a 'corporate' or group statement of any kind. Our studio website does the formal bit".

Activity: Read through Berridge's and Hoad's blogs and note down key concerns to look out for. Cross-reference these with Waring's guide Establishing a studio group to create your own guide to setting up a studio group that includes: Practical advice, do's, don'ts, and useful weblinks.

Beyond the studio walls

For some artists their studio building acts as an exhibition space too. Many artist-led organisations began life as a few like-minded artists drawn together to find a place in which to make work. Open studios expand to include spaces that are used as exhibition spaces, and small networks extend their remit to support and work with other artists in the area and beyond. The blog AirSpace Gallery by the artist-run group in Stoke-on-Trent make it sound fairly easy:

"After months of searching and networking they finally, in February 2006, secured a temporary gallery space in a disused pottery factory five minutes from Stoke-on-Trent's city centre.... Weeks of scrubbing six years worth of pigeon poo and voila! A nice clean gallery, studio spaces and a working toilet! After the Gallery's opening party in July 06 with Martin Creed's band and various performing artists, it has grown into a busy artist-led space, with 7 resident artists as well as David and Andrew and some more members of the crew." # 1 [24 April 2007]

However, as their blog entries show, a dedicated group of artists is behind such a programme of work.

Paul Glinkowski has written a series of profiles on artist-led groups that have grown far beyond their original formation including Stroud Valley Art Space (SVA) which is now a thriving hub for artists in the area. Glinkowski's profile of CRATE in Margate, Kent looks at how the group successfully accessed economic development and regeneration funds to buy a building and it now runs projects in the area.

East Street Arts (ESA) in Leeds also provides an interesting example of how a group of artists started off with a small studio building and now operates across four buildings in the city, providing studio space, advice, opportunities and engaged projects for local artists.

Find more profiles of artist-run studios at www.a-n.co.uk/knowledge_bank/topic/75003/0/2/asc

Show, show, show

Artists seek out a whole range of places and ways to show work. Recent Nottingham-based graduate Dan Green writes in his blog so now... 

"Things sometimes move quickly. We are all of a sudden handing in a (as yet unwritten) proposal for a show in November with positive responses from conversations with the gallery so far. It's based around the situation we find ourselves in, 'Bright Young Things' with no money, trying to make work as best we can with what we have.  Its a bit DIY, a bit punk, a bit Shop, but not for the sake of it; we want a good, solid show of good ideas based around the fact that we want to make." # 2 [1 October 2009]

Gemma Hadley's blog Pretty vacant is a good example of a positive attitude towards exhibiting student and graduate work in alternative (vacant) spaces in the West Midlands:

"Just before Christmas, Pretty Vacant had a new show in an old disused railway building in Wolverhampton. The building was in the middle of being developed into a Chinese restaurant when the recession hit and work had to be stopped... And all I have to say is thank heavens for the recession!! Without it, a truly beautiful building would have been totally lost behind the bells and whistles such a commercial inhabitance would have brought with it. So instead of being usurped by the food industry, this iconic building was entrusted by a particularly open-minded and visionary big-wig-owner-man to Fine Art degree student Antoinette Ayllene. She has unlocked the true potential of the building by transforming it into 'Volte Galleries'. By transforming, I mean putting a sign outside and inviting artists from across the region into a series of open exhibitions. Inspiring."# 6 [27 January 2010]

Artists' love affairs with empty shops is nothing new, but recently the practice has gathered pace, and governmental support. One artist, Dan Thompson, has been deeply involved not only in the practice of showing work in empty units, but creating a network that demands its voice is heard. His blog Empty Shops Network describes the growing movement:

"Almost a year ago, I had a phone call from a civil servant at the Department for Communities and Local Government. He'd picked up on the work I'd done with artists and empty shops and wanted to know if it worked. When I proved that it did he asked how central government could help. The answer, I said, was small grants not big interventions. Artists and arts groups could develop short-term, meanwhile projects on small budgets - using their local knowledge and understanding to leverage volunteer time, goodwill and additional resources. But small grants delivered quickly would ease the burden on those active individuals." # 9 [4 December 2009]

Thompson has now written a practical guide Artists in empty shops that looks at how artists are making use of empty spaces and suggests seven things that would help artists and encourage government understanding.

Thompson is also author of an Empty Shops Workbook - a valuable resource that can be downloaded from http://artistsandmakers.com/images/emptyshopsworkbook1.pdf

Russell Martin's practical guide Setting up an artist-led space sets out some of the fundamental processes of starting an artist-led gallery space and highlights the issues to consider before taking such a step. It includes advice on organisational structure, finding a venue, support in kind, marketing, programming.

S Mark Gubb has written a series of profiles on artist-led spaces including Moot, a Nottingham-based gallery that acts as a catalyst for the local arts community.

His profile of Vane charts its evolution from artist-led platform in Newcastle to an artists' agency operating internationally. Similarly the profile of Glasgow gallery Mary Mary examines how and why the gallery has shifted from artist-led to commercial gallery. For more articles by Gubb and other writers on artist-led spaces go to: www.a-n.co.uk/knowledge_bank/topic/75007

Activity: Using the above examples in a-n's archive, compare two artist-led galleries or projects. Analyse the initial motivations for establishing the galleries or projects, how the artists realised the projects and what the exhibition programme covered.

The examples listed in this guide represent the tip of an artist-led iceberg. Artist-led activity expands and contracts at a rapid rate due to new waves of graduates, sites and changing economic climates. However, the impulse to do-it-yourself is one that is engrained in the lateral and creative thinking of artists, no matter what their practice, or experience. Now, artists have more opportunity to learn and support each other through virtual and physical networks, and to publicise what they do more widely, more cheaply. So as Adams and Sovay of Alias suggest:

• Create your own opportunities wherever possible. If there aren't many opportunities for artists in your area, try and create them yourself. If you're able to kick-start some energy and activity, other opportunities will arise from it.
• Keep a blog, get visible and share your experiences with other artists.

Links

www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking
Artists talking

www.a-n.co.uk/knowledge_bank
Knowledge bank

www.a-n.co.uk/nan
Networking artists' networks

www.airspacegallery.org
Airspace Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent

www.aliasarts.org
Alias (Artist-led Initiative Advisory Service)

www.cratespace.co.uk
CRATE, Margate

www.esaweb.org.uk
East Street Arts, Leeds

www.eastsideprojects.org
Eastside Projects, Birmingham

www.artistsandmakers.com/staticpages/index.php/emptyshops
Empty Shops Network

www.evastudios.co.uk
Exeter Visual Artists

www.g39.org
g39, Cardiff

www.harringtonmillstudios.co.uk
Harrington Mill Studios, Long Eaton

www.marymarygallery.co.uk
Mary Mary, Glasgow

www.mootgallery.org
Moot, Nottingham

www.prettyvacant.org
Pretty Vacant

www.spike-island.org.uk
Spike Island Associates, Bristol

www.sva.org.uk
Stroud Valley Art Space, Stroud

www.vane.org.uk
Vane, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Jane Watt

Jane Watt is Advisers and tutors online editor and an artist. She was Knowledge bank commissions coordinator between 2008-09.

jane@janewattprojects.com

First published: a-n.co.uk November 2010