the heart of the city

My first week was great – I really got into my research and have already found a couple of avenues that might be fruitful.

I spent much of the time in the Local Studies Unit in Manchester’s Central Library. I cannot praise this resource highly enough. I have done a lot of research there over the last 4 years, and the staff are always helpful and knowledgable.

I’ve discovered that the original Methodist building was from 1781, but after splits in the church, the congregation had declined to such a level, that the church was demolished, and the current building opened on the old site in 1886. It was at the heart of a new kind of ministry, which took as it’s motto ‘need before creed’ and was a hub for a number of social projects which over the years included men’s and women’s night shelters, a labour project, a maternity hospital for unmarried mothers and a girls rescue home. Some operated from the Oldham St building and others had their own premises.

Some of these projects sound questionable to modern ears, but in the days before the welfare state, the only thing between poverty and starvation was the workhouse. Given what I know about the workhouse, I think that any alternatives would have been welcomed. I’m just amazed at the amount of work that was being done by one small church. How did they fund it all?

Next week I am going to look at archival material from some of the projects and see if I can get a flavour of them. I want to locate the original sites and do some drawing and photographs, see if anything grows out of that.

The main frustration is that 2 days feels so short, after being used to working every day at college. But on the other hand, it does give me time to think and reflect.

Other things this week: I got my application in for the CUBE open exhibition, finally! And good news, my paid job is being turned from casual work into a half time contract on a much better rate. That’s such a relief as I was wondering how I would survive on the hours I was doing since starting the residency. I’ve also started working on my mask for the publicity shots for the exhibition I’m curating in Nexus in the middle of my residency. It’s a wrinkly old lady face but I’m struggling with the eyes…

I start my residency tomorrow. I’m going to be working there two days a week, with two and a half in my paid job and half a day running an art workshop. I’ve been so excited about the residency and now that it is upon me I feel anxious. I’ve been reading other people’s residency blogs and they all seem to be more focused and more mature in their practice. I have no evidence yet that I will be able to produce work outside the college setting – how will I get on without tutors and other students around to learn from and get feedback from.

I know how I have worked in the past – I love to work with archives and do a lot of text-based research about places and people and stories then I photograph and draw and paint to develop my ideas. That’s my anchor, and from them I have to wait to see what grows.

I also know that I need encouragement, and I don’t know where I will get that from in this new setting. My work isn’t decorative or particularly accessible, I need people to take time to appreciate it. I don’t know how it will go down.

But alongside the nerves, I feel really lucky to have this opportunity. I hope it will give me the structure and discipline to get back into my practice which has lapsed over the summer. It is also provides me with a studio, which I feel sorely in need of. I can’t work at home – too many distractions. So roll on tomorrow. Now I’ve written down my nerves I can get on with packing my materials and looking forward to getting in there!